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| This article is part of the series |
| Decades in Japan |
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The 1990s in Japan was the beginning of economic turmoil and recession for that particular nation, resulting in their Lost Decade . [1] While the Lost Decade would finally end in 2000 for Japan, [1] this would become the era where young Japanese salarymen were forced to find different lines of work.
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Japanese vehicles began to exceed North American standards in terms of fuel efficiency, as advancements in technology allowed them to achieve higher miles per gallon compared to their North American counterparts. As the cost of gasoline surged, individuals in Japan and other oil-reliant countries increasingly relied on high-speed rail networks and other forms of mass transit, such as buses. [2] The average price of gasoline at the end of the next decade would rise to $8/gallon on a national level; making it unaffordable for most Japanese people to drive long distances unless necessary. Since gasoline prices have risen significantly since the 1990s worldwide, it will be inevitable for gasoline prices to go up to $20/gallon within the course of the 21st century. [3] After the 1990s ended and the 21st century began, Japanese residents (in addition to other people) will experience a return to local produce (through local farmers' markets instead of expensive grocery stores), [3] increased use of renewable energy like wind energy and solar energy, [3] the exodus from the exurbs to urban centers, [3] more electric car sales, [3] and a major shakeup of the airline industry. [3]
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While new gaming consoles like the Super Famicom [4] and the Sony PlayStation [5] flooded the market, most young people began to move in with their parents, and read manga. This was due to the fact that individuals were unable to secure employment that would allow them to maintain their accustomed standard of living and desired amenities. During this period, numerous video games were released, particularly for the Super Famicom. Popular American titles like SimCity and SimEarth gained popularity for Japanese video gamers. The 1990s was also the era for Chrono Trigger , [6] Final Fantasy IV , Final Fantasy VI , and Final Fantasy VII . These games became multimillion-dollar blockbusters in Japan, Europe, and North America. However, the Famicom went into decline and most game companies halved their production of new 8-bit games by 1994.
Even the Nintendo Game Boy acquired popularity in Japan (spawning a lineup of Japan-exclusive video games) [7] and eventually the Japanese release of the Nintendo Game Boy Advance. Nintendo Power wrote an exposé about Japanese video games (using one of its first 50 issues). The exposé stated that Japanese video games were less censored than their North American counterparts. Video games that were released in Japan employed some form of sexual content, [8] brought forth the invocation of religious symbols, [8] utilized a level of violence never seen in North American games [8] (until the release of Doom in the mid-1990s), and mentioning tobacco in addition to alcohol so that the story could have more flavor. [8] Some of these Japanese games, which were uncensored, even included the use of vulgar language.
The Sega CD (known as the Sega Mega CD in Japan) was one of the first platforms to offer full motion video beyond the personal computer market. [9] It became trendy in the 1990s (and in the 2000s) for players to create their own role-playing video games. Game creation software like RPG Tsukūru: Super Dante and RPG Tsukūru 2 made it possible for players to create role-playing games on their Super Famicom systems. Although these games did not feature the same level of graphical detail as titles such as Chrono Trigger or Final Fantasy VI, which were dominant in the RPG genre during the 1990s, they provided players with "game creation tools" that enabled them to become game designers in the 2000s and beyond. Sequels like RPG Maker 2000 and RPG Maker XP provided that the original two software in the series were highly successful.
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Professional wrestling continued to decline well into the 1990s like it did in the 1980s.
Races often took place at either Suzuka Circuit or at Fuji Speedway. A NASCAR exhibition race was held in Motegi, Japan during the late 1990s in the hopes of getting people interested in stock car racing. [10]
During the 1990s, it became increasingly rare for Japanese businessmen to be able to play golf alongside their employers. Golf courses began closing up by the bundles and many young men (who would otherwise enter the workforce under a more ideal economy) began only to have golf experience from their years as a student. Besides the sporting aspect, golf was used in Japan in order to adapt to corporate culture. [11]
The 1990s was also the decade that the American film Mr. Baseball was released; [12] introducing an American audience to Japanese baseball. The Chunichi Dragons and the Yomiuri Giants became popular teams after the Mr. Baseball movie made mention of them. Nippon Professional Baseball was one of the sports to watch in Japan in addition to Formula One (featuring Japan's Satoru Nakajima who retired early in the 1990s but gained respect worldwide). The only perfect game of the 1990s for the Nippon Professional Baseball league came on May 18, 1994, with the Yomiuri Giants shutting out the Hiroshima Toyo Carp by a score of 6–0.
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Anime like Dragon Ball Z (shōnen) [13] and Pokémon (shōnen) developed an international audience after being created in Japan. Girl-oriented (shōjo) anime like Sailor Moon also became of age during the 1990s. This show would be the inspiration for the 2000s anime Tokyo Mew Mew (known in North America as Mew Mew Power). J-Pop continued to be popular among Japanese female teenagers.
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While people were losing their jobs, technology still was advancing at an exponential rate—making more jobs obsolete as new technologies replaced the old. Manufacturing jobs were being replaced with service sector jobs just like they were doing in the Western countries—leading to people being underemployed in either minimum wage or near-minimum wage jobs. There was some economic recovery after this decade, but the spending on cars and whiskey had not returned to the levels that were reached during the Japanese economic boom of the 1980s. Japan made up for the labor shortages in the 1990s by hiring temporary workers without security or job benefits.
As of March 2010, the unemployment rate in Japan was 4.9%; [15] a very low number compared to the unemployment rate during the height of the Lost Decade.
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The 1990s would be the final decade where the birth rate in Japan would exceed the death rate, despite attempts by government agencies to encourage procreation through advertising and media campaigns throughout the decade.
The Tokyo subway sarin attack, usually referred to in the Japanese media as the Subway Sarin Incident (地下鉄サリン事件 Chikatetsu Sarin Jiken?), was an act of domestic terrorism perpetrated on March 20, 1995, in Tokyo, Japan by members of the Aum Shinrikyo cult.
In five coordinated attacks, the perpetrators released sarin on several lines of the Tokyo subway, killing 13 people, severely injuring 50 and causing temporary vision problems for nearly 1,000 others. The attack was directed against trains passing through Kasumigaseki and Nagatachō, home to the Japanese government. It was the most serious attack to occur in Japan since the end of World War II.
The Great Hanshin Earthquake, which occurred on January 17, 1995, in the southern part of Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, was a devastating event. It measured 6.9 on the moment magnitude scale and had a maximum intensity of 7 on the JMA Seismic Intensity Scale. The earthquake resulted in approximately 6,434 deaths, with Kobe being the most severely affected city.
The quake was an "inland shallow earthquake" caused by the movement along active faults, notably the Nojima Fault on Awaji and the Suma and Suwayama faults in Kobe. It lasted for 20 seconds, causing significant damage, including destroying nearly 400,000 buildings, elevated road and rail bridges, and port quays. Approximately 300 fires were triggered, and water, electricity, and gas supply disruptions were widespread.
The majority of the casualties occurred in Hyōgo Prefecture, with over 4,000 deaths. Structural damage was severe, with one in five uninhabitable buildings in the worst-hit areas. The earthquake also profoundly impacted transportation infrastructure, with elevated expressways and railways sustaining substantial damage.
The earthquake prompted a reassessment of building codes and construction practices. Despite initial beliefs that collapsed structures were negligently constructed, it was later revealed that many complied with the building codes of the 1960s, which were later found to be inadequate. The damage highlighted the vulnerability of certain construction methods, particularly those predating the 1981 building code revision.
The earthquake caused subsidence in artificial islands, such as Rokkō Island and Port Island in Kobe, due to liquefaction. Notably, the Akashi Kaikyō Bridge, under construction near the epicenter, was undamaged but experienced horizontal displacement.
In the aftermath, there were extensive efforts to repair and rebuild infrastructure, with the Kobe Municipal Subway resuming operations a day after the earthquake. The earthquake had a lasting impact on seismic regulations and disaster preparedness in Japan.
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System, commonly shortened to Super Nintendo, Super NES or SNES, is a 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan and South Korea, 1991 in North America, 1992 in Europe and Oceania and 1993 in South America. In Japan, it is called the Super Famicom (SFC). In South Korea, it is called the Super Comboy and was distributed by Hyundai Electronics. The system was released in Brazil on August 30, 1993, by Playtronic. Although each version is essentially the same, several forms of regional lockout prevent cartridges for one version from being used in other versions.
Final Fantasy III is a role-playing video game developed and published by Square for the Family Computer. The third installment in the Final Fantasy series, it is the first numbered Final Fantasy game to feature the job-change system. The story revolves around four orphaned youths drawn to a crystal of light. The crystal grants them some of its power, and instructs them to go forth and restore balance to the world. Not knowing what to make of the crystal's pronouncements, but nonetheless recognizing the importance of its words, the four inform their adoptive families of their mission and set out to explore and bring back balance to the world.
The Legend of Zelda, originally released in Japan as The Hyrule Fantasy: Zelda no Densetsu, is an action-adventure game developed and published by Nintendo. The first game of The Legend of Zelda series, it is set in the fantasy land of Hyrule and centers on an elf-like boy named Link, who aims to collect the eight fragments of the Triforce of Wisdom in order to rescue Princess Zelda from Ganon. The player controls Link from a top-down perspective and navigates throughout the overworld and dungeons, collecting weapons, defeating enemies and uncovering secrets along the way.
A role-playing video game, commonly referred to as a role-playing game (RPG) or computer role-playing game (CRPG), is a video game genre where the player controls the actions of a character immersed in some well-defined world, usually involving some form of character development by way of recording statistics. Many role-playing video games have origins in tabletop role-playing games and use much of the same terminology, settings, and game mechanics. Other major similarities with pen-and-paper games include developed story-telling and narrative elements, player character development, complexity, as well as replay value and immersion. The electronic medium removes the necessity for a gamemaster and increases combat resolution speed. RPGs have evolved from simple text-based console-window games into visually rich 3D experiences.
Satoshi Tajiri is a Japanese video game designer and director who is the creator of the Pokémon franchise and the co-founder and president of video game developer Game Freak.
Lufia, known as Estpolis Denki in Japan, was a series of role-playing video games developed by Neverland. In Japan, the games were originally published by Taito and later, its now-parent company Square Enix, and after the closing of Taito's North American branch after the release of the first game, Natsume Inc. and Atlus USA in the U.S. While the games are primarily traditional 2D RPGs, they draw on elements from many other genres including action-adventure, monster collecting, and puzzle games. In the 1990s the games were originally developed on the Super NES while the most recent installment, Lufia: Curse of the Sinistrals, was developed for the Nintendo DS and was released in 2010 for Japan on February 25 and for North America on October 12. The series currently consists of six games, including this most recent installment.
TwinBee (ツインビー) is a video game series composed primarily of cartoon-themed vertical-scrolling shoot-'em-up games produced by Konami that were released primarily in Japan. The series originated as a coin-operated video game simply titled TwinBee in 1985, which was followed by several home versions and sequels. The character designs of almost every game in the series since Detana!! TwinBee in 1991 were provided by Japanese animator Shuzilow HA, who also planned and supervised most of the subsequent installments in the TwinBee series. The series also inspired a radio drama adaptation that lasted three seasons in Japan, as well as an anime adaptation.
Dragon Quest, titled Dragon Warrior when initially localized to North America, is a role-playing video game developed by Chunsoft and published by Enix for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It was originally released in Japan in 1986 and by Nintendo in North America in 1989. It is the first game in the Dragon Quest video game series. Dragon Quest has been ported and remade for several video game platforms, including the MSX, MSX2, PC-9801, Super Famicom, Game Boy Color, Nintendo 3DS, PlayStation 4, mobile phones, and Nintendo Switch as of 2019. The player controls the hero character who is charged with saving the Kingdom of Alefgard and rescuing its princess from the evil Dragonlord. Dragon Warrior's story became the second part in a trilogy, with several spinoff anime and manga series.
Harvest Moon, known in Japan as Farm Story, is a farm simulation role-playing video game developed by Amccus for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. The game first was released in Japan by Pack-In-Video in 1996, in North America by Natsume Inc. in 1997, and in Europe by Nintendo in 1998. The European version shipped with language localizations for Germany and France. It is the first game in the long-running Story of Seasons video game series, previously known as the Harvest Moon series in western territories. The game has been re-released on the Satellaview, Nintendo 3DS, Wii, Wii U and Nintendo Switch.
NES Open Tournament Golf, known in Japan as Mario Open Golf, is a sports video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Entertainment System. NES Open Tournament Golf is the second Nintendo published golf-based video game released for the NES, the first game being Golf. In addition to the Famicom version of Golf, there were two other Nintendo published golf-based video games released in Japan. These games were released in disk format on the Family Computer Disk System in 1987. These two games were Family Computer Golf: Japan Course and Family Computer Golf: U.S. Course.
Golf is a golf-based sports simulation video game developed and released by Nintendo in 1984 for the Famicom in Japan. Later the same year, it was ported to the Nintendo VS. System as VS. Golf or Stroke and Match Golf, released in arcades internationally, followed by another arcade version called VS. Ladies Golf. The original was re-released for the NES in North America in 1985, and for the Famicom Disk System in 1986 in Japan.
Barcode World (バーコードワールド) is a video game developed by Epoch and published by Sunsoft.
RPG Maker, known in Japan as RPG Tsukūru, is a series of programs for the development of role-playing video games (RPGs) with story-driven elements, created by the Japanese group ASCII, succeeded by Enterbrain. The Japanese name, Tsukūru, is a pun mixing the Japanese word tsukuru (作る), means "make" or "create", with tsūru (ツール), the Japanese transliteration of the English word "tool".
The 1990s was the third decade in the industry's history. It was a decade of marked innovation in video gaming. It was a decade of transition from sprite-based graphics to full-fledged 3D graphics and it gave rise to several genres of video games including, but not limited to, the first-person shooter, real-time strategy, survival horror, and MMO. Arcade games, although still very popular in the early 1990s, began to decline as home consoles became more common. The fourth and fifth generation of video game consoles went on sale, including the Sega Genesis, Super Nintendo, Sega Saturn, PlayStation, Nintendo 64, and Game Boy Color. Notable games released in the 1990s included Super Mario World, Sonic the Hedgehog, Street Fighter II, Mortal Kombat, Killer Instinct, Tekken,Doom, Wolfenstein 3D, Quake, Duke Nukem 3D, Final Fantasy VII, Unreal Tournament, Star Fox, Half-Life, Grand Theft Auto, Super Mario 64, Pokémon Red and Blue, NBA Jam,Daytona USA, GoldenEye 007, System Shock 2, Civilization,Ridge Racer, Sonic Adventure, Gran Turismo, Super Mario Kart, Pokémon Gold and Silver,Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, Super Metroid, Silent Hill, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Crash Bandicoot, Spyro The Dragon, Fallout, Metal Gear Solid, Diablo, Virtua Fighter, Tomb Raider,Sega Rally Championship, Wing Commander,Super Smash Bros, Secret of Mana,Thief: The Dark Project, Age of Empires, Nights into Dreams, Panzer Dragoon, Gunstar Heroes, EverQuest, Chrono Trigger, Battletoads, Worms, Micro Machines, Streets of Rage 2,Baldur's Gate,Donkey Kong Country, Wipeout, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past,Lemmings, EarthBound, StarCraft, Banjo-Kazooie, PaRappa the Rapper, Resident Evil, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, Soulcalibur, Command & Conquer, and Dance Dance Revolution.
The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit third-generation home video game console produced by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan in 1983 as the Family Computer (FC), commonly referred to as Famicom. It was redesigned to become the NES, which was released in American test markets on October 18, 1985, and was soon fully launched in North America and other regions.
The 2000s in Japan began with hope and optimism for the 21st century and ended with the Late-2000s recession.
Video games are a major industry in Japan, and the country is considered one of the most influential in video gaming. Japanese game development is often identified with the golden age of video games and the country is home to many notable video game companies such as Nintendo, Sega, Taito, Bandai Namco Entertainment, Capcom, Square Enix, Konami, NEC, SNK and formerly Sony Computer Entertainment. Japan is currently the third largest video game market in the world after China and the United States.
