by Lillian Liu
Play the game at the following link!
https://prezi.com/view/P2gKLKp3m6nVN7sySKWN/
Commentary
The Confessions of Lady Nijo is a legendary woman’s diary written in the Kamakura period. It was a hidden secret until Yamagishi Tokuhei found it by a wonderful stroke of luck in the Imperial Household Library in 1940 (Brazell, 1973). The story starts with the life of a captivating courtesan and slowly evolves into the lady’s transformation into an independent female traveller through her “Buddhist awakening” (Laffin, 2005). It equips readers with abundant information to perceive and analyze the life of a woman inside and outside the ancient Japanese imperial court.
Because travel is at the heart of this literary work, the sugoroku game serves as an innovative medium to take the players on a highly evocative and spiritual journey with the protagonist. Through travelling, Nijo seeks personal repentance as well as spiritual redemption for her father, herself, and her past lovers, including the Retired Emperor GoFukakusa, and the deceased monk Ariake. The game mirrors Nijo’s happiness and losses experienced in life. Each of the selected events are critical building blocks that led Nijo to the person she grew into. Only through these ordeals and trials did she become the writer of such awe-inspiring literature.
This game not only connects us to the protagonist of the story, but also creates bonds between players. The game juxtaposes key moments and themes in Nijo’s journey, including solitude and community, romantic love and independence, luxury and asceticism, joy and grief. When players land on certain woodblock paintings, they can
click the painting and the image will magnify. As the photo magnify, instructions for players are revealed. Players will not get penalized for landing on the less fortunate stops. Each stop serves a purpose and offers a time for freedom in interpretation. Each round will be unique and has its own cadence as players offer different opinions and interpretations. By having players move through different paintings and explore diverse questions posed by each step, I hope players can find resonances with and derive a newfound understanding of this classic literary work. The questions and instructions in the game are meant to be open-ended so that players could ponder and articulate unique responses with each other. This in turn helps the sugoroku game become a vibrant hub for literary analysis and for players to bond with each other over a video conferencing platform.
One of my motives for creating this game in the midst of a raging pandemic is to transport players to a different world that is both reminiscent of player’s travel experience as well as a world that is completely novel. I hope that players can feel energized and hopeful through participating in Nijo’s journey and this sugoroku game.
Instructions
Please search for a “Random Number Generator” in your browser. Set the lowest value
to 0 and the largest value to 3. Each player will take turn pressing the number generator.
Enjoy the game!
Works Cited
Brazell, K. (1973). The confession of lady Towazugatari. Stanford, CA: Stanford
University Press.
Laffin, C. (2005). Woman, Travel, and Cultural Production in Kamakura Japan: A Socio-
Literary Analysis of Izayoi Nikki and Towazugatari. Columbia University.
Image Citations
Bunkyo, Sakuragawa. (1788). An Entertainment at Shinagawa [Woodblock print]. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/36706.
Hokusai, K. (ca. 1830–32). Tama River in Musashi Province (Bushū Tamagawa), from the series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji (Fugaku sanjūrokkei) [Woodblock print]. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/56392.
Hiroshige, U. (1817–58). Boat on the Sumida [Woodblock print]. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/460337.
Hiroshige, U. (1857). Sudden Shower over Shin-Ōhashi Bridge and Atake (Ōhashi Atake no yūdachi), from the series One Hundred Famous Views of Edo [Woodblock print]. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/55433.
Hiroshige, U. (ca. 1840). Japanese White-eye and Titmouse on a Camellia Branch [Woodblock print]. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/36722.
Hiroshige, U. (ca. 1834). Hiratsuka, Nawate Do [Woodblock print]. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/55049.
Hokkei, T. (19th century). Woman in the Rain at Midnight Driving a Nail into a Tree to Invoke Evil on Her Unfaithful Lover [Woodblock print]. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/54003.
Hiroshige, U. (ca. 1834). Yokkaichi, Sanchokawa [Woodblock print]. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/36965.
Firstly, I want to mention that I really like the interface of the game. Being able to enlargen the sport I am on and navigating by clicking the arrows helps me remember where I am situated without the need for playing pieces. Also, very beneficial for people like me without 20\20 vision: this way, I was actually able to see the images without struggling.
Which bring me to my next point: the beautiful visuals! The images were all selected with much care and beautiful to look at; it made me feel like I’m immersed in the journey.
I also really like the communication part of the game. It forces you to open up and bond with the person you’re playing with (in a good way!). Especially in a time like this, where many of us feel lonely and isolated, that was a lovely idea.
The only suggestion I would make is to include some brief instructions. We were a little puzzled what exactly the rules of the game were and didn’t know whether everyone just goes through every block of the game and there is no “winner,” but it is more so just intended for exchange or whether we should use some kind of dice and whoever reaches the finish first wins.
We ended up using one dice in order to have a good amount of playtime while adding some extra excitement of “who will win?”
Beautiful game, Lillian!
I think that this game has very nice visuals and kept my interest because of all of the interesting and beautiful photos. It was also fun to play the game by navigating through the board by clicking the arrows to enlarge the photos, I thought that was a very exciting and creative. It helped keep us on track of the game and the arrows in the main board was also helpful so that we are able to stay on track and understand which way to go next.
We also appreciated that when the photos enlarge, there is an explanation of it to give us more information. I think using prezi was very innovative and a different way to present the game as well. We definitely felt like we were able to experience Lady Nijo’s journey through this game and were able to communicate well with each other.
Although we were a bit confused on the instructions of the game as to who should go first, we were debating between either rolling a dice and whomever gets the higher number would get to go first, or if we should pick a card on an app but ended up using a dice as that was much easier than the card option. Also, since we were unclear on if there was an objective goal to be a “winner,” we found it fun to decide on if we wanted to either play by just going through the block and having no winner or competing. Overall, it was a beautiful game and very fun!
First, I love the interface and the high-quality images. Bravo. I also liked pressing next which kept me on edge because I did not know what question I would get. Call it to a guilty conscious, but I do not get along well the not knowing. According to my friend, this is her favorite game, and we are planning on watching a bigger audience play to make things more interesting and informative.
Second, I love the context (the questions) asked throughout the game. I do not have much experience with travel, but these questions inspired my current predicament, which involves traveling despite the COVID-19 situation. It felt like I was sitting across from a therapist and revealing my insides to a person I could trust. It was profoundly emotional, challenging, and rewarding. It is not every day that one encounters a game that makes them reflect on their life choices and wish for attainable things. This game creates such an environment. With all the isolation and loneliness going on, sharing my limited travel experiences with a profoundly well-traveled friend was like a breath of fresh share. Instead of being alone, I was in the company of a trusted companion where we traveled and shared experiences, reliving our pasts and hoping for a travel-free future. The genuine hope imbued in the game is exceptional.
Third, there is no context for the game. I wish the commentary to this game were attached to learn about Lady Nijo, why she traveled, and her experiences. After all, this course is about enhancing our understanding of Japanese travel literature. Even my friend asked me why this lady was traveling, and by then, I did not have a good answer because the commentary was not available. If possible, please edit this.
Fourth, this game has no instructions or manual. At first, I was confused because I did not know what to. For a minute, I was skeptical and almost lost faith. The purpose of instructions is to help the player understand what they need to do and why they need to do it. Again, the instructions need to link to the course to give the player an understanding of who Lady Nijo was and the circumstances surrounding her and her journey.
Fifth, there are also no challenges, which make the game too easy. There are no setbacks, and players keep moving forward, which is not realistic since the traveler must have gotten sick or encountered setbacks and uncertainty. To be honest, I did not see any connection to the course. Additionally, I am a huge fan of historical dramas and adaptations. In each case, the director changes a few things to keep the movie or series interesting without changing the context or meaning. I wish there were signs of these in the game.