Japan life simulator

Standard office hours run from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., often followed by overtime or coworker drinks called nomikai. Families live in compact urban apartments called manshon or traditional country homes, and soak in a deep bathtub each evening. Major travel happens during New Year, Golden Week in spring, and Obon in mid-August.

Kenji, 20, moves into a tiny one-room apartment in Osaka for university. He writes into his character prompt that he works the night shift at a neighborhood konbini. He sets a life goal to learn the stories of his late-night regulars.

In his first week, he searches the 3D map for a covered shopping arcade, or shōtengai, and walks there. A classmate texts him on his own to invite him to a group outing near the port. Each day ends with a recap, and his neighbors remember what he said.

You talk to people in your own words in LifeSim, without dialogue menus. You can use real local words in your chats and texts. Say otsukaresama desu to greet coworkers at work, or sumimasen to say excuse me.

Before a meal, people say itadakimasu, and after eating, they say gochisōsama deshita. In real life, people bow instead of shaking hands and never leave tips at restaurants. Everyone removes outdoor shoes at the entrance, called the genkan, and speaks quietly on trains.

Lunch runs from noon to 1:00 p.m. with a bento box or a fixed-menu teishoku at a diner. People also eat ramen, buckwheat soba, or thick udon noodles at counter shops and train-platform standing bars. For fast meals, 24-hour chains serve beef bowls called gyūdon, and convenience stores sell rice balls called onigiri.

In the evening, coworkers gather at casual pubs called izakaya for grilled chicken yakitori, gyōza dumplings, and sashimi. In LifeSim, happenings like karaoke nights, birthday drinks, or house parties appear on the map. You can also plan an outing to a conveyor-belt sushi shop and walk there with friends.

Any named city or town works on the 3D map. Pick Tokyo for huge rail hubs and quiet backstreets, or Yokohama for seaside parks and the largest Chinatown. Choose Osaka for street food and the humorous Kansai-ben dialect, or Kyoto for wooden machiya townhouses and riverside paths.

For a factory or engineering life, Nagoya has wide boulevards, underground malls, and automotive plants. Sapporo on the northern island of Hokkaido brings wide grid streets and snowy winters. In the south, Fukuoka has open-air evening yatai food stalls, and Hiroshima has six rivers and historic streetcars.

Education follows six years of elementary school, three of junior high, three of senior high, and four of university. High school students study for entrance exams at evening cram schools called juku and join afternoon clubs. If you want a game about summer radio exercises and catching beetles, try Natsu-Mon: 20th Century Summer Kid.

Office hours run from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., starting with a morning assembly called chōrei. Many adults work in automobile or electronics manufacturing, retail, teaching, or part-time arubaito shifts, and attend after-work nomikai drinks. LifeSim has no salary or career ladder, so you write your job in your prompt and roleplay the schedule.