Ghost of Yotei Director Reveals Efforts to Respectfully Portray the Ainu Indigenous People of Japan

In a caller introduction connected Sony’s authoritative PlayStation blog, Sucker Punch Productions' co-creative manager Nate Fox shared much penetration into the probe trips the Ghost of Yotei squad took to Japan. Following connected from his erstwhile PlayStation blog publication (more connected that here), Fox yet again emphasized the team’s committedness to portraying feudal Japan successful a respectful way, this clip focusing connected the efforts they made to correspond the civilization of the Ainu.

The Ainu are an indigenous radical from northbound Japan, particularly Japan’s northernmost main land of Hokkaido, which provides Ghost of Yotei’s setting. Their language, culture, beliefs, and traditions are distinctly antithetic from the Yamato (also known arsenic Wajin), the main taste radical that makes up the overwhelming bulk of Japan’s colonisation today.

Ghost of Yotei is acceptable astatine a pivotal constituent successful the past — 1603 was the twelvemonth the Tokugawa Shogunate was formed by Tokugawa Ieyasu, 1 of Japan’s large unifiers, putting an extremity to decades of civilian war. Edo (now Tokyo) became Japan’s halfway of power, ushering successful the peaceful Edo play successful which Japan’s civilization and nine blossomed. However, astatine this time, Hokkaido was inactive a wild, sparsely populated land location to the Ainu, its formidable wintertime snowfall and rugged scenery making it a pugnacious spot to live.

“When mounting a crippled successful Hokkaido we knew a important constituent was doing our champion to correspond Ainu civilization successful a respectful way,” Nate Fox explained. “Thankfully we’d connected with an Ainu taste advisor earlier mounting retired connected our notation gathering trip.” Not lone that, but they were invited by the advisor to conscionable her family, which led to the Ghost of Yotei squad getting to forage for vegetables successful the mountains. “It was a beauteous mode to marque caller friends and commencement our travel successful learning astir Ainu culture. That nighttime we resolved to enactment foraging into our caller game, we wanted players to beryllium capable to stock (our) experience.”

According to Fox, the Ghost of Yotei squad spent portion of their probe gathering travel successful Oshima Peninsula, the confederate portion of Hokkaido that is closest to Japan’s main land of Honshu. In the 1600s, this was the domain of Matsumae clan, who would beryllium fixed exclusive rights by the Tokugawa authorities to commercialized with the Ainu surviving further north. Fox observed that determination are signs adjacent contiguous of however the mainland Japanese radical of this clip seldom lived immoderate further northbound of Oshima. There is simply a “proliferation of cherry trees connected the peninsula, brought determination from Honshu, yet uncommon successful the remainder of the island. That truly told the communicative of however sparsely settled Hokkaido was successful 1603 by the Wajin people,” helium noted.

“We’ve tried to mimic that prime successful the game, leaning into areas of wilderness betwixt homesteads.” This rugged wilderness volition supply a backdrop for protagonist Atsu’s quest to instrumentality revenge connected those who killed her family.

Fox and the squad besides went to the Nibutani Ainu Museum with their Ainu taste adviser. Traditional Ainu houses (called cise) disagree from accepted Japanese houses. The depository travel “really helped america get a consciousness for sorts of objects we’d spot successful the crippled and however they were used.”

We tin get a glimpse of the wrong of an Ainu house, with its ample cardinal hearth, successful Ghost of Yotei’s authoritative merchandise day trailer (around the 2-minute mark). The pistillate protagonist Atsu is talking to successful this country seems to beryllium Ainu, arsenic she has a articulator tattoo. This awesome of quality for the Ainu would aboriginal beryllium cracked down connected by the Japanese authorities successful the precocious 1800s, aft it had afloat annexed Hokkaido (source: Embassy of Japan successful the UK). By then, measures to unit Ainu to wantonness their connection and civilization and integrate into Japanese nine were successful afloat swing.

(As a broadside note, J.K Goodrich’s 1888 relationship of Ainu houses paints a first-hand representation of the contrast, and analyzable relations betwixt the Ainu and Japanese astatine this time.)

Fox besides touched connected the clip that the Ghost of Yotei squad spent learning astir Edo play Japan, which took them to Nikko Toshogu, 1 of the shrines successful Japan dedicated to the unifying shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu, who kickstarted the Edo period. “While determination we obtained a blessing for the crippled from the enshrined deity, Tokugawa Ieyasu,” Fox explained, adding that they proudly show the ema (wooden plaque) and omamori (protective charm) that they obtained from Nikko Toshogu astatine the workplace arsenic reminders of their trip.

Reflecting connected the probe trip, Fox explained that “while our mentation of Hokkaido is fictional, the feeling of authenticity we strive to make has roots successful those existent satellite experiences.” It volition beryllium absorbing to spot however Ghost of Yotei portrays the opposition betwixt the Wajin/Edo culture, and that of the Ainu.

Verity Townsend is simply a Japan-based freelance writer who antecedently served arsenic editor, contributor and translator for the crippled quality tract Automaton West. She has besides written astir Japanese civilization and movies for assorted publications.