Hirohito TSUJI (University of East Anglia)
Nobunaga’s Ambition is a series of historical simulation games in the Sengoku and the Azuchi-Momoyama periods of medieval Japan. As a strategic war game, it is highly regarded by experts around the world.
Today, it is not unusual to find military simulation games that consider not only combat but also territory management, diplomacy, geopolitics and other factors, but when the first work in the series was released in 1983, it was a pioneer in full-fledged historical simulation games. Since 1988, the market has expanded to the world, and now more than half of total sales are overseas. In 1998, an internet version was also released, which was well received due to its online gaming style, which was rare at the time, allowing players to play against users from all over the world at the same time. As the Sengoku period is the most popular era in Japanese history, this work has attracted support from all ages, and 16 titles have been released to date.
In games, like in historical facts, the victory keys are not only in battles and territory management, but also in building roads, trading with merchants or Christian missionaries, holding tea ceremonies, improving manufacturing technology for guns and naval ships, receiving official titles from the Imperial Court, and other commands unique to the Sengoku period. Recent productions have used high-definition 3D images for maps and battles CG. The popularity of this series is probably largely responsible for the fact that such an advanced academic knowledge of medieval history has become known to many people. It has also had a significant impact on the historical subculture in contemporary Japan. Tourism promotion and exhibitions of Sengoku cultural heritage in collaboration with Nobunaga’s Ambition have been held throughout Japan. NHK Taiga Drama uses 3D maps from Nobunaga’s Ambition in 2016 and 2022.
Not all the content reflects historical facts. For example, many popular Sengoku lords have a brave and handsome appearance, while many lesser-known Shugo lords have eerie insidious whitewashed make-up. This may be an expression of the stereotype that samurai are robust, while aristocrats are decadent. Several fictional characters, also appear, while Ryūkyū and Ainu do not appear, out of consideration for political issues. From 1994 onwards, it became possible to play some princesses as warlords, even if they had never participated in wars in history. This is thought to have been influenced by the growing ideology of gender equality, as well as an attempt to expand the popularity of the game among females.
Nevertheless, efforts have been made in recent years to reflect the latest research, for example by correcting data on characters who are considered to have unfairly low ability values. It was also highly regarded as a tool for learning history even in schools, with more than several hundred real-life characters and castles appearing. This series has had a significant impact on Japanese medievalism, and at the same time has made people aware of the enjoyment of learning about the Sengoku history.
Suggested Reading
M. Evan Brooks, ‘Computer Strategy and Wargames: Pre-20th Century’, Computer Gaming World 75. (1990): 11-13, 70.
M. Evan Brooks, ‘An Annotated Listing of Pre-20th Century Wargames’, Computer Gaming World 107. (1993): 136-143.
M. Evan Brooks, ‘Nobunaga’s Ambition’, Computer Gaming World 51. (1988): 12, 34, 48–9.
YōIchi Erikawa, ‘Oda Nobunaga Wakamono ga Nekkyō suru Yabō: Nobunaga no Yabō Kaihatsusha ga Kataru Nobunaga Sūhai e no Dōtei’, Bungei Shunjū Special 20. (2012): 62-65.
Hirosato Mishima, Kenji Ōta, Tadayuki Irie, ‘AI of the Video Game “Nobunaga’s Ambition: Taishi”’, Journal of the Japanese Society for Artificial Intelligence 38.5. (2023): 606-611.
Shin Sakurai, ‘Tokushū Sengoku Bushō Kyarakutā o Hitto Saseta Shikakenin!!: Gēmu Manga TV kar Rekijo Made! Nobunaga no Yabō Sengoku BASARA Tenchijin no Purodyūsā ni Kiku!’, Ōsaka Geijutsu Daigaku Daigaku Manga 14. (2009): 113-120.
Kōei Shuppanbu, ed., Nobunaga no Yabō Tenshōki Jiten. (Yokohama: Kōei, 1996)
Neil Randall, ‘Nobunaga’s Ambition’, Compute! 104. (1989): 90-94. Kō Shibusawa, ‘Sōzōsha wa Kataru Sanada Maru no CG Chizu ni Shinshutsu: Mega Hitto Gēmu Nobunaga no Yabō SōZō to Hakai’, Bungei Shunjū Special 35. (2016): 190-197.
Thank you for this, Hirohito. I was always intrigued by the Nobunaga’s Ambition’s series. I brieftly played “Sphere of Influence”, but the intricacy of the setting knocked the wind out of me….
I’ve got two questions:
1- (I may be misremembering this, because it’s been a decade since I played the game): I recall that, in Sphere of Influence, there were some historical events/decisions that would pop up during a campaign, but they were contingent on following the ‘factual’ path to the letter. I seem to recall that, once, I created a counterfactual scenario by finishing off the Imagawa too soon, and the events just stopped appearing.
Is this *really* how events work in the game/franchise? If so, it’s extremely demanding on players’ knowledge of the Sengoku period!
2- I want to hear your opinion on periodization. “Medieval Japan” is a common trope in popular speech, but I always found odd to apply a Western historical framework to Japan, given that it has its own periodizations. (We don’t call Richard the Lionheart a “Kamakura king of England”, so why would we call, say, Minamoto no Yoritomo, a “medieval” ruler of Japan?)
Moreover, I find it equally odd to associate the Middle Ages with the Sengoku era specifically, given that it seems the very definition of an Early Modern period. (For instance: I never heard the Eighty Years War, which brought William Adams to Japan, being refered to as “medieval” in Europe).
Is this something we just have to accept, given the ubiquity of the term? Or do you think there is some merit in associating the Sengoku period with the medieval?
Thank you for your comment!
1 – Yes, there are indeed a number of events based on historical facts. These were in the form of quests and occurred by fulfilling conditions, such as taking control of a particular castle, and the lords, vassals or forces may learn some skills. Failure conditions are also set. If we do not want to kill particular characters, or if we hope enjoy a story that differs from the historical facts, it is an option to choose not to challenge these conditions. In terms of experiencing the ‘if’ of history, I think this is a great feature, especially for fans of the Sengoku period who have a wealth of knowledge.
2 – It is a very important point and I am aware of the same problem. In post-war academia in Japan, there is a strong tendency towards a Marxist view of history and a tendency to use a strict chronological framework. However, as you point out, the `medieval` period that emerged in Europe and the Japanese `chūsei` are different, and the Japanese ‘kinsei’, an independent period division, is not synonymous with the `early modern` period in the West. There is also the question of what criteria should be used to divide the periods. As you know, Japanese history is a mixture of political historical divisions, such as the Sengoku or Azuchi-Momoyama periods, and cultural historical divisions, such as the Higashiyama or Momoyama cultures. There are also various theories as to when the medieval period began (e.g. insei era in 1086, Heiji rebellion in 1160, the establishment of Kamakura Shogunate in 1185, or Yoritomo’s inauguration as Shogun in 1192, etc.) and ended (e.g. introduction of the guns in 1543, Destruction of Muromachi Shogunate in 1573, Taikō cadastral survey in 1592, or the establishment of Edo Shogunate in 1603, etc.), which vary according to universities and academic cliques. Although this is off-topic, I also see it as a problem that at some Japanese universities it is taboo to study periods other than those in the specialism of the laboratory to which one belongs, which prevents the development of historical continuity and transitional studies. In this sense, I believe that period divisions should change flexibly depending on each topic, and that the Sengoku period does not necessarily have to depend on the Medieval era. However, from the stereotype of the medieval period as a period of warfare (including Genpei wars and the Nambokuchō uprisings) and from an economic-historical perspective (from the self-help shōen system to the feudal kokudaka system), it might be possible to recognise certain merits in defining the Warring States period as the medieval period.
Thanks for the detailed answer!
Regarding the academic cliques, I think this is an issue we all face. In fact, I believe it is one of the reasons we still stick to the quadripartite Antiquity-Middle Ages-Early Modernity-Contemporary Era model, even though it has been so thoroughly criticized throughout the decades.
I can criticize the artificiality of the concept of the “Middle Ages”, but if I’ve got a teaching position in a medieval studies department, realistically, what am I to do?
The personal nature of research networks doesn’t help either. Once, a colleague from an English university complained to me that, with the retirement of a professor, his school would cease working on Early Medieval History and focus mostly on later centuries. This professor was pretty much responsible for supervising/conducting nearly all research on the period, and since his successor had different interests, it was unlikely things would remain the same.
What a great paper! I’ve wanted to get into the Nobunaga games for almost a decade now but I never can find the time. I’ll be sure to do so over the summer.
I have one question. You mentioned how even though the games striving for realism do feature some whitewashed tropes or oversimplified memes. What, if any, do you think is the effect on this on player experience, particularly in respects to immersion and suspension of disbelief? Do you think it takes players out of the experience, or is the impact negligible?
Thanks for the great paper!
Thank you for your comment!
I think the appearance has a significant impact on the player’s state of mind. Most fans of the Sengoku period will admire powerful samurai. This means that they may easily feel a sense of affinity with sturdy handsome characters, while they may be more likely to distrust eerie whitewashed characters. Indeed, the latter also tend to have lower ability values. However, this does not necessarily mean that such characters were also incompetent in historical fact. For example, Ujizane Imagawa (1538-1614) had very low ability values and is also often portrayed as a foolish man in historical dramas and novels. However, recent history studies are reassessing his political skills and cultural qualities (so his political capacity figures have been revised upwards in recent Nobunaga`s Ambition). In this sense, the game environment allows players to experience the Sengoku period more typically as a subculture based on historical facts rather than strict historical facts.