A night market is more than a market that takes place after sundown, a crucial fact for anyone interested in the upcoming social sim Mineko’s Night Market to know. Rooting its experience firmly in Japanese cultural traditions and folklore, the unique feeling of a night market is instrumental to game's overall aethestic.
Mineko’s Night Market bills itself as being a game about “crafting crafts, eating eats, and catting cats” while following the young protagonist Mineko who has just moved to the struggling island community at the base of Mount Fugu. Through the seasons, Mineko will make new friends and help restore her new town to its former glory, while chasing down the truth behind local superstitions like the worship of the Sun Cat Nikko. Game ZXC recently spoke with Meowza Games co-founder Brent Kobayashi (who founded the company alongside Brandi Kobayashi) about all of this and the game's Japanese influence.
The influences aren’t meant to be subtle. Though it doesn’t incorporate real-world mythology surrounding the mountain, Mount Fugu is very obviously inspired by Mount Fuji’s sacred and mysterious nature. The towering influence of Japanese folklore and culture looms larger than just Mount Fugu, though, explained Brent Kobayashi. His own upbringing brought the night market to life, too.
“I was born in Vancouver, Canada to two Japanese-born parents. Vancouver has long had a history of Japanese immigration and, to this day, has the highest population of Japanese residents in Canada. So, my parents often surrounded me with things of Japanese culture including visits to the local Powell Street Festival, an annual festival featuring foods and events of Japanese culture.”
For the Kobayashis, the night market was an obvious setting for a game, Brent explained. He described the sights, sounds, and smells in the cool, peaceful evening air of a summer night market. That, combined with the kinds of goods, foods, games, and friends that can be found at night markets felt like the perfect way to frame a cozy Animal Crossing-esque social game.
The local divine figure, the Sun Cat Nikko, also draws from the deep well of Japanese folklore. Part of the idea of Nikko comes from the yokai–a supernatural entity in Japanese folklore–named Bakaneko. Bakaneko are described with abilities to shapeshift, mimic human speech, and even organize wolves to attack humans. Another influence behind Nikko is Momotaro, one of many ancient stories about mysterious children found in a river by childless parents. Though not all the feline focus of Mineko’s Night Market comes from folk tales, Brent admitted.
“Both Brandi and I have grown up around cats and have always had a love of them. To this day, we inexplicably receive the gracious gift of regular cat visitations to our porch from the neighborhood, many of which tend to act like guards of our home as they sit on the stoop of our front door for reasons we’re unsure of. We’ve both grown allergic to cats as we got older and don’t have cats of our own, so this game was partially made so that we can vicariously live in a world surrounded by cats!”
The Japanese influence in Mineko’s Night Market isn’t exclusively narrative. The art style is heavily influenced by 1979’s Doraemon, among others. Doraemon is a cultural icon for Japan and its influence is felt globally. Its art style was well-suited for Mineko’s adventure, as it captures her childlike view of the world, Brent explained.
But it’s the night market that’s at the heart of all this cultural exploration.
“To us, there is no comparison between the lively and energetic atmosphere of a night market compared to markets that occur in the day. The sights–and even more so the smells!–combined with the evening air, which is always cooler on a summer night, creates an incredible feast for the senses against the backdrop of the peacefulness of night that just can’t be beat.”
Mineko’s Night Market releases for Steam and Switch on September 26, as well as PS4, PS5, and Xbox One on October 26.