For immediate release · October 18, 2026 · Born in Japan team

"You don't choose where you're born." Born in Japan, a life simulator that lives through the Showa, Heisei and Reiwa eras one year at a time, now offers 27 special editions and history specials

Aim for prime minister, be born in wartime, or live for your oshi. Built on public statistics, free in your browser with no sign-up.

The Born in Japan team runs Born in Japan (Japanese title 日本に生まれる, https://born-in-japan.com/en/), a browser game in which you are born into a Japanese family somewhere between 1947 and 2010 and live a whole life one year at a time through the Showa, Heisei and Reiwa eras. You cannot choose your birth year, prefecture or household; after that, you choose your schooling, work, marriage, housing and money at each turning point.

Download the press kit (ZIP, about 13.8 MB)
11 screenshots, logos, share images, images for all 27 special editions and a README with usage notes. Screenshots show the Japanese edition.

How it plays

1. Be born: press the button and you are born into a family somewhere in Japan between 1947 and 2010. You can't choose the year, prefecture or household.
2. Live one year at a time: each year brings its events, and the pixel-art family scene changes as you go. The bubble, earthquakes and the pandemic arrive at whatever age you are.
3. Choose at turning points: schooling, work, marriage, housing and money come as choices of three or four paths. Skip and the game chooses for you.
4. Look back: each life ends with a written summary, a title and a card of key scenes. Replay the same birth and compare.

Highlights

• Live through three eras: born between 1947 and 2010, you meet the postwar boom, the bubble, the employment ice age, the Lehman shock, earthquakes and the pandemic at the age they actually happen to you.
• Built on public statistics: wage, life-table, census and household surveys, combined with clearly labeled game assumptions. The explainer pages mark which is which.
• An unchosen birth, a chosen life: replay the same birth and see how far your choices change a life. Each life ends with a title and a card of its key scenes.
• Pixel art that changes with your life: family scenes and backgrounds change with each stage and event.
• Free, no sign-up, in English and Japanese: play right away on a phone or computer.

27 special editions and history specials

Special editions start you from a birth that leads toward a particular life: doctor, comedian, sumo wrestler, manga artist, pro athlete, musician, YouTuber, chef, gamer, startup founder and prime minister; job hunting and prestige chasing; reality shows, oshi fandom, parenting and moving to the countryside; world travel, traveling around Japan, Tokyo and wartime; and more. There are also history specials as Oda Nobunaga and Tokugawa Ieyasu, and the Tokyo Time Machine. All characters and organizations are fictional; no real politicians, parties, teams or companies appear.

At a glance

• Name: Born in Japan (日本に生まれる)
• URL: https://born-in-japan.com/en/ (Japanese: https://born-in-japan.com)
• Genre: life simulator (browser game)
• Price: free, no sign-up
• Platforms: web browsers on phones, tablets and computers

Media contact

Born in Japan team
Email: [email protected]
You can also reach us through Send feedback. Screenshots and logos are available on request.

This release reflects the site as of October 18, 2026. See the changelog for updates.