{ "title": "Episode 763: Gaming in Japan's Showa Era [Part 1]", "link": "https://www.patreon.com/posts/episode-763-in-1-155818224", "pubDate": "Fri, 17 Apr 2026 11:00:15 GMT", "enclosure": { "url": "https://www.patreon.com/api/rss/u/qT6yj_KvyTyRfhY844EYuLQC6g56zang/e/155818224.mp3?sig=kg9C4FNv1Guna8F5hFCFGYkqPaZ1ljXUvf5DI_LWz-M%3D", "length": "87119627", "type": "audio/mpeg" }, "content": "

Jeremy: Nothing like playing the long game, eh?

John Andersen and I started laying the groundwork for this episode at PAX East... 2025. That was more than a year ago! And it's only now come to fruition. Sometimes, you just gotta let things marinate. Although, in this case, a lot of the marination had to do with getting schedules aligned for everyone involved. Since this episode is about cultural and political events vis-a-vis pop culture in 1970s Japan, we had to get Pure Invention author Matt Alt on here. It just wouldn't do to scrimp, you know?

Anyway, the long gestation period for this episode meant that some of the topic we covered here became alarmingly timely in the interim. This topic has some powerful present-day resonances. We don't get too deeply into current politics here, but some parallels ended up being hard to ignore, so if that kind of thing annoys you, this may not be the episode for you.

For everyone else, this episode is the first of what I envision as a four- or five-part series about how the cultural events that shaped Japan's history in the 1970s through the 2000s (Showa and Heisei eras) directly impacted video games. Not just in terms of design trends or whatever, but in terms of logisitics, fads, and shifting social mores. It's a part of the Trends & Influences series that I began last year with our episodes about things like the American Satanic Panic of the 1980s. If you like thinking about how society shapes video games and vice-versa, please enjoy the listen.

Edits by Greg Leahy

", "contentSnippet": "Jeremy: Nothing like playing the long game, eh?\nJohn Andersen and I started laying the groundwork for this episode at PAX East... 2025. That was more than a year ago! And it's only now come to fruition. Sometimes, you just gotta let things marinate. Although, in this case, a lot of the marination had to do with getting schedules aligned for everyone involved. Since this episode is about cultural and political events vis-a-vis pop culture in 1970s Japan, we had to get Pure Invention author Matt Alt on here. It just wouldn't do to scrimp, you know? \nAnyway, the long gestation period for this episode meant that some of the topic we covered here became alarmingly timely in the interim. This topic has some powerful present-day resonances. We don't get too deeply into current politics here, but some parallels ended up being hard to ignore, so if that kind of thing annoys you, this may not be the episode for you.\nFor everyone else, this episode is the first of what I envision as a four- or five-part series about how the cultural events that shaped Japan's history in the 1970s through the 2000s (Showa and Heisei eras) directly impacted video games. Not just in terms of design trends or whatever, but in terms of logisitics, fads, and shifting social mores. It's a part of the Trends & Influences series that I began last year with our episodes about things like the American Satanic Panic of the 1980s. If you like thinking about how society shapes video games and vice-versa, please enjoy the listen. \nEdits by Greg Leahy\n\n05:47 -\u00a0Grave of the Fireflies: Seita & Setsuko\n\n15:57 -\u00a0Godzilla Minus One: Mission\n\n26:35 - The Grass Roots: \"Let's Live for Today\"\n\n37:47 -\u00a0Golgo 13: Assignment Kowloon: Opening Title\n\n47:29 -\u00a0Godzilla vs. Hedorah: Give Back the Sun!\n\n52:56 - Noam Kaniel: \"Goldorak\"\n\n1:01:23 - Masayoshi Takanaka: \"An Insatiable High\"\n\n1:10:04 - Doc Severinsen: \"Tonight\"\n\n1:20:10 - 1979 Sony Walkman TV Commercial\n\n1:29:29 - Pink Lady: \"Pepper Keibu\"\n\n1:40:43 -\u00a0Rashomon: Suite No. 5\n\n1:49:38 -\u00a0House\u00a0(1977): Sweet Dreams of Days Gone By\nClosing - Masayoshi Takanaka: \"Good (Bad?) Old Days\"", "guid": "155818224", "isoDate": "2026-04-17T11:00:15.000Z", "itunes": { "duration": "7088", "image": "https://c10.patreonusercontent.com/4/patreon-media/p/post/155818224/49d0bf42fc724691abdc867750861b05/eyJkIjo3MiwiaCI6MzAwMCwic3RyaXBfYWxwaGEiOjEsInciOjMwMDAsIndlYnAiOjB9/1.png?token-hash=8zmuw7h0PgNFfv0qcCYxCGdWTfG9d4iQjnBKDnF_5bs%3D", "episode": "763" }, "itunes_duration": "1:58:07" }