{"id":56718,"date":"2026-02-14T01:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-13T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/?p=56718"},"modified":"2026-02-13T18:06:25","modified_gmt":"2026-02-13T09:06:25","slug":"sakuna-of-rice-and-ruins-gacha-spin-off-praised-in-japan-for-its-wholesome-agriculture-themed-ads-that-respect-the-games-worldview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/sakuna-of-rice-and-ruins-gacha-spin-off-praised-in-japan-for-its-wholesome-agriculture-themed-ads-that-respect-the-games-worldview\/","title":{"rendered":"Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin\u2019s gacha spin-off praised in Japan for its wholesome agriculture-themed ads that \u201crespect the game\u2019s worldview\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Publisher TOHO Games released the free-to-play mobile title <strong>Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin \u2013 Hinuka Journey<\/strong> on February 5 in Japan. Although mobile gacha games are often criticized for their intrusive advertising, this spin-off is garnering attention among Japanese players for its unique approach, as it only shows ads related to the game&#8217;s themes such as real-world agriculture and food dishes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin \u2013 Hinuka Journey is a mobile RPG based on the 2020 rice-farming simulation game Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin, developed by Edelweiss. Like many free-to-play titles, Hinuka Journey lets players earn &#8220;Yakumo Shards,&#8221; the game\u2019s premium currency, by watching short video ads. Players can receive 10 Yakumo Shards up to three times a day, for a total of 30 shards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, rather than showing unrelated games or generic services, which is common for most other mobile game ads, the ads in Sakuna were narrowed down to align with the game\u2019s core themes, such as agriculture and Japanese cuisine. So far, we\u2019ve seen &nbsp;commercials for the Japanese rice wholesaler Yamato Rice\u2019s packaged \u201cSoft Brown Rice,\u201d the miso manufacturer Nakamo\u2019s miso sauce &#8220;Tsukete Miso Kakete Miso&#8221; (literally means Dip in Miso, Pour on Miso) and an advertisement for the game\u2019s original soundtrack. Some players also reported seeing commercials for agricultural TV programs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"\u30ca\u30ab\u30e2\u682a\u5f0f\u4f1a\u793e\u300c\u3064\u3051\u3066\u307f\u305d\u304b\u3051\u3066\u307f\u305d\u300d\u65b0TVCM\u79c1\u305f\u3061\u5927\u304d\u304f\u306a\u3063\u305f\u3088\u7bc7\" width=\"1160\" height=\"653\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/W_ETbr0KQvw?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>In a <a href=\"https:\/\/sakuna-hinuka.jp\/news\/187\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">statement<\/a> regarding their advertising strategy on the game\u2019s official website, the developers noted: \u201cWe place advertisements that respect the game&#8217;s worldview and user experience.\u201d The developers are also currently looking for new partners to advertise within the game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The world of Sakuna has always been closely linked with real-world agriculture and rice farming. For example, Hinuka Journey features real-life rice varieties such as Koshihikari and Hitomebore, and lucky winners of the game\u2019s pre-registration campaign could receive high-end rice cookers and actual rice produced by Yamagata\u2019s Japan Agricultural Cooperative as prizes. Sakuna\u2019s TV anime adaptation has also previously collaborated with the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"ja\" dir=\"ltr\">\u3010\u901f\u5831\u3011<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/%E5%A4%A9%E7%A9%82%E3%81%AE%E3%82%B5%E3%82%AF%E3%83%8A%E3%83%92%E3%83%A1?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#\u5929\u7a42\u306e\u30b5\u30af\u30ca\u30d2\u30e1<\/a> \u2716\ufe0f <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/%E8%BE%B2%E6%9E%97%E6%B0%B4%E7%94%A3%E7%9C%81?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#\u8fb2\u6797\u6c34\u7523\u7701<\/a> \u30b3\u30e9\u30dc\u6c7a\u5b9a\uff01 \u3000<br> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/r38n0GAaA3\">https:\/\/t.co\/r38n0GAaA3<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/4721YATY9X\">pic.twitter.com\/4721YATY9X<\/a><\/p>&mdash; \u8fb2\u6797\u6c34\u7523\u7701 (@MAFF_JAPAN) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MAFF_JAPAN\/status\/1806523006862438814?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 28, 2024<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Searching through X using the hashtag \uff03\u30b5\u30af\u30ca\u30d2\u30cc\u30ab (SakunaHinuka), it seems many users have been favorably receiving these ads, pointing out the &#8220;mouthwatering food porn&#8221; you don&#8217;t usually get in a regular gacha game. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin \u2013 Hinuka Journey is available for free on iOS \/ Android, in Japan only. A Steam port of the game is currently in development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Related articles:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/20201225-416\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Developers of Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin get an interview with the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/20220921-15805\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>One Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin player decided to grow an actual rice field<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/20210910-1994\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin developer takes a cue from the real-life news and creates giant rice plants<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Japanese players praise Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin \u2013 Hinuka Journey&#8217;s ingenious use of agriculture and cuisine-themed ads in-game.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":87,"featured_media":56721,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[17],"class_list":["post-56718","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-japan-related-news"],"blocksy_meta":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin\u2019s gacha spin-off praised in Japan for its wholesome agriculture-themed ads that \u201crespect the game\u2019s worldview\u201d - AUTOMATON WEST<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Japanese players praise Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin \u2013 Hinuka Journey&#039;s ingenious use of agriculture and cuisine-themed ads in-game.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/sakuna-of-rice-and-ruins-gacha-spin-off-praised-in-japan-for-its-wholesome-agriculture-themed-ads-that-respect-the-games-worldview\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin\u2019s gacha spin-off praised in Japan for its wholesome agriculture-themed ads that \u201crespect the game\u2019s worldview\u201d - 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