Welcome to The Avocado’s weekly discussion of Japanese pop culture! I have something a little different today…an educational video game! I know there are several people on the site who are learning Japanese, or interested in learning, so I wanted to share this fun resource I found recently. The game is called Shashingo, and it’s available on Steam and Switch.

I’ve only played a little of the game so far, but it’s really cute and definitely has educational value. I was really impressed to see that I could hover over signs to translate the kanji (very useful for me as I’m a very contextual learner), and I find the sound of taking a photograph weirdly satisfying. It’s not a huge game, but between the objects you photograph, the bonus words on the cards, and all the vocabulary you can pick up by reading various signs, there are hundreds of words to learn. The best part is there are two built-in quiz features. One allows you to focus on listening or reading (or both at the same time) as you must locate and photograph the words it gives you. The second option quizzes you on the words on the back of the photographed word cards (multiple choice style). When you complete quizzes you receive coins to use in the gacha machine, which gives you more filters and effects for your camera (if you’re into customizing). You could also work on your pronunciation by shadowing while you play! Also, the music created by composer Kenya Abe is super chill and relaxing. So it’s just a great experience all around! Obviously you need to do a lot more than play a game to learn a language, but I think it’s really cool that things like this exist.

And, as always…

What have you been watching/reading/playing/eating/listening to lately?

Happy Wednesday! 👹