Ghost of Yōtei: Joanna Wang on Samurai Myth and Ainu Representation in New PlayStation Game
Sucker Punch Productions, the studio owned by Sony that created Ghost of Tsushima, has unveiled Ghost of Yōtei, a new PS5 title set in Hokkaidō during the year 1603. Joanna Wang, the art director, described the game as a creative interpretation of Hokkaidō, centering on Atsu, a female mercenary on a quest for vengeance for her parents' deaths. The game draws inspiration from Akira Kurosawa's Yojimbo (1961) and Toshiya Fujita's Lady Snowblood (1973). It explores samurai mythology, referencing Inazo Nitobe's 1900 work Bushido and the fictional samurai depicted in Hagakure. Hokkaidō, known as Ainu Mosir, was the homeland of the Ainu people, who were recognized as an indigenous group in 2019. The game incorporates Ainu characters and traditions, with Wang acknowledging the difficulties of accurately portraying history.
Key facts
- Ghost of Yōtei is a new PlayStation 5 game by Sucker Punch Productions, set in 1603 on Hokkaidō.
- Art director Joanna Wang described the game as an imaginary version of Hokkaidō, not a 1:1 historical recreation.
- The protagonist is Atsu, a female mercenary seeking revenge for her parents' murder sixteen years earlier.
- Wang cited film influences: Yojimbo (1961), Lady Snowblood (1973), 13 Assassins (2010), and Unforgiven (2013).
- The samurai myth is partly invented, per Wang, citing Nitobe's Bushido: The Soul of Japan (1900) and Hagakure.
- The idealized samurai was used by imperial propaganda and later by Yukio Mishima's Tatenokai.
- In 1603, Hokkaidō was Ainu Mosir, not part of Japan; Japan recognized the Ainu as indigenous in 2019.
- Sucker Punch worked with consultant Yukiko Kaizawa and visited the Nibutani Ainu Culture Museum.
- Wang described Hokkaidō as 'wild' and 'untamed,' echoing Meiji-era colonial narratives.
- Historian Tessa Morris-Suzuki noted Auin also practiced cultivation and animal husbandry.
- The game shows history as reconstructed and imagined, not pure or accurate.
- Ghost of Yōtei is the sequel to Ghost of Tsushima (2020), which was set in 1274.
Entities
Artists
- Joanna Wang
- Akira Kurosawa
- Toshiya Fujita
- Takashi Miike
- Lee Sang-il
- Clint Eastwood
- Sergio Leone
- Sergio Corbucci
- Inazo Nitobe
- Yamamoto Tsunetomo
- Tashiro Tsuramoto
- Kimitake Hiraoka (Yukio Mishima)
- Yukiko Kaizawa
- Tessa Morris-Suzuki
- Matteo Lupetti
Institutions
- Sucker Punch Productions
- Sony
- PlayStation 5
- Nibutani Ainu Culture Museum
- Tatenokai
- Artribune
Locations
- Hokkaidō
- Japan
- Ezo
- Ainu Mosir
- Oshima Peninsula
- Nibutani
- United States