Wutai

99% of the game: Cyberpunk dystopia.
This sidequest: Inexplicable feudal Japanese village.^NoteHey, where did all my gear go?!

"It's like God got lazy and just copy-pasted Japan here."

— Touya Mochizuki, In Another World with My Smartphone

Wutai is the village/country/continent, usually in what is otherwise a Medieval European Fantasy world, which has inexplicably (and suspiciously) fashioned itself off Jidaigeki (tales set in historical Japan). Filled with youkai, Onmyōdō, geisha, Ninja and/or samurai (and even the occasional Kaiju), this is where katanas, oni, kitsune, pagodas and sushi all pour out into the rest of the world.

These places are frequently a mashup of various Japanese eras, maybe flavored with a little bit of China, and — in a nod to real history — are usually xenophobic. The background music will be stereotypical Asian instruments, if not a public domain tune.

This can perhaps be attributed to the fact that most console RPG publishers are Japanese; indeed, Wutai is a near quintessential part of a Standard Japanese Fantasy Setting. However, such a place may not stand out so much if the setting includes other non-European Fantasy Counterpart Cultures. It also tends to be less jarring if the setting covers a large geographical area; for example if it spans an entire planet, a Fantasy Counterpart Culture of Japan or China is no less likely than one of a European culture.

May overlap with Alternate Character Reading and Istanbul (Not Constantinople) if the country's name is just an alternate kanji translation of its real-life equivalent. Katanas Are Just Better, Everything's Better with Samurai, and Gratuitous Ninja are related phenomena. See also Jidaigeki and Far East.

Not to be confused with Jiānghú, the fantasy counterpart of China commonly seen in Wuxia.

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Examples:

Anime and Manga

• Black Clover: Yami Sukehiro comes from an island country called the "Land of the Sun", an obvious reference to Japan's nickname "Land of the Rising Sun". He is the only character with a Japanese name for a majority of the series, he wields a katana and he can predict people's attacks by sensing their Chi. He was shipwrecked as a child and washed ashore in the Medieval European Fantasy Clover Kingdom. Asta ends up in the "Land of the Sun" near the end of the series and learns more about Yami's family and why he left.
• Cross Ange: An entire planet fits this trope; the alternate universe Earth where the protagonists' Emperor Scientist comes from is readily Asian-themed, filled with dragon people, and opposes the theocracy in Ange's planet with their own harmony-with-the-earth philosophy. They minimize contact between planets to killing each other until Ange's genocidal brother screws everything up and forces an Enemy Mine situation.
• Several characters in Delicious in Dungeon have an "Eastern" heritage, which seems to be basically just Sengoku-era Japan transplanted into the generically European fantasy setting the manga mainly takes place in, complete with constant state of war. The biggest difference mentioned so far is it's an archipelago instead of a single island.
• Fullmetal Alchemist: The country of Xing is very China-esque, as opposed to the main setting of Amestris, which feels a lot more like No Swastikas Nazi Germany. Xing is seperated from Amestris by a vast desert, so the differences are justified.
• Holoearth Chronicles Side:E ~Yamato Phantasia~: Fubuki and Mio reside in a traditional Japanese-themed region called Yamato. It contains a city Kyo-no-Miyako featuring never-ending Cherry Blossoms season, Shirakami Shrine, and Oeyama Mountains.
• In Another World with My Smartphone: The Eastern Nation Eashen appears to be an alternate Sengoku era with magic.
• Konosuba has the Crimson Demon Clan who live in Japanese style houses. In the movie, you find out they were creations of a Japanese person who was sent to live there by Aqua.
• Magic Knight Rayearth: Fahren, which has Chinese aesthetics and ninja. Fuu specifically muses on how it seems to be a combination of Japan and China, much to its princess' irritation.
• One Piece:
  • There is an island somewhere in the extremely dangerous stretch of ocean known as the New World that's themed on feudal Japan. It's even called "Wa no Kuni" (or Wano country in some translations), which was a name given to Japan. Samurai serve as its warriors, it's ruled by a Shogun, and it is one of the few countries that are unaffiliated with the World Government.
  • Amazon Lily, which is clearly based off ancient China and shares similarities with Jungle Japes.
  • Kano Country similarly shares a Chinese aesthetic.
• Pokémon the Series: XY: In the games, Laverre City is more of a fairy tale based town that happens to have a gym leader who makes kimonos. In the anime, however, the city was redesigned to be a Japanese based town... despite being in a region based on France.
• To Your Eternity has two of these. The first is Yanome, the homeland of Hayase and the Guardians whom Fushi ends coming into conflict against throughout the story. The second is Ninannah, a tribal civilization that is home of some of Fushi's earliest allies-turned forms such as March and Parona. While Yanome is a straight analogue to medieval Japan, Ninannah is analogous to the aboriginal Ainu people of Japan given how its inhabitants tattoo their faces and practice a sacrificial ritual involving bears that Yanome has been manipulating in order to exploit them.

Comic Books

• Albedo: Erma Felna EDF's titular heroine's homeworld of Dornthant is based in Japan, culture-wise, according with his artist and creator, Steve Gallacci, with some elements of the British culture as well. They sleep in futons at times, drink exotic teas, they appreciate order, etc.

Game Books

• The Fabled Lands had Akatsurai, based on Japan at around the time of the Meiji Restoration.
• Fighting Fantasy has Hachiman (medieval Japan) and the Isles of the Dawn (China-like).

Literature

• Chillin' in Another World with Level 2 Cheat Powers: The main setting appears to be a western fantasy, with names and a general aesthetic to match, but the Kunosaki Hot Spring Resort is modelled after Japanese hot spring resorts. In-Universe, it is inspired by "a mysterious island nation across far seas".
• Protector of the Small The Yamani Islands, first introduced into the Tortall Universe in this quartet. Apart from the magic aspects of the setting, there's not much difference between them and feudal Japan.
• The Discworld gives us Agatea; a whole continent which is a Fantasy Counterpart Culture for everything Far Eastern or Oriental on our world. The Japanese aspects are a mishmash of Japan, taken from various points over the country's history, culture, and folklore, thrown into a blender, churned, and then poured out to see what emerges.
• In Re:Zero, Subaru and Rem elope (in one timeline) to the Edo-esque Kararagi.
• Tasakeru: The squirrel culture, mostly based on Feudal Japan with a little old-school French chivalry mixed in.
• A Song of Ice and Fire has Yi Ti, which never properly appears in the plot but whatever is known about it is inspired by Imperial China. Likewise, Leng is based on Edo period Japan and remained isolated from the rest of the world until it was forced to reopen by the YiTish.
• That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime: The nation of Tempest, the Hidden Elf Village of the Tengu, and the Ogre Village before its destruction all have this aesthetic going. Justified since all of them were influenced by Otherworlders from Japan, and the cultural developments of Tempest in particular were self-admitted by Rimuru to be influenced by his desire to have the comforts of Japan alive and well in this world to alleviate any homesickness. If others benefit as well from his selfishness then it's a win-win, and the likes of fellow Japanese Otherworlders Yuuki and Hinata (who had given up hope of being able to enjoy proper Japanese cuisine again) certainly don't complain.

Tabletop Games

• 7th Sea: The East: The continent of Khitai is home to Shenzhou and Fuso, nations that are inspired by China and Japan, respectively.
• Banestorm includes, amongst its many pseudo-European and pseudo-Arabian nations, the nation of Sahud, a definitely Japanese-inspired kingdom with strong Chinese, Korean, and Mongolian elements. This is justified in that, like all of Banestorm's human cultures, Sahud was founded by humans from the very cultures it represents.
• BattleTech features two flavors of this. The first is the military dictatorship of the Draconis Combine who follow an Imperial/Shogunate Japanese style complete with Mechwarriors who follow Bushido, and have samurai themed mechs. The second is the Capellan Confederation who are more of an autocratic China.
• The British Dragon Warriors RPG has the little-known far-off lands of Khitai and Yamato, who as their names clearly show are inspired by China and Japan, respectively.
• Dungeons & Dragons:
  • The sourcebook Oriental Adventures details Asiatic lands, with their own races, classes, and politics. The 3rd edition even presents Rokugan (originally from Legend of the Five Rings) as a D&D setting featuring nothing but this. The trope is played straight if one is playing Spelljammer and feels like visiting the Rokugan world.
  • Forgotten Realms: The original 1st edition of Kara-tur had Kozakura representing Sengoku/Warring States-era Japan, and Wa representing Tokugawa/Bakufu-era Japan. Other Asian countries were also represented, such as China with Shou Lung (representing China under a strong, orderly dynasty) and T'u Lung (China under a corrupt, decadent dynasty).
  • Eberron has Sarlona, although that one's more like North Korea than China or Japan (rule by Lawful Evil dream-haunting Eldritch Abominations with Psychic Powers and their purpose-bred thralls will do that to a place). Adar greatly resembles Tibet, too.
• Legend of the Five Rings:
  • There's an inversion of this trope: The Unicorn Clan. They started as Kirin clan, went to the European equivalent of this world (long story), and then return significantly changed. For starters, they are the only ones who can touch dead bodies without losing honor.
  • Rokugan itself has the bits about "a mishmash of various elements from different eras of Japanese history" and "the local culture is extremely xenophobic". This is especially apparent when taken in the broader context of the larger-scale Legend Of The Burning Sands setting, as the map shows Rokugan to be just a small, isolated corner of a much larger continent.
• Magic: The Gathering has several examples:
  • The plane of Kamigawa has a strong feudal Japanese flavour. Neon Dynasty adds Magitek Cyberpunk elements, but they are melded with traditional aesthetics.
  • A more traditional example (insofar as it's juxtaposed by other, more western-flavored cultures) is the Empire of Madara on the plane of Dominaria.
  • The plane of Tarkir showcases clans and cultures inspired by the pre-Islamic Persians and Turkish (Abzan), the Tibetan monks and Zen Buddhists (Jeskai), a darker version of the Khmer empire (Sultai), the Mongol horde (Mardu), and the nomads in Siberia (Temur).
• Mutant Chronicles features the Mishima MegaCorp. Mishima is heavily based on feudal Japan, with the samurai and ninjas in their armies, and the triads which thrive in their society's underworld.
• Pathfinder: The iconic setting Golarion has its own version in the form of the continent Tian Xia, with many iterations of fantasy China, Japan and Southeast Asia. Most specifically, Minkai is the specific Japan stand-in (having founded a few nations on the mainland); it's a peninsula rather than an island, blocked off from the rest of the continent by the Forest of Spirits (a Whole-Plot Reference to Princess Mononoke). The Jade Regent adventure path involves a journey to Minkai, and ends with helping your NPC ally claim the throne.
• Warhammer has Cathay and Nippon. Cathay is Imperial China, it has its own great wall in the form of the Great Bastion, it's ruled by an Emperor, and has a dragon motif. It also features monks, Mongol hobgoblins, and the worship of Tzeentch is legal, if not as extreme as the Chaos Hordes. Nippon is Japan (Nippon is Japanese for Japan), an isolated island just east of Cathay which has samurai and ninja, which is where Clan Eshin learned to train Skaven assassins. Both nations are also located in the Far East, the Warhammer equivalent of Asia.
• Warhammer 40,000:
  • The Tau are this to the Imperium of Man. The Tau borrow heavily from Japanese, Chinese, and even some Indian culture mixed in with Animesque Mini-Mecha, while the Imperium is all the worst from Nazi Germany, The British Empire, the Soviet Union, and Inquisitorial-era Spain wrapped up in one big galaxy-spanning package. Not that the Tau are much better, mind you.
  • The Eldar came across as very Oriental. Their Aspect Warriors train in temples to combat styles named after animals, and if that isn't enough, maybe the curved swords, shuriken guns and back banners might do it for you. They also view the western-stylized humans of the setting as hairy barbarian upstarts, and isolate themselves on their planetoid-sized colony ships. However, since the introduction of the Tau, they've moved away from the Asian theme somewhat, with more influences from Celtic mythology and culture being thrown in along with good old Tolkien-esque Elfish-ness.

Video Games

• Baldur's Gate II is set in the Forgotten Realms world, mostly in the nation of Amn, which broadly resembles Golden Age Spain. However, the character Yoshimo is a wanderer from distant Kara-Tur, that setting's analogue for East Asia. He's not a samurai or ninja, but he does have proficiency with the wakizashi weapon (a sort of Japanese shortsword). Oddly, katanas, wakizashis, and ninjatos are found reasonably often through Amn.
• Battle Realms has the Dragon Clan and Serpent Clan which are based off feudal Japan. The Dragon Clan are more Samurai oriented, while the Serpent Clan (technically a Dragon offshoot) are modern type, and use gunpowder more often.
• Breath of Fire IV: Hesperia.
• A fair few levels in the Crash Bandicoot series have a fair levels that take place in an asian setting:
  • In Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped where the levels take place in the past, there are two levels in Ancient China called "Orient Express" and "Midnight Run". In both levels, Crash's sister Coco must ride on her tiger friend Pura to traverse the Great Wall of China.
  • Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex has two more asian-themed levels, this time taking cues from Japan: "Banzai Bonsai" and "Tsunami". Much like the previous game, both of them are played only as Coco, but the level features are vastly different: The former involves platforming over water pits whilst dodging various wildlife, while the latter involves chase sequence with a giant wave Coco must outrun.
  • Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time has Tranquility Falls, which takes place in Feudal Japan, and is home to three different levels, and a boss fight against N. Brio.
• Cookie Run: Kingdom has Dark Cacao Kingdom, the style of which is based on ancient Korea.
• DragonFable and AdventureQuest Worlds both have Yokai Isle, which is quite Japanese in general motif, but which also celebrates the Chinese New Year every so often.
• Borderlands 3 has two planets that are a variation of this.
  • Maya's home planet of Athenas is littered with Asian architecture and its history with Sirens as well as the local cult gives it a mystical vibe.
  • The planet of Gehenna, featured in the "Bounty of Blood" DLC, blends this with a Wild West flair. Not only do the locals have Japanese names and pepper their dialogue with Southern-accented Japanese such as referring to you as "Tomodachi", but the architecture also looks like a mix between an old fashioned Western frontier town and Hong Kong.
• In Daffy Duck in Hollywood, the fourth world, "Assault and Peppered", takes place on the set of a samurai film.
• Dark Souls has the unvisited mysterious Far East, which mainly serves as a source of samurai and ninja for the game.
• Diablo III has Xiansai, where both Covetous Shen and the Wizard hail from, and is quite Chinese in general motif, but is never visited in-game.
• Dragon Quest:
  • Dragon Quest III: Jipang, one of many Fantasy Counterpart Cultures in the game.
  • Dragon Quest XI features the town of Hotto which, along with the obligatory Japanese-inspired architecture, features a rearrangement of the Jipang theme from Dragon Quest III and, to top it off, has the residents speak entirely in haikus. There's also Lonalulu (Nagimuna in the original Japanese), a village based on Okinawa, but the English localization gave it a more Hawaiian/Polynesian flavor (hence the English name being a play on Honolulu).
• In The Elder Scrolls, the continent of Akavir serves as this as to the primarily European inspired Tamriel (where all of the games to date have taken place). Akavir, per in-game sources, is a mishmash of Chinese (Ka Po' Tun), Japanese (Tsaesci), and less prominent Indian (Tang Mo) and Mongol (Kamal) Fantasy Counterpart Cultures. In the Backstory, some of the Akaviri races have attempted to invade Tamriel several times, but have always been defeated. They are said to have left behind Japanese styled weaponry and inspired the Blades, a knightly order of spies and bodyguards to the Emperor who have significant Samurai influences. Because of the past invasions, the citizens have Tamriel have some very Yellow Peril inspired beliefs about Akavir. However, neither Akavir nor any of the Akaviri races have appeared to date in-game in the series to date.^note This is more justified than in many western fantasy settings, as the provinces of Tamriel do draw on very different cultural backgrounds for inspiration. Whilst Cyrodiil and High Rock are typical medieval fantasy settings (High Rock being more Anglo-French and Cyrodiil being more Roman), Hammerfell is grounded in "Arabian Nights" Days, and Skyrim has a similar (but distinct) Norse theme, Morrowind based on Roman-occupied Judea and Mesopotamia, and the other provinces which have not been shown in games are shown to have very different cultures.
• Elden Ring has the Land of Reeds, which serve similar purpose to the "Far East" in Dark Souls: to justify Japanese-inspired elements in the game, such as the Samurai starting player class. Differently from that game, the Land of Reeds is a bit more elaborated upon: it is stated to be locked in an endless civil war akin to the Sengoku Period which has lasted for so long that it has isolated it from its neighbours and made the land be dominated by blood-soaked demons and Ax-Crazy madmen.
• Elsword has the Xin Empire in Northern Floune and one of its town Fahrmann where Ara Haan and her brother Aren/Ran hail from. However, this region is never explored aside from a now-defunct raid boss stage and Ara's tutorial, until a portion of it is explored by Laby in her exclusive region North Floune. The region has Korean aspects.
• Enchanted Arms has a city that is in fact called Kyoto City (one of three cities named after real life counterparts) full of samurais, ninjas, a shogun, and Oriental-esque music.
• Final Fantasy:
  • Eblan in Final Fantasy IV, which is a somewhat odd mash-up of Japan and Europe, given that its residents have names like "Edward Geraldine" and their capital is a European-style castle, yet their army is made up of Ninja. The nation of Fabul in the same game has parallels to China; these are made especially clear in the remake, which styles the castle after a Chinese palace, complete with gabled roofs and hanging paper lanterns.
  • Final Fantasy VI: Doma, although Cyan is the only representative from that culture that the player sees during the game, considering the rest of the city gets wiped out by Kefka. Like Eblan, it's apparently a blend of medieval Japan and medieval Europe; Cyan correspondingly looks like a mix of a samurai and a knight (he wields a katana, but his facial features are very European, especially the style of his mustache, and Garamonde is an archaic English surname).
  • Final Fantasy VII: The infamous Wutai for which this trope is named. The home of Yuffie, it's a distinctly Japanese-themed town that has a hint of China and for some reason Russia that serves as the setting to a certain infamous sidequest.
  • Final Fantasy XIV has the far eastern continent of Othard, from which the Ninja and Samurai jobs originate. Its two major cities of Kugane and Doma have a feudal Japanese culture, but the architecture has elements of Chinese to it, as well.
• Fire Emblem:
  • In Fire Emblem: Awakening, Say'ri's support conversations with the Avatar hint that Chon'sin is this, complete with cherry blossoms and sushi; every Myrmidon and Swordmaster, with the possible exception of Owain, seem to trace their origins from there. It's the first occurrence of this trope in a franchise that has almost solidly stuck with Medieval European Fantasy.
  • Fire Emblem Fates takes it even further, with one of the two main factions, Hoshido, based mainly on feudal Japan and including autonomous villages belonging to kitsune and diviners inside its territory. It helps that Myrmidons are even called Samurai in this game, and all of the characters who start off with the newly introduced Ninja class are from Hoshido, too. Mages have likewise been rechristened Diviners and promote to Onmyoji (the game's equivalent of the Sage class). Seasonal variants of some of the Hoshidan characters that appear in Fire Emblem Heroes push the Fantasy Counterpart Culture angle even more, particularly when it comes to celebrating the new year: shrine visits and paper fortunes are mentioned, and "Happy New Year!" in Hoshidan is the same as it is Japanese ("Kinga shinnen!").
  • To the south of Hoshido exist several other nations that also qualify, though less focus is placed on them compared to Hoshido in all of Fates' three routes. Izumo, named for an old province of Japan, is a neutral nation that maintains friendly relations with Hoshido, led by an eccentric archduke who can commune with the gods. Mokushu is home to many ninja and ruled by a daimyo. What little is seen of it is mostly mountainous and forested regions, lined with traps like caltrops and bamboo punji pits. Prior to the events of the game, Mokushu invaded and annexed the lands of its neighbor Kohga, another country known for its ninja (Kohga comes from Kōga-ryū, an ancient school of ninjutsu) as well as its green mountains.
• Gaia Online has the Zen Gardens, a Japanese Botanical Garden filled with Sakura Trees, animated japanese decor, and an adorable Miko. Oh, and Ninjas.
• Genshin Impact has the isolationist island nation of Inazuma, complete with samurai, shrine maidens, and loads of cherry blossoms as well as the commerce-focused Liyue, complete with Chinese cuisine, names and architecture.
• Golden Sun series:
  • The village of Izumo. Every single village/town/city is based on some culture from around the world, as is every landmark, if you look into it enough.
  • The sequel, Golden Sun: Dark Dawn, has the China-like countries of Kaocho and Sana and the Japan-like village of Yamata (which is part of the island chain of Nihan, itself named after the Japanese name for Japan, Nihon, and vaguely shaped like Japan as well).
• Lunar: Eternal Blue has Horam, which of course, sells katanas and seems to be entirely populated by martial artists.
• Guild Wars The first expansion takes place in Cantha, specifically designed by the game's American producers as a blend of ancient China, Japan, India, Thailand, and virtually everything else from southern and eastern Asia, from landscape to culture to art design, and it works magnificently and believably, given that it's its own distinct section of the world, separated from the conventionally European fantasy realms by a wide ocean.
• The Korean RPG Last Origin has a parallel universe called Withering Flower of Muromachi (named after the Muromachi period and the the homeworld of Kunoichi Enrai, Kunoichi Kaen and Kunoichi Zero), which despite not being shown, is said to be very similar to feudal Japan, being ruled by a shogun, and with various elements typical of feudal Japan, such as daimyōs (feudal lords), sushi and ninjas (or kunoichis, in the case of this game).
  • One of the characters that comes from this universe, Kunoichi Zero is a princess who is the daughter of this shogun with a concubine (who is revealed to be the leader of an important clan of ninjas in this universe) and who is trained by ninjas and ends up becoming a kunoichi for avenge her mother's murder.
• Mushroom Men: Shiitake Town. Technically, it's found in the same, vaguely-located town of Meteor Falls as the rest of the game, but it's where the ninja-like Shiitake Warriors live. Oh, and it's made out of old sushi boxes.
• Octopath Traveler II has the kingdom of Ku. The buildings all have a very Japanese aesthetic, its citizens all have Japanese names (Hikari, Ritsu, Rai Mei, etc.), and the Warrior class (which is Hikari's default class) has some samurai vibes.
• The setting of Onmyoji has all the characteristics of Wutai, except it actually is Japan.
• Though it (like most nations) went unnamed, Phantasy Star Online had a country on the homeworld of Coral that was this. It was the source of the legendary katanas—Sange, Yasha, Kamui and Agito.
• Although they were sardonically referred to by many players as "Space Elves," the Newmans of Phantasy Star Universe were actually this. One of several races created by humans, the genetically engineered Newmans eventually founded their own society on the planet Neudaiz. Everything about PSU Newmans is like an idealized aspect of Japan—they are responsible for almost all of the Asian or Japanese-flavored cultural artifacts in Universe, and their language is Japanese (though written in Romaji using an alphabet that resembles Japanese characters).
• Phantasy Star Online 2 introduces Planet Harukotan in Episode 3, which has a planet-wide civilization resembling feudal Japan. The dominant race of the planet resemble oni.
• Pokémon:
  • In the second generation (Pokémon Gold and Silver, Crystal, HeartGold, SoulSilver), Violet and Ecruteak Cities, specifically based on Nara and Kyoto respectively. Both of the real life cities are former Japanese capitals and are known for their traditional architecture.
  • The settings of all of the mainline Pokemon games up until Black & White are this to the rest of the planet, since they're direct geographical counterparts to various of Japan (or regions that have been part of Japan in the past, in the case of Pokémon Ranger). In contrast, Black & White was set in a region based off of Manhattan (making it the first American region), while X & Y's region is based off of the top half of France (specifically, everything north of a line between the Bay of Biscay and the southern end of Switzerland).
  • Pokémon Sun and Moon's setting is based on Hawaii, but Malie City has very Japanese architecture, and Konikoni City is basically a Chinatown. Justified, as East Asians are the largest racial group on Hawaii (in fact, the Japanese alone once made up over 40% of Hawaii's population). Additionally, Malie City is stated in-universe to be heavily influenced by the architecture of Gold/Silver's home region.
• Ragnarok Online:
  • A Korean MMORPG based on the manhwa series Ragnarok (1997) (itself based on Norse lore), has a very Japanese village called Amatsu. It has a few other cities patterned after other countries, too: Louyang (Mainland China), Kunlun (Taiwan), and Ayothaya (Thailand).
  • The cities are considered "World Project" cities—none of them have any connection with the manhwa Ragnarok Online is based upon. Rather, they're a sort of Shout-Out / Fanservice for specific nationalities which had a huge (and legit) RO player base. Originally a wild west-themed city was also planned to represent the United States, but was scrapped (the songs "Big Guys Love This" and "Antique Cowboy" were probably written for the town and its surrounding fields). Years later, a Russian-themed city was made in its place (Moscovia). Einbroch represents the Wild West, though it probably qualifies better as a tribute to steampunk culture in general.
  • There is a Wutai in the Ragnarok world, so to speak, which appeared in the original manhwa and had major significance—Payon, which draws very heavily from Korean (and general Asian) culture in a world that's heavily flavored with Norse.
• The Rune Factory series. There's apparently one somewhere in the world. We don't get to see it, but there's some characters that very obviously come from it, such as Yue from Rune Factory 2. It's called "Yamato", according to Uzuki of Rune Factory Frontier.
• Sa Ga Frontier: Kyo, home to the Mind Magic dojo and at least one Opium Den. It's more like a drug factory run by a minion of the Big Bad.
• Salt and Sanctuary has the land of Kar'hi, which is largely unexplored by the game's story but provides all of the Japan-inspired gear, such as a naginata and the requisite katanas, as well as the youkai mask. It's also known for having colorful festivals, and its own unique grade of steel, likely a nod to how "Japanese steel" has a peculiar reputation in real life.
• Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game: Level 4 (after the part inside the bus). It's all in a (humongous) Sushi Shop full of ninjas, brutes, and of course, sushi.
• The Sims 3 adds one in the World Adventures Expansion Pack called Shang Simla, where you can practice kung fu and discover tombs.
• Skies of Arcadia: Yafutoma, one of many Fantasy Counterpart Cultures, has elements of China (such as a wall resembling the Great Wall) as well as Japan. It has a large distinctive-looking blue mountain and according to myth a "divine wind" saved the country from destruction.
• Although Sly Cooper loves its Asian settings, it didn't have a Japanese world until the fourth game, and in that case it was the feudal version. It's home to the ninja chef Rioichi Cooper, and the place is gorgeous beyond belief. Except it's also been taken over by a Fidel Castro expy.
• World 3 in Something Else has a distinct Japanese motif. It even has Cherry Blossom Trees, Miko and a Pagoda.
• In the Sonic the Hedgehog series:
  • Sonic Unleashed has the country of Chun-nan and its Dragon Road Zone, though with kung fu masters, shaolin temples, world-famous baozi, pandas, and even its own Great Wall, it seems to be specifically China rather than Japan.
  • Sonic Colors has Aquarium Park, which is closer to feudal Japan, with traditional architecture, koi, samurai, and, according to Dr. Eggman and Tails, specializes in serving sushi. This being Sonic, it cannot play completely straight; the twists are that this a robot feudal Japan made of iron and steel in space that's partially submerged underwater while still being fully inhabited.
  • In Sonic Mania, Act 2 of Press Garden Zone has some East Asian influence in the background. The boss of the stage is Heavy Shinobi, who attacks with his sword and uses Asterons as shurikens.
• Rainy Turtloid's stage from Mega Man X6 is set in a futuristic feudal Japan-based area.
• The Flintstones: The Rescue of Dino & Hoppy has the usual platform environments of jungles, ice, sea etc. but one level appears to be the prehistoric version of feudal Japan, complete with sakura trees, karateka and even karakasa. At the end Fred must fight a sumo fire-breathing dragon.
• Star Control: The Shofixti are an entire race of fuzzy beings that resemble Tanuki and present with many other Japanese stereotypes including plenty of Engrish. To top it off, they use weak-yet-fast ships and have a "Glory Device" that is used to kamikaze their ship as a last resort.
• Suikoden:
  • Rokkaku, a hidden ninja village that's oddly small even by RPG standards. Then again, they are ninjas, so maybe the player character only sees as much of the village as they want him to see.
  • At least in the first two games, there are certain towns that have a decidedly eastern style of architecture, while others are more western. Seems like quite a big difference for cities within the same empire/nation.
• Super Mario Bros.:
  • Super Mario Land has World 4, the Chai Kingdom, with a music track that fits the theme and Pionpi enemies that resemble Chinese Vampires.
  • Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins has the second level in the Pumpkin Zone, which resembles a Japanese house with a graveyard. Its filled to the brim with Youkai as enemies.
  • Super Mario 3D World has "World 6-3: Hands-on Hall" and its remake "World Mushroom-5: Back to Hands-on Hall". Both levels feature plenty of traditional Japanese architecture and deliberately show stereotypical renditions of medieval Japan.
  • Super Mario Odyssey has Bowser take a break from his usual castle decor and go for a traditional Japanese castle instead, where All Goombas Wear Conical Straw Hats, there are giant blocky stone ogres that make Kabuki Sounds when they die, and there are even statues of Bowser himself posing as the divinities Raijin and Fujin.
  • Super Mario Bros. Wonder: Shining Falls is a mystical landscape that evokes the vibe and atmosphere of a Ninja-themed mountainside, which is also reflected in its music. Mario and his friends have to scale the cube-shaped plateaus among the golden waterfalls to overcome trials within the levels in order to earn the Royal Seed (who is being guarded by a benevolent trainer instead of Bowser Jr.)
  • Mario Party 7: Pagoda Peak is a board set in a gray mountain located in the Far East, featuring many Chinese motifs and many activities based on kung fu training. This board's gimmick is that the Star is always located in the same place (namely the mountain's top where a Koopa master awaits), but the price to pay goes up every time someone reaches the top of the peak or a gong is hit when a player lands onto a certain Event Space, going from 10, to 20, to 30, to 40, until it resets back to 10.
  • Super Paper Mario has the Sammer's Kingdom, modeled after ancient Japan, complete with fitting music, falling cherry blossom leaves, pagodas, an emperor, and ninjas. The goal is to beat 100 Sammer Guys, one at a time, in succession, only being allowed to save after every 25. Of course, the first time you try, the world is absorbed into nothingness after the 30th Sammer Guy.
  • Paper Mario: The Origami King features Autumn Mountain, a Forest of Perpetual Autumn area filled with Japanese culture: shrines, characters dressed in asian attire, a Japanese temple, a field of rice, and an amusement park with Japanese attractions with the theatre being modeled after a traditional Japanese castle.
  • Wario Land: Shake It!: While not inhabited by anything other than enemies, and without Ninjas, has both Mount Bighill and Bamboozle Village with this kind of area theme.
  • All of the Ninjarama World in Yoshi's Crafted World is set up in some kind of Japanese Landscape. "Deceptive Doors" takes place at a dojo at night with Shy Guys throwing paper stars and green straws emulating bamboo stalks, "Behind the Shoji" is an autoscroller with the twist that portions of the level are hidden behind the titular sheet, and "The Shogun's Castle" is a Big Fancy Castle guarded by yogurt-cup swordsmen and featuring puzzles involving elevators.
  • Mario Kart Tour: Ninja Hideaway is a course based on very large Ninja School building, with multiple paths in its layout and Shy Guys practicing while all drivers are in the race. Notably, even the game's actual Japan-based track (Tokyo Blur) is portrayed more realistically, but that's likely part of the joke. Both tracks return in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe as DLC.
  • The fanmade Newer Super Mario Bros. Wii has World 4, Sakura Village. It is filled with bamboo stalks, cherry blossom trees, and houses modeled after those of feudal Japan. The main enemies found here are Shy Guys.
• The hidden Ninja village of Tales of Phantasia. Note that this game is predominantly Norse in its mythology. This village and Mizuho are strange about isolationism. Both are Hidden Ninja Villages staying hidden to maintain their culture, but don't seem to mind outsiders coming in.
• The Tengai Makyou series is set in the land of Zipang, a sort of ancient Japan as seen through the interpretation of an apocryphal 19th-century Orientalist.
• In Tiny Toon Adventures 2: Montana's Movie Madness, the second stage, "Samurai Saga", takes place in a Japanese town. Enemies include Roderick Rat clones dressed like samurais that toss paper fans, and frogs. Midway through the stage, Buster reaches a bath house, where he must avoid a flow of rising and falling One-Hit Kill water. The boss of the stage is Montana Max dressed like a samurai, who rides a frog while tossing paper fans.
• Freedom Planet's Planet Avalice is described as an oriental world, and it shows in the planet's building architecture and use of Chinese alphabet.
• The Warcraft universe. The island nation of Pandaria, though it's based more on China than Japan. It's also the focus of the World of Warcraft fourth expansion pack Mists of Pandaria. Pandaria started off as the Far East and was mostly Japanese inspired, but over time has become more of a Fantasy Counterpart Culture of China due to complaints from Chinese fans, who didn't want their national animal to be overtly influenced by aspects of Japanese culture.
• Harvest Moon: The Tale of Two Towns has the town of Konohana, which is meant to be a contrast to the other town in the game, the western-style Bluebell. Still, the other games in the series take place in western-style towns anyway, so while Bluebell looks the same as the towns in the previous games, Konohana feels very unique.
• Ionia in League of Legends and Legends of Runeterra is this, drawing mostly on China and Japan for aesthetics but also having some elements of India (Karma) and Korea (Ahri). They’re hardly the only Fantasy Counterpart Culture in the setting, though—the only region that really has strict “medieval European fantasy” for a hat is Demacia (though Noxus and the Shadow Isles occasionally have shades of it.)
• While the Ura from Bastion aren't completely this, they do have at least some of the traits, mostly in the physical traits and position of being at odds with the main character's country.
• The Far East Village (although not being particularly far east, but it is a village) from Shining the Holy Ark is a village made up of Ninjas and has a very Japanese feel to it. It's also isolated from the rest of the map by a series of mountain ranges.
• The Dragon Clan in ParaWorld is, essentially, Japan with dinosaurs.
• In the MUD Asylum, there's a section of the game that's mostly based off Japanese mythology, with a little China and other Asian influences thrown in for good measure. Players must travel here in order to become a Bare-Fisted Monk.
• Heroes of Might and Magic:
  • The Rampart town in III has a light Japanese influence in their architecture, which is especially prominent in their Mage Guild and Town Hall as well as having a shishi-odoshi as a special building. It is a little strange however, since culturally they have nothing to do with Japan, being a generic amalgamation of various wood elf tropes. Their creature lineup is also a pretty standard Fantasy Kitchen Sink with centaurs, unicorns, dragons, treants, ect. Future games moved them to a much more fitting Magical Native American design.
  • In VI, the Sanctuary town fits a more traditional version of this. They're a full-on Fantasy Counterpart Culture to Japan, with all of the architectural trappings as well as a racial mechanic that based on honourable combat via enforcing Conservation of Ninjutsu. Although their main species is naga, the rest of their creatures are various Youkai, with their upgraded forms even being their names in Gratuitous Japanese.
• Parodius Da! puts a characteristically bizarre touch on this theme with Stage 4, which features pagodas, sumo-wrestling animals, cherry trees that move around, and volcanoes that spew eggplants.
• While you never visit it (as it vanished centuries ago), Bravely Default and its sequel have the land of Wa, an island nation which is mentioned in the description of some items and has things like oni and samurai. The Ninja Konoe Kikyō is said to be of Wa descent. Bravely Second even allows players to obtain the oar used by Miyamoto Musashi in his duel with Sasaki Kojiro (simply named Musashi's Oar), with the swordsman described as a native of Wa (and, apparently, the very same Musashi that appears in Brave Fencer Musashi and Musashi Samurai Legend).
• The Matrix: Path of Neo has a few training levels modeled after this, particularly the training levels that take place inside and outside of the pagoda.
• In Terraria, the travelling merchant sells Dynasty Wood which lets you build Asian-themed architecture and furniture. In essence, you can build your own Wutai.
• The Legend of Zelda:
  • The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild: While the Sheikah have always had a Japanese vibe (given that they're reminiscent of Ninjas), it's this game which puts them squarely in this trope, with their home village of Kakariko being strongly based on a feudal Japanese village, which is also reflected in the music.
  • The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom: The Zonai are heavily inspired by pre-modern Japan. Their shrines and temples (which have many elements of traditional Japanese architecture) have neatly-arranged gravel sections resembling zen gardens, their secret stones look like magatama, one Zonai character wears a Magical Floating Shawl resembling a hagoromo, and so on. With that said, they also have Ancient Grome and Mayincatec aspects mixed in.
• Wizardry is likely the Trope Codifier, given its extreme popularity in Japan. Its standard classes were mostly pulled from Western fantasy, but it also had the Samurai and Ninja subclasses.
• Monster Hunter:
  • The series has Yukumo Village, introduced in Monster Hunter Portable 3rd and brought back in Monster Hunter Generations. It is a village designed in the style of feudal Japan whose main attraction is a small lake of hot spring water in which hunters can take a shower to improve their stats prior to a hunting quest. Despite being a popular touristic destination, in Portable 3rd it's being affected by an invasion of Zinogre specimens, often roaming in the nearby Misty Peaks, and the single-player story of Portable 3rd revolves around mitigating this problem (the multiplayer campaign leads to the reveal of the true source of the problem: an elder dragon called Amatsu which drove away the Zinogre from their actual habitat). Things are a little better in Generations, where instead of Zinogre the ongoing problem is a Leviathan known as Mizutsune. Lastly, though Yukumo doesn't appear in Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate, the nearby Misty Peaks area does.
  • Monster Hunter: Rise has Kamura Village, which takes its feudal Japanese inspirations even further: the game averts No Name Given by giving every key character in the village Japanese names (save for Rondine, who comes from abroad), the Canteen takes the form of a tea shop where Hunters enjoy green tea and dango treats, and the default Hunter armor resembles Ninja gear. The monsters introduced in Rise also draw heavy inspiration from Yōkai, such as the Kappa-like Tetranodon, the Oni-like Goss Harrag, and the Jorogumo-like Rakna-Kadaki.
• The Wrothians in Xenoblade Chronicles X. Ga Jiarg is a proud honorable warrior who pilots a Skell that looks like a giant robot samurai, Ga Buidhe is a Highly-Visible Ninja, the Wrothian warriors and their Caladar-class Skells appear to wear conical straw hats, and the Six Star arms manufacturer's logo resembles a six-point shuriken and their gear is highly Japanese-themed.
• Xenoblade Chronicles 2: The land of Torna was hinted to have this aesthetic in the base game before its destruction, given the eponymous terrorist group named after the fallen Titan all wore samurai-like clothing which tracks with what few Tornans are seen in flashbacks. The DLC prequel expansion taking place during the Aegis War confirms it, showing the Tornan Titan was a serpentine dragon with its buildings resembling pagodas and its inhabitants dressing in samurai-like clothing.
• A Hat in Time has Nyakuza Metro, a huge underground subway station with a modern Japanese motif, with the whole metropolis run by a cat Yakuza.
• Level 5 of the Monster in My Pocket video game is "Oriental Illusion", taking place in a bamboo garden and Japanese-style house. Tengu are also one of the local enemies.
• The Trails Series has the as-of-yet unnamed nation or nations to the east of Calvard, which are largely influenced by real-life Chinese and Japanese culture. Mass immigration into Western Zemuria has also created areas within it that are disproportionately populated and influenced by Eastern immigrants and their descendants, such as Calvard's Eastern Quarter and Crossbell's East Street.
• Prinny 2: Dawn of Operation Panties, Dood! has Sakura Palace and Nethersea Volcano, the former being a Japanese-style palace up in the sky, and the latter a Chinese-style restaurant in a volcano Under the Sea.
• Valkyrie Profile has Yamato. Taking things even further is the fact that the region and the nationality is "Yamato", a Japanese-inspired name ("Yamato" itself being literally an old name for Japan), but the primary village that Lenneth can visit is "Hai-Lan", an obviously Chinese name.
• In Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap, the Daimyo Temple is a Japanese-styled fortress hidden inside the underground tunnel; home to the Daimyo Dragon and several ninja and shogun henchmen.
• Densetsu no Stafy 4: This is the theme of the Hidden Village of Koimaro. Bamboo walls, Kitsune masks as decoration, fried shrimp enemies…you get the picture. Ninjas Shurkit and Kittana appear here, as well as the boss of the area having a Geisha-inspired appearance.
• Disney Speedstorm: The Mulan track takes place in Imperial China, with a section based on The Great Wall.

Web Original

• Fire Emblem on Forums: While not exceedingly common (owing to the original games hardly employing this trope outside of Fire Emblem Fates), a few examples still exist:
  • Chains of Horai: The entire game is set entirely in a Japanese-inspired setting, complete with ninja, samurai, being ruled by an Empress and so forth.
  • Wonderful Blessing: It is parodied here; Kaisei is entirely populated by Revivians, people who have reincarnated in Generia and so have brought over a mixture of modern Japanese culture and their own ideals based on anime. Kaiseians are thus considered incredibly weird by native Generians.
  • Autumn Colors: The entire game is set in a setting based on Heian-era Japan with an onmyodo commanding the players, his youkai.
• In The Gamer's Alliance, Yamato is based on Feudal Japan with all the samurai, geisha, ninja, shoguns, emperors, kitsune, and monks among other things.
• In Tales of MU, the island nation of Youkan is a direct equivalent of Feudal Japan, but modernized in the same way that the main setting is, including an equivalent of anime that the Fox Girl Sooni is very fond of.

Real Life

• The Republic of Kalmykia in Russia. Despite being located in the European part of the country north of the Caucasus, it and its inhabitants have a very East Asian appearance and culture, with Tibetan Buddhism being the dominant religion there, the only part of Europe to have Buddhism as its most-practiced religion. How this came to be is because the Kalmyks are a branch of Mongols, who migrated to the region in early 17th century, expelled the Turkic Nogais who were living there and settled the area themselves. Even though the area was then annexed by Russia, they were in no position to settle the area with Russian colonists, and so it became the Kalmyk Khanate, with the Kalmyks becoming subjects of the Tsar of Russia and protecting its southern borders in exchange for an annual allowance and access to the markets of Russia's border settlements.

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