author

 
Menu
Search
 
May 04, 2024
 

Today's print edition

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access
Brian Ashcraft

Meta

Twitter

@Brian_Ashcraft

Brian Ashcraft
Brian Ashcraft is a senior contributing editor at Kotaku and has been writing about video games for The Japan Times since 2007. He is also the author of two books, "Arcade Mania!" and "Japanese Schoolgirl Confidential." A graduate of Cornell University, Ashcraft has called Osaka home for over a decade.
For Brian Ashcraft's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / ON: GAMES
Sep 24, 2017
Better games for serious hardware
Get the Playstation 4 revved
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / ON: GAMES
Aug 27, 2017
Game industry vamps up classics
The 'Sonic' boom
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / ON: GAMES
Jul 23, 2017
Updates for the fan boys and girls
Ready to paint the town again?
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / ON: GAMES
Jun 25, 2017
Something old, new and renewed
2-D has its advantages
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / ON: GAMES
May 21, 2017
Summer releases: bring your A-game
Stuff they don't teach at school
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / ON: GAMES
Apr 23, 2017
Games: Best of editions and additions
Eighth time lucky for 'Mario Kart'
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / ON: GAMES
Mar 25, 2017
'Senran Kagura' makes a big splash
The "Senran Kagura" games are ridiculous. But that's the whole point. Previous installments have followed the adventures of buxom female kunoichi (female ninjas), who end up with tattered clothing while battling foes. This latest game, however, trades ninja gear for water guns.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / ON: GAMES
Jan 21, 2017
New releases for wintry nights in
Bring on the virtual terror
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / ON: GAMES
Dec 24, 2016
Updating gaming for the New Year
SuperMario makes a dash for smartphones
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / ON: GAMES
Nov 26, 2016
Finally — the games PlayStation players have been waiting for
The years-in-the-making "Final Fantasy XV" is finally coming out. The game was originally announced back in 2006 as "Final Fantasy Versus XIII," but it has since been reworked and then rebranded as "Final Fantasy XV."
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / ON: GAMES
Oct 22, 2016
PlayStation adds more power to the PS4
More power to the PS4
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / ON: GAMES
Sep 24, 2016
From the latest in virtual reality to a nostalgic return to 2-D
Virtual Reality gets real
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / ON: GAMES
Aug 27, 2016
Games you've been waiting a long time for
An endless exploration
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / ON: GAMES
Jul 23, 2016
Eat like a cute, round pink Nintendo character called Kirby
Japan is going crazy over the release of "Pokemon Go," which hit the U.S. and Australia before finally reaching Pokemon's actual birthplace on July 22. One reason for the delay in Japan may have been that "Pokemon Go" wasn't developed by Tokyo-based Game Freak, which typically creates "Pokemon" games, but by California's Niantic, a studio best known for its augmented reality games. Others speculated on the fear that the fan base in Japan would overload servers.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / ON: GAMES
Jun 25, 2016
New releases fill in the gaps in gaming
A necessary evil
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / ON: GAMES
May 21, 2016
Bright new things in Japan's gaming world
Nintendo's summer colors
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / ON: GAMES
Apr 23, 2016
Space foxes, game cats and a new 'Uncharted' realm
New foxy space dogfighter game
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / ON: GAMES
Mar 26, 2016
New releases with a fighting spirit
'Pokemon' fights harder
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / ON: GAMES
Feb 27, 2016
Pikachu finds his voice
Pikachu finds his voice
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / ON: GAMES
Jan 23, 2016
As the new year kicks in, so do popular game updates
Nintendo thinks outside the box, again
Biden calls ally Japan ‘xenophobic’ along with rivals China and Russia
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks in Syracuse, New York, on April 25.
Yen swings stir talk that Japan is in the FX market once again
An electronic screen in Tokyo displays the yen exchange rate against the U.S. dollar and the graph showing its recent swings, on Thursday.
Harajuku strives to reclaim its former glory — and surpass it
Laforet Harajuku, which celebrated its 45th anniversary last year, has been a witness to the district's evolution over the years.
Weak yen fattens tourist wallets in Japan
People visit the Ameya Yokocho market in Tokyo's Ueno district during the Golden Week holiday on Tuesday.
Japan's May 1 intervention may have cost ¥3.66 trillion, BOJ data suggests
An electronic screen displays a graph showing Japanese yen exchange rates surging against the dollar amid signs of intervention by authorities, in Tokyo on Thursday.
Kishida sets sights on energy and climate in South America trip
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will use a policy speech in Sao Paulo to set out his vision for ties between Japan and South America, almost 10 years after former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe advocated for stronger ties between the two in the same city.
Yellow sand allergy: A health issue made worse by climate change
A screenshot of the Meteorological Agency's satellite image of clouds and yellow sand (in pink) on Sunday.
Climate change, chalky grains and the risks for Japan’s rice farmers
A farmer plants seedlings in Satsumasendai, Kagoshima Prefecture. Japan’s self sufficiency rate for rice is nearly 100%, compared with 38% for food overall, on a calorie basis.
Japan wants you to spend more with ‘luxury tourism’
Performers play a traditional drum unique to Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, in the prefectural capital of Kanazawa on March 16 to mark the extension of the Hokuriku Shinkansen line to Tsuruga Station in Fukui Prefecture.
Theaster Gates’ ambitious ‘Afro-Mingei’ brings Black Chicago to Tokyo
Theaster Gates' “A Heavenly Chord” lines up church pews before seven speakers and a Hammond B3 organ, a type of electric organ prevalent in Black American churches.

Podcast

From easily navigable train stations to the helpfulness of its municipal staff, Tokyo has earned high praise for its commitment to accessibility for disabled travelers.
[Rebroadcast] Japan is doing better on accessibility than you may think

Longform

Rows of irises resemble a rice field at the Peter Walker-designed Toyota Municipal Museum of Art.
The 'outsiders' creating some of Japan's greenest spaces
By Stephen Mansfield

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Vol. 35: Travel in time — and stay there
Vol. 35: Travel in time — and stay there

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

Read more

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER