Is D&D played a lot in Japan?

[CrackedChair]

So, as a bit of a goal for me, I wanted to go to Japan in my life. But I'd probably miss roleplaying and D&D terribly.

Do people in Japan play D&D, or is there some sort of alternative there that they play there?

[Khaiel]

AFAIK, pen and paper RPGs are not very popular there. Also, due to how their lifestyle is, games tend to be more like 1-3 sessions long oneshots (since it is difficult to commit to longer games I've been told). Most games made in Japan use d6 only, since other die are hard to come by there.

And that's about everything I know about RPGs in Japan.

[CrackedChair]

Woah, ok...

Er, that is a bit worrisome.

[Mutazoia]

AFAIK, pen and paper RPGs are not very popular there. Also, due to how their lifestyle is, games tend to be more like 1-3 sessions long oneshots (since it is difficult to commit to longer games I've been told). Most games made in Japan use d6 only, since other die are hard to come by there.

And that's about everything I know about RPGs in Japan.

LOL

Where the hell did you hear all that??

If you only knew how many game stores I dug through during my 3 years in Japan.... I've still got some of the RPG's I picked up while I was there, though I've forgotten 90% of the Japanese I knew so it's harder to read the rules books now days.

The Anime "Record of Lodoss War" is based on a long running, epic D&D game.

[IShouldntBehere]

I honestly don't know. My assumption would be that they play games at more/less the same rate as everyone else, but mostly play domestic products - like everyone. They're a country with a distinct identity and their own language/history/culture. I'd imagine Japanese products written for Japanese people by Japanese people would be the most popular, over something like D&D.

Like I said that's my guess, I really have no knowledge of it. However this is the Internet and I'm sure somebody knows or has experience. I'm mostly just posting so I can find out fairly how wrong my impression are without the benefit of hearing the real answer.

[Ninja_Prawn]

Someone call Gastronomie, he can provide a definitive answer to this.

[Khaiel]

LOL

Where the hell did you hear all that??

If you only knew how many game stores I dug through during my 3 years in Japan.... I've still got some of the RPG's I picked up while I was there, though I've forgotten 90% of the Japanese I knew so it's harder to read the rules books now days.

The Anime "Record of Lodoss War" is based on a long running, epic D&D game.

TBH, that is based on very dated info from back when my uncle lived there ^^U

[Psyren]

Paizo is showing a Venture Agent and Venture Coordinator for Japan. If you reach out, they may be able to help you get the lay of the land as far as tabletop gaming stores, D&D etc.

[Douche]

Do they use Meetup in Japan? Check & see if there are any events in any of your prospective destinations

[Knaight]

D&D itself is comparatively rare, mostly because TSR and WotC were and are weirdly hesitant about actually translating it. There are plenty of Japanese RPGs around though, and a couple even have English translations.

[CrackedChair]

I've actually learned from somebody on the r/DND that Wizards of the Coast are actually going to translate 5th edition to many languages, including Japanese.

Source: http://dnd.wizards.com/articles/news/localization

[BWR]

This is a few years old now, but may be of interest.

[KillianHawkeye]

Considering how the entire genre of jRPG video games basically arose from D&D and similar table-top RPGs of the late 70s and early 80s, it's a pretty good bet that there are still people in Japan playing D&D.

[CrackedChair]

Oh yeah, the very first Final Fantasy took a whole lot of inspiration from D&D if I remember correctly!

[NecroDancer]

Worst case you can always use the internet to play d&d from afar

[Mutazoia]

Do keep in mind, that there are American military bases in Japan, chocked full of people who play, so even if you can't find a group of locals to game with, you can still find a local group to game with (depending on your location).

[Honest Tiefling]

I've actually learned from somebody on the r/DND that Wizards of the Coast are actually going to translate 5th edition to many languages, including Japanese.

I wonder if we'll hear complaints about these versions as well. It's really the whining that brings us all together.

Do keep in mind, that there are American military bases in Japan, chocked full of people who play, so even if you can't find a group of locals to game with, you can still find a local group to game with (depending on your location).

Also, try to find people who teach English over there if you are not having much luck with the locals. (And if you know Japanese and are good with people, that might be a good program to try out. I haven't done it personally, but you might want to look into it.)

But who knows? Maybe you'll find a new hobby while you're over there.

[Karl Aegis]

Oh yeah, the very first Final Fantasy took a whole lot of inspiration from D&D if I remember correctly!

Took a lot of inspiration from Wizardry. Wizardry was more popular in Japan than it was back in the 'States. If I recall correctly, there was a bunch of Wizardry Gaiden titles and most JRPGs at least took a little inspiration from Wizardry.

[Skelechicken]

Currently living in Japan and DMing for a group of English teachers living here.

The answer is a big ol' maybe, unfortunately. I live in a really rural area. There are no big game shops to speak of, and as has been mentioned I am unaware of a current official Japanese translation for D&D so the games there are all other things.

That said I know of a few Japanese speaking groups that have formed, and English teachers are basically everywhere so you may have some luck setting up a group. I would suggest coming prepared to DM though. A lot of people living abroad are pretty busy with the whole making life work in a foreign country thing. I tried joining 3 groups that all fell through until I finally offered to DM myself and that seemed to work. DM shortage is a problem everywhere, but moreso when D&D isn't that thing everyone has always wanted to try.

Where are you going to be living? Tokyo has some EXCELLENT gaming stores. That's where I got most of the dice I use and a few little RPGs that I am still working on translating for my group to play when we can't get everyone together to play D&D.

Roll 20 is an option too of course.

[Fri]

Japan has a tabletop culture, they call it TTRPG, though I doubt DnD is common (different countries have what they consider "their default" rpg. For example, my friend said that Poland's default rpg is Warhammer RPG). An interesting note, Japan is a place that have some things evolved independently compared to the rest of the world (like for example, pc before windows, cellphone tech. You can read about them, it's pretty interesting), and another thing is tabletop and boardgame. But it definitely exists! For example, there's a japanese boardgame con that's equivalent of essen (which is the europe boardgame con).

Though, if you want easier time maybe you really shouldn't limit yourself on "DnD"

[NichG]

I have two gaming groups in Tokyo. In one, we play a modified D&D 3.5. But it's all foreigners, and getting people to participate in a cross-lingual game seems very difficult. We've gotten a lot of 'that's interesting, sounds fun, eh, I couldn't possibly...' when talking about it to locals.

And, to be fair, out of our groups maybe one player would be proficient enough to play in Japanese. I think it would be interesting to try as a way to improve my Japanese but probably I wouldn't get much out of the game itself at my level.

[darkdragoon]

Possibly outdated, but an overview:
http://www.trpg.net/en/faq/

[Dunsparce]

Record of Lodoss War was originally a 1st edition D&D campaign log published in a Japanese Magazine long before it got an Anime and other stuff.

Most notable difference plot-wise is that the Elf Deedit was not Fighter Parn's love interest(they were both played by straight men), rather she tried to seduce or con him multiple times to get a hold of his fancy sword so she could sell it for a fortune.

The creators tried to make a licensing deal with TSR to get the Lodoss setting officially published under the D&D banner, but they declined so instead they created an entirely new Tabletop game called Sword World for the setting.

[sengmeng]

I think it's called "Tunnels & Tentacles" in Japan.

[Mutazoia]

I think it's called "Tunnels & Tentacles" in Japan.

Actually, that would be "Teenagers & Tentacles", but that's a different kinda thread all-together....