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About Jini Talks Games:<\/strong> On one hand, you could say this has given rise to a \u201cdigital native democracy\u201d that quickly finds and criticizes problems with governmental authorities and large corporations. On the other, even a concern that it\u2019s nothing more than destructive populism based on anger and hatred can trigger a storm of criticism that is seen as righteous in the conforming dystopia of the modern day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Can literature and art continue in this populistic age?<\/strong> These days, an author could get into trouble just by writing a disparaging word, even if taken out of context. Is (was?) The Dancing Girl<\/em>, a story about a Japanese foreign exchange student in Germany who impregnates a woman and leaves her behind to return home and pursue his career appropriate to be used in high school language classes? Even now, it\u2019s difficult to say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Like the above, trying to express something that slightly goes against modern values, or better yet, expressing something uncomfortable (even to be critical of it) lets \u201cliterature\u201d explore the depths of humanity. It lets us directly take lessons from the ferociousness, the wickedness, the beauty, and the weakness of human nature. There\u2019s a reason to want the freedom of expression.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Setting aside past literary masters, is \u201cliterature\u201d itself sustainable in a time when seeing only what you want to see is affirmed and anything outside of that causes an outrage?<\/p>\n\n\n\n For example, take 2020\u2019s The Last of Us Part II<\/em> which became a huge target online for what it depicted. While there was sincere criticism and critiques of the game, much of the discourse was emotional abuse toward the creators. Some of the game\u2019s cast were even sent death threats. This sort of thing represents the difficulty in discussing \u201cliterature\u201d in these times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (But like calling for political correctness in works, insisting that something not be politically correct is a deceptive way of saying only show me what I want to see.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cJini Talks Games: Perspectives from Japan\u201d is a project that aims to deliver English translations of opinion pieces by Japanese writer Jini.
About Jini:<\/strong>
Jini is a writer and editor who is working to expand the realm of video game criticism in Japan. His work can cover everything from political to societal issues as they relate to games and can be found across numerous forms of media including blogs, radio, books, and magazines.
Jini started his own blog in 2014 which has accumulated over 30 million page views to date. While also writing for other media outlets, he started Japan\u2019s first paid online games media website, Jini\u2019s Game Seminar<\/a>, in 2019 via the blogging website note. Jini\u2019s Game Seminar boasts the largest readership among paid games media in Japan. His first book<\/a> was published by Kadokawa in 2020.
*The following article is an English translation of Jini\u2019s original post on note<\/a> and made with Jini\u2019s consent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nowadays, with the prosperity of social media, users\u2019 voices can be amplified to a level that one couldn\u2019t possibly achieve on their own. This has led to storms being stirred up online seemingly every single day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n