This is a list of board games invented, developed and/or published in Japan.
| Game name | Year | Publisher/Designer (Japan) | Players | Gameplay style | Similar Games |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Go (囲碁, igo?) | ? | Traditional | 2 | Strategic territory and surrounding game | weiqi in Chinese, baduk in Korean |
| Gomoku (五目並べ, gomokunarabe?) | ? | Traditional | 2 | Strategic abstract game played with Go pieces on a Renju board (15x15), goal to reach five in a row | Renju, Four in a row, Irensei |
| Irensei (囲連星?) | ? | Traditional | 2 | Strategic abstract game played with Go pieces on a Go board (19x19); unites elements of the game of Go with those of Gomoku | Go, Gomoku |
| Jinsei Game (人生ゲーム, jin-sei gēmu?) | 1967 | Takara | ? | Japanese adaption of The Game of Life | The Game of Life |
| Renju (連珠?) | ? | Traditional | 2 | Strategic five-in-a-row game with equal chances for both players | Pente, Gomoku |
| Shadow Hunters (シャドウハンターズ, shadō hantāzu?) | 2005 | Game Republic | 4-8 | Supernatural themed, strategic, secret team play | Bang!, Mafia |
| Riichi Mahjong (リーチ麻雀, Riichi Maajan?) | ? | Traditional | 4 | Chinese Mahjong with Japanese rules | Mahjong |
| Shogi and variants (将棋, shōgi?, generals' chess) Japanese chess | ? | Traditional | 2 | Played on a 9x9 board; can use captured pieces against opponent | Chess |
| Sugoroku (双六?) | ? | Traditional | ? | Race game, two variants | Backgammon (variant), Snakes and Ladders (variant) |
Famous quotes containing the words list of, list, japanese, board and/or games:
“Every morning I woke in dread, waiting for the day nurse to go on her rounds and announce from the list of names in her hand whether or not I was for shock treatment, the new and fashionable means of quieting people and of making them realize that orders are to be obeyed and floors are to be polished without anyone protesting and faces are to be made to be fixed into smiles and weeping is a crime.”
—Janet Frame (b. 1924)
“The advice of their elders to young men is very apt to be as unreal as a list of the hundred best books.”
—Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. (1841–1935)
“I am a lantern—
My head a moon
Of Japanese paper, my gold beaten skin
Infinitely delicate and infinitely expensive.”
—Sylvia Plath (1932–1963)
“During depression the world disappears. Language itself. One has nothing to say. Nothing. No small talk, no anecdotes. Nothing can be risked on the board of talk. Because the inner voice is so urgent in its own discourse: How shall I live? How shall I manage the future? Why should I go on?”
—Kate Millett (b. 1934)
“The rules of drinking games are taken more serious than the rules of war.”
—Chinese proverb.