D&D 5E I Am One of the Few Who Plays D&D in Japan

[Syunsuke]

I saw the B/X character sheets from the campaign the anime was based on somewhere online. Wonder if they're still out there?

You can see them in my very old post.
http://www.enworld.org/forum/showth...r-quot/page2&p=1096230&viewfull=1#post1096230

 

[Scorpio616]

I, an American in Japan, and a small party of players are probably 1 of just a few groups of people who play D&D of any edition here.

I've been in Japan for over 10 years now and I haven't been able to find a single person who plays (or even knows about) D&D.

D&D players are probably more common than you think, but it will always feel like you are in an empty void because you will forever be an outsider.

You know how you would avoid telling fellow gamer Mr. Smells of Cat Piss about your weekly group so he would not talk with you more or try to beg his way in? It's kinda like that, except there isn't any fault of your own.

 

[Scrivener of Doom]

At the risk of going all Four Yorkshiremen on the OP, I live in Mindanao in the Philippines and what you have described is luxury.

Manila does have some shops and players but that's in the north and that's also Manila: basically, Manila is a layer of the Abyss that has escaped the pages of Fiendish Codex I: Hordes of the Abyss and crossed over into reality. I would rather be boiled in oil than live there.

I keep trying to get my wife's family and the assorted hangers-on to have a go - largely because, like most people in the Philippines, they're mainly unemployed (the real unemployment rate here is around 60%) - but it's all too hard. Fantasy-based online gaming is popular but it also requires minimal engagement or English skills and it seems D&D is just too much of an effort, like sleeping for fewer than 12 hours a day.

But I live in hope. They know I am online. They see the minis. They know I am clearly enjoying it and that it's a stress release for me. I just hope they will crack soon because my son is a bit too young to be taught how to play for a few more years....

 

[Hussar]

I am not surprised that D&D is not that well known in Japan/Asia.

D&D and most other western RPGs are deeply ingrained with western culture and mythology. That means that a lot of times we assume something to be well known or that the players make a specific connection people in Asia will think of something completely different.

It already starts with the name of the game. "Dragon" does evoke a very different image for people in Asia than for us. Or take the Devils/Demons. Baator and Celestia in D&D are inspired by Dantes Divine Comedy and while most players here have not read it, this book has shaped our culture and our understanding of Heaven and Hell is still based a bit on it. People in Asia will have a very different concept of those things as well.

I dunno. Magic is enormously popular, so, I don't think it's really a big stretch to think that D&D would be popular.

 

[ren1999]

Magic has done quite well here in Japan.

The 5E Combat Tracker
http://dnd5.weebly.com

 

[Scrivener of Doom]

And not just Magic: Look at the success of Warcraft and its bastard child DotA across Asia.

 

[Iosue]

"Dragon" in Japan evokes the same image as it would for any of us.* "Ryuu", OTOH, evokes what we think of as the Chinese/Japanese dragon.

*Unless you're in Nagoya, in which case it evokes baseball...

 

[shadow]

I lived in Japan for three years and never personally met any D&D gamers. I know they must exist because they had translations of the 3e and 4e materials and the university I taught at had a tabletop rpg club.

Probably the reason that traditional gaming is not as popular in Japan has to do with the difficulty of getting a decent size group of people together on a semi-regular basis. Japanese apartments are small by western standards, so most people would rather meet a group of friends at an izakaya than have everyone come over to hang out.

 

[Iosue]

To expand on my further post, one of the most popular console games in Japanese gaming history is Dragon Quest, which some might remember playing on the NES by the name of Dragon Warrior. It's very much a console game take on D&D, down to the faux-medieval Europe and European style dragons.

As for the OP...what's your Japanese ability? I ask because just from a bit of Googling, I found a whole slew of gaming groups in Tokyo, and also Osaka (for [MENTION=6785986]Dargrimm[/MENTION]). Here's a list of stores running Encounters -- R&R Station in Akihabara, and Reaching Moon in Osaka. Just in November was DAC (Dungeons & Dragons Annual Convention), Japan's biggest D&D con, held every year in Tokyo. This year they had 36 tables going.

Seriously, when I was looking for a game, I put ダンジョンズ＆ドラゴンズ and 名古屋 into a search engine, and found a number of groups. I contacted one, introduced myself, and started playing monthly. If you're comfortable playing in Japanese, you have plenty of options, especially in Tokyo of all places. Where otaku gather, there shall D&D be found.