What is it about?
Most of us have watched anime or played a Japanese video games and fantasised about visiting the country. There are people who combined they made passion their work and eventually moved to Japan. This article is about indie developer expatriates who live and work in Japan, their journey to the country, the challenges they faced, the community and what Japan offers them in return.
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Photo by Sei on Unsplash
Why is it important?
This is the first article that analyses the story of expatriate/migrant video game developers in Japan. It offers a first look at the situation of the indie community in Japan and how it is different from US American, Canadian or European indie developers. It shows that even though video game development is understood as a universal practice, Japan is only opening up to what is considered mainstream. Lastly it is the first contribution to the study of multicultural media production in Japan.
Perspectives
This article is important not just because it fills a gap in literature, but because it has a practical application for video game developers and other creative workers who are interested in working in Japan, but are not familiar with the system. The final goal of this article was to inform the public of the main routes to enter Japan as a creative worker and the difficulties they will face in integrating, as well as the increasing openness to immigration compared to previous decades.
Alexandra Maiuga
Ritsumeikan University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: The Foreigner Indie Video Game Community in Japan from Tokyo Indies to Bitsummit, Youth and Globalization, January 2025, Brill,
DOI: 10.1163/25895745-bja10037.
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