Science Fiction in Japan can be traced all the way back to the year 720 and a time travel fairy tale called Urashima Tarō, a story not unlike the Western world's Rip Van Winkle. In it, a fisherman rescues a turtle who rewards him by taking him to the Dragon Palace, a supernatural place populated by the Dragon God and other such beings. There he is entertained by a princess and after several days of the most wonderful hospitality returns home to find between 100 and 300 years have passed (depending on the telling). His home is a ruin, his family long dead, and he himself forgotten.
Another early story tells of a princess from the Moon, taken to Earth for her safety as the heavens erupt in a celestial war. She is cared for on Earth by a humble wood-cutter. When her true family returns to bring her home, they do so on a larger bright disk resembling both the Sun and the typical early depictions of flying saucers.
Modern Japanese Science Fiction finds its roots in the Meiji Restoration Era of Japanese history (agreed by scholars to be from 1868 to 1912). Among the first novels of Western origin translated into Japanese and widely distributed were those of Jules Verne. The term 'Kagaku Shōsetsu' or Science Novel was put forth in the late 1800s and became a popularized name synonymous with what we know of as early Science Fiction.
Fantastic tales of undersea warships and rifts in space carried the literature movement through the early 20th century and all the way to the Second World War. With Japan's defeat and the horrific nature of the weapons used to accomplish this task, Japan's Science Fiction changed and evolved. Among the first to usher in this new age was not a novelist but a manga artist, none other then Osamu Tezuka, considered the 'Godfather of Manga' and the creator of Tetsuwan Atom (Astro Boy) and Black Jack, among many other works. Tezuka early successes, such as The Lost World and Metropolis (1948-1949) were a major influence on Japanese Science Fiction authors of the period.
The first full-length Japanese SF novel was Inter Ice Age 4, written by Kobo Abe, an accomplished playwright, musician, and inventor. Abe's writings have been compared to that of Frank Kafka. As more and more writers started to embrace the genre and Japan began to climb back from it's wartime conditions, interest in Science Fiction increase considerably. While periodical struggled to capitalize on the phenomena the way American companies did in the 1950s, novels did very well. In addition, American troops stationed in Japan brought their own interest in SF with them and by the 1960s many of the Western Science Fiction authors beloved in the US were also very much appreciated in Japan.
Sci-Fi exploded in the late 1960s and 1970s with the expansion of manga, early animation, and the release of the Star Trek TV series, the first Star Wars film, and the first real Light Novels. Magazines made another attempt to impact the market and were more successful this time around. Before long the audio and visual mediums of movies and television surpassed the literature element of SF in Japan, thanks largely to Anime and Manga. Unfortunately, in the view of some Science Fiction literature scholars and enthusiasts alike, the line between novel, light novel, and other forms of SF blurred in the 80s and 90s, which caused the genre to be taken less seriously as an art form.
Soon after the Science Fiction genre gradually dropped in popularity, with Japanese audiences looking for something fresh and the various entertainment industries not knowing how to respond. At least in the publishing business. SF Anime and Manga remained popular if not particularly deep or innovative in the mainstream.
The first Japanese Science Fiction Tabletop RPGs appear in the early 80s. Enterprise, a Star Trek RPG made entirely in Japan, is not only the first SF game but possibly the first stand-alone Japanese TRPG ever, coming out in 1983. Crusher Joe, based on a series of novels first published in 1977, received two RPG boxed sets in 1983 as well to coincide with the release of an animated film. Japanese language editions of Traveller and Star Quest came out the year after, with Traveller being especially popular. Interestingly, the covers and illustrations in the Japanese Traveller books were done by Naoyuki Kato, an artist best known for painting the covers of many Western SF novels when they were translated in Japanese [such as Dune, The Stars My Destination, The Forever War, and more].
In the 1990s, with Cyberpunk and Mecha stories dominating the Science Fiction scene in Manga, Anime, and elsewhere, it isn't surprising that we see the same thing in gaming. The first real Mobile Suit Gundam RPGs appear at this time, with Dainihonkaiga publishing the Gundam Sentinel RPG in 1990 and a classic MS Gundam 0079 expansion in '91.Tsukuda Hobby would publish their own Gundam game in mid-to-late 1990 but it was really more of a wargame akin to Battletech. Also in 1990 Hobby Japan puts out one of my all time favorite Japanese TRPGs, Metal Head; Cyberpunk meets Space Adventure. Gear Antique, another game I very much enjoyed debuts in 1991. Finally, the sadly lackluster Multiverse comes out in '91 as well. A rather bland game that doesn't deserve it's cover by the amazing Kenichi Sonoda.
In 1992 we get CREGUIAN, Tabletalk RPG in the Far-Future, a fascinating game best described as an alternative Traveller. I'll be talking a lot more about this one in my next post. A boxed set RPG called Space Opera Heroes and its sequel, creatively titled 'Space Opera Heroes 2', are both published in 1992. Fun if not particularly innovative or interesting tongue-in-cheek SF.
American RPGs Mechwarrior and Cyberpunk hit Japan in 1993, though like its wargame predecessor Battletech, Mechwarrior got a huge make over for the Japanese market. A major entry comes in 1993 with Tsukuda Hobby's Tokyo Nova, the Cyberpunk RPG with spiritual/supernatural undertones which would become far more prevalent in future editions of the game. Tokyo Nova uses Playing Cards instead of dice. The second edition came out in 1995 and the quite revamped third edition was put out in 1998 under the title, Tokyo Nova: The Revolution. Lastly, in 1994 Japan's Dragon Magazine publishes Paradise Fleet, a Space Opera that had originally been published in monthly installments in the periodical. It was, in essence, the first crowdsourced TRPG I'm aware of. Certainly one of the first in Japan.
Japanese Science Fiction went through another change in the late 90s and throughout the 2000s. Publishing companies, experiencing a fiscally weak market at the time, were eager to try something different in order to make money. A push was made to get Science Fiction back out there in a big way. Two of the major publishers, Tokuma Shoten and Kadokawa Haruki, created writing contests for SF literary achievement awards and it worked. Science Fiction short stories and essays by the likes of Satoshi Ito and Toh EnJoe were published, renewing interest in the genre. This eventually lead to a Sci-Fi renaissance and in 2007 the 65th World Science Fiction Convention, more commonly known as WorldCon, was held in tandem with Nihon SF Taikai* in Yokohama.
The popularity of the genre hasn't ebbed since and in fact, the 80s-90s lament of the blurring lines between Pop Culture Entertainment and High Literature are now embraced. We get to see fun and entertaining books and light novels along with philosophical Anime and Manga. Self-publishing, E-books, and User generated Web Novels allow for more variety, versatility, and exposure than ever before. Animated films previously considered independent arthouse approaches like Your Name and Suzume by Makoto Shinkai are major motion picture industry hits, grossing many hundreds of thousands of dollars worldwide.
In addition to more translations of American games, there were quite a number of cool titles appearing between 2004 and just prior to the pandemic. Among the ones that really caught my attention were those from Japan's indie/small press market, including Doujinshi games. Fun RPGs like The Trouble with Aliens (Resident Alien the RPG?), Lost Record (Secretly kind of dark), Metallic Guardian (Japan's answer to Mekton), and Space Ship Story (Rules-lite Sci-Fi in the vein of Captain Harlock and Ulysses 31).
Also, got to give a shout out to Spaceship Star Truck. Love the look and the concept.
Wonderful! Fascinating stuff. Only one question...
Yes Barkley?
You put Creguian in the title of the post. I understand that its one of the earliest, biggest Science Fiction RPGs of Japan but why does it deserve to be in the title? Also, what exactly is a Creguian?
Ah, excellent question! The answer to which lies in the next 31 Days / 31 Characters post...
AD
Barking Alien
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