D&D General The rise and fall of D&D in Japan

[Dragonblade]

A few years ago I played a D&D campaign in Japan, with Japanese gamers. This was before 5e. Most D&D books were not available in Japanese. This was the biggest barrier to entry. The Japanese players I gamed with all spoke and read English so they used the English versions of the D&D books. We played in English even though I myself also speak Japanese and half of my family is Japanese.

They liked D&D but other than my game, it was easier for them to find other players when playing in Japanese and using Japanese gaming materials and books.

There were no cultural issues related to gaming using D&D vs. some other Japanese system like Sword World. It was simply a matter of practicality.

Related to that, they all LOVED Oriental Adventures, both the original AD&D and the 3e version. Seeing Asian fantasy and mythos reflected back through the perspectives of American writers was something they found endlessly fascinating. One reason I feel that Isekai and fantasy themed anime is so popular these days in the US is because the reverse is also true. All of my current gaming group loves anime like Goblin Slayer, Reincarnated as a Slime, Solo Levelling, etc. We all love seeing European themed D&D style fantasy reflected back through the perspective of Japanese or Korean writers.

 

[Spellslinging Sellsword]

US Amazon? Couldn't find it...

There are no official English language translations, only fan translations. US Amazon doe have some 2.0 and 2.5 Japanese language books.

https://a.co/d/0vH0QAb

 

[overgeeked]

Related to that, they all LOVED Oriental Adventures, both the original AD&D and the 3e version. Seeing Asian fantasy and mythos reflected back through the perspectives of American writers was something they found endlessly fascinating. One reason I feel that Isekai and fantasy themed anime is so popular these days in the US is because the reverse is also true. All of my current gaming group loves anime like Goblin Slayer, Reincarnated as a Slime, Solo Levelling, etc. We all love seeing European themed D&D style fantasy reflected back through the perspective of Japanese or Korean writers.

Yeah. I’m absolutely loving the Japanese version of faux-medieval faux-European fantasy you find in anime, manga, and light novels. Lots of little things that add up along with a few big changes that keep things fresh and interesting. Far more variety between worlds, too. So many great tropes and ideas that really push the setting/genre into interesting territory again. Instead of everything being as close to Tolkien as possible with most writers in the west.

 

[pemerton]

I think a point that is missing from this discussion is not to focus on Japanese culture, particularly those of us who lack any particular qualifications to do so, but instead on American culture. As I posted on another thread, D&D presents a quintessentially American take on fantasy (or perhaps a quintessentially English-language take on fantasy). Like English itself, D&D offers a polyglot version of quasi-European medieval-renaissance high fantasy, as received through pulp magazines and other pop culture. It is to fantasy as Las Vegas is to culture: there's something for everyone, even if makes no sense and is completely divorced from its original context. It's shiny and fun and fundamentally incoherent.

So I don't think it's at all surprising when other cultures look at the ideas of D&D and then want to make their own RPGs. D&D has never done well outside the English-speaking world, and that's because it is a game built on a very English-speaking perspective.

Your post seems to treat American and English-speaking as largely pointing in the same direction. I don't think that's right.

An English-speaking take on fantasy would include (beyond America) not only England itself, and its other settler colonies (eg Canada, Australia, New Zealand) but also significant parts of India, East Africa, West Africa, the Caribbean, etc.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Your post seems to treat American and English-speaking as largely pointing in the same direction. I don't think that's right.

An English-speaking take on fantasy would include (beyond America) not only England itself, and its other settler colonies (eg Canada, Australia, New Zealand) but also significant parts of India, East Africa, West Africa, the Caribbean, etc.

I think it's clear what @Clint_L is talking about. How would you distinguish between USA/Canada/UK/Australia/NZ, and other countries that happen to speak English but had less direct influence on early D&D?

 

[pemerton]

I think it's clear what @Clint_L is talking about. How would you distinguish between USA/Canada/UK/Australia/NZ, and other countries that happen to speak English but had less direct influence on early D&D?

If, by America, is meant America, than say that.

If you think the British and American approaches to fantasy are the same, then you can say that too. I'm not persuaded that they are - for instance, Alan Garner's work strikes me as British in the same sort of way that REH's work is American.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

If, by America, is meant America, than say that.

They didn't.

If you think the British and American approaches to fantasy are the same, then you can say that too.

Also not the intent. But there was a significant British influence on D&D, such as Tolkien, Moorcock, TSR UK and the Field Folio etc, and Canadian, starting with Ed Greenwood. You could even say Peter Jackson (NZ) has been a more recent influence. D&D is American, but it isn't just American. That was what was being being acknowledged here.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

D&D's sources of inspirations are not only from the "anglosphere" but also from other places, Oriental Adventures and Radiant Citadel are good examples.

Some times the best marketing strategy is to sell the pieces and tell some suggestions

 

[Iosue]

I think Goblin Slayer is just a flavored Sword World, i think. could be wrong.

By the by, i liked it. Loved how characters are generated

Goblin Slayer RPG is quite different from Sword World. They share a standard resolution mechanic: roll 2d6 + skill + class level to beat a target number. But that is a pretty common mechanic in Japanese games, and otherwise character generation and magic are entirely different. It would be perhaps more accurate to say that Goblin Slayer RPG takes a lot of inspiration from Sword World. This is not surprising, since the source material (light novel and anime) play off of fantasy TRPG tropes, of which Sword World has long been the exemplar in Japan.

 

[Clint_L]

My take is that D&D is quintessentially American, with its roots coming out of the American wargaming scene, and a very American melting-pot take on fantasy. However, in the greater scheme of things that essentially polyglot approach to language and culture is fundamental to the English language to an extent that is quite unique, and that predates America.

While it is true that all languages are influenced by others, among major world languages English is unusual to the extent that it readily fuses words and concepts, which is why its dictionary is about four times the size of most. This is due to a combination of history, geography and economics that have made English speaking singularly un-bothered by borrowing (some might say stealing) and incorporating diverse words and concepts willy-nilly. This expresses itself slightly differently in different English-speaking cultures, with the American melting pot being the version that produced and is expressed by D&D. That's all. I don't think this is some deep insight or anything.