Initiation of Research on Gaming Simulation in Japan

Abstract

Research on “ENREN”, a vanished Japanese term meaning a gaming simulation, was pioneered in July 1941 in Japan. A national graduate school of gaming was established under the administration of a civilian Prime Minister on September 30, 1940. Until the school closed on March 31, 1945 due to aggravation of the war situation, over 100 graduates had graduated from the school. This paper will examine the first social or serious game developed by the school in order to show that the first Japanese gaming simulation is not a war operation game, but a policy exercise, more precisely a policy formation exercise involving some professors from colleges, many junior executives from the public and private sectors as well as some officers from the army and navy.