Sucker Punch Productions’ co-creative director Nate Fox recently took to Sony’s PlayStation blog to share more about the team’s efforts in representing the Ainu, an indigenous people of Japan, in their highly anticipated game, Ghost of Yotei. 
The blog entry highlights the team’s deep commitment to respecting the Ainu culture, particularly in the game’s portrayal of the northern island of Hokkaido, which serves as the game’s setting.
The Ainu, distinct from Japan’s dominant Yamato culture, have a rich heritage with unique customs, language, and beliefs. Their history, especially during the Edo period in 1603, is filled with challenges, particularly as they lived in the rugged and isolated wilderness of Hokkaido. The region was still sparsely populated, and the game’s setting places players in this dramatic and untamed environment, reflecting the Ainu’s way of life before Japanese settlers moved north.
Fox elaborated on the steps the team took to immerse themselves in Ainu culture. They consulted with an Ainu cultural adviser, who welcomed the team into her family, allowing them to experience life through the Ainu lens by foraging for vegetables in the mountains. This experience, Fox said, helped inspire the inclusion of foraging mechanics in the game. “We wanted players to share in that experience,” he explained.
The research trip to Japan took the team to the Oshima Peninsula in southern Hokkaido, where the Tokugawa Shogunate had exclusive trading rights with the Ainu. This allowed the team to observe how the area had been influenced by mainland Japanese settlers, including the cherry trees introduced to the region. Fox noted that this helped shape the game’s depiction of the wilderness between human settlements.
During their visit to the Nibutani Ainu Museum, the team learned about traditional Ainu houses, or cise, which are starkly different from Japanese homes. The museum trip provided valuable insights into the artifacts and objects that would feature in the game, such as the large central hearth found in Ainu homes. In fact, players can catch a glimpse of an Ainu house in Ghost of Yotei’s official release date trailer, where a character, presumably Ainu, sports a lip tattoo-a practice that was later outlawed by the Japanese government.
The Ghost of Yotei team also visited Nikko Toshogu, a shrine dedicated to Tokugawa Ieyasu, the shogun who ushered in the Edo period. There, they received a blessing for the game from Ieyasu’s enshrined deity, a gesture that Fox said was a meaningful connection to the history they were trying to capture. The team proudly displays the ema (wooden plaque) and omamori (protective charm) they obtained from the shrine at the studio as reminders of their journey.
Fox concluded by reflecting on the importance of creating an authentic experience, even if the version of Hokkaido in the game is fictional. “While our version of Hokkaido is fictional, the feeling of authenticity we strive to create has roots in those real-world experiences,” he said. Fans of Ghost of Tsushima, Sucker Punch’s previous game, will likely appreciate the care and attention to detail that went into portraying the Ainu culture in this upcoming title.