A Professor In Japan Explains That No, The Japanese Gov’t Doesn’t Care About Assassin’s Creed Shadows

As we had reported before, Assassin’s Creed Shadows faced a maelstrom of controversy in the months leading to its release. Some of it was strong along by the viral spread of disinformation about the game, and how it was perceived in Japan. Now that the game is finally available, it seems a last minute controversy is coming in – or is it?

Jeffrey J. Hall is a researcher and author who specializes in contemporary Japanese politics. He is a Special Lecturer in Japanese Studies at Kanda University of International Studies. You can find and order his latest book, 2021’s Japan’s Nationalist Right in the Internet Age, on Routledge’s website here. One could say, he is especially qualified to identify and correct misinformation about Japanese politics, especially on the internet.

Hall made a small thread debunking the latest claims that Assassin’s Creed Shadows is being criticized by no less than Japan’s Prime Minister, Shigeru Ishiba. To cut straight to the point:

“Beware of headlines or tweets claiming that the Prime Minister of Japan said he “cannot accept” Assassin’s Creed Shadows or finds it to be “an insult to the nation.” It’s very clear from his remarks that Ishiba was referring to real life acts of vandalism against shrines”

Hall’s thread elaborated that in this budget hearing, Japanese politicians are free to ask any questions to the Prime Minister, even ones that are unrelated or completely frivolous. Hall claims that the politician who asked Ishiba about Assassin’s Creed Shadows was seeking attention to improve his own career prospects, and that Ishiba wasn’t likely to really follow up on these claims.

Hall also points out that, in much like other functional democracies, Japan’s constitution guarantees freedom of speech. So any video game, movie, or show that depicts a shrine being destroyed is legally allowed. We pointed out in an earlier report that Japan has its own video game rating agency, CERO, which is the government office that holds responsibilities for these, and not high level politicians.

In fact, CERO does have a track record of disallowing games from being sold in Japan, and also requiring changes to games so that they will be allowed to be sold. And for those who don’t remember, CERO gave Assassin’s Creed Shadows a Z rating, their equivalent of ESRB’s Adults Only rating.

As Automaton reported, Ubisoft agreed to alter depictions of severed limbs and heads in Assassin’s Creed Shadows only for Japan, to be allowed to sell their game under that rating. CERO did not request any changes related to depictions of shrines being destroyed. As you can see in this Amazon Japan listing, the game is available to buy on physical disc in the country.

It can certainly be gratifying to imagine that video games are so important that heads of state would take them seriously, but works of fiction are rarely that important. If an anime can depict a shrine that’s been turned to evil, why would it be disallowed to show a shrine being destroyed in any fictional media? Indeed, if you think about it for a minute, it wouldn’t even make sense.

In any case, gamers who dislike Assassin’s Creed Shadows don’t have to spread fake news to say so. There’s no lack of reviews with criticisms of the game, and of course, you simply don’t have to buy and play it.