Ropecon 2021: Bildungs-Larps zu Ninja
Vortrag über Edu-Larps in der Stadt Iga, dem Mecca für Ninja-Fans, auf der Ropecon 2021, Helsinki, 31. July 2021.
Educational Ninja Larp in Japan: Elemental Powers between History and Fiction
Date & Time: July 31 (Sat), 10:00-10:45 (EEST)
Location: YouTube (cf. conference website)
Since 2018, the city of Iga, Japan’s so-called mecca of ninja enthusiasts, collaborates with Mie University, the game studio GroupSNE and Japan’s Larp Association CLOSS to offer educational but fun events about the covert agents of the Warring State period (15th-17th century). Using people’s familiarity with the fictional ninja known from theatre to anime and their at times magical powers of the five elements, wood, fire, earth, metal, and water (gotonjutsu), the organizers still seek to instill some knowledge about the historical shinobi (as ninja were actually called in the past) through first person experiences. This talk will explore the context and development of Iga’s ninja larps and how participants engage the novelty that is larp in their assessment of this kind of curated experience.
About Ropecon
Since 1994, Ropecon is the largest non-commercial role-playing convention in Europe organised entirely by volunteers. The three day convention offers a variety of programme suitable for attendees of all ages ranging from tabletop and live-action role-playing games to card games, board games and miniature wargames. In addition to tournaments and other game programme Ropecon also features presentations, panel discussions and workshops on a wide variety of topics related to role-playing games. Two major awards, The Golden Dragon and The Deed of the Year, are presented annually at Ropecon for achievements and contributions to the role-playing game culture in Finland.
Literature
2022. Reenacting Japan’s Past That Never Was – The Ninja in Tourism and Larp. In Reenactment Case Studies: Global Perspectives on Experiential History, edited by Vanessa Agnew, Juliane Tomann and Sabine Stach. New York: Routledge.
2020. Role-Playing Games of Japan: Transcultural Dynamics and Orderings. New York: Palgrave MacMillan.
2019. Adapting Live-Action Role-Play in Japan—How German ‘Roots’ Do Not Destine Japanese ‘Routes.’ Replaying Japan, no. 1: 64–78.