Games with Japanese themes

I know this is a long shot to ask but can anybody think of some games that have a Japanese art style in some way? It doesn't have to be the entire game... Just themes within the game relating to Japanese culture/decoration. Like cherry blossoms, building styles, clothes style.. ceremonies etc.

Black and White 2 had a Japanese "land" which has been slightly useful with building styles, Mafia 2 had an area called China Town which had some game objects that could be classed as a Japanese theme. I am a games art student doing some practice concept art sketches for an idea I have so I kind of need some inspiration from current games ^^

Hopefully some people have some suggestions, even if it's only a tiny bit in a game it can really help me with ideas! I heard Shogun 2 would be a good starting place so I will have a look at that first.

Okami is highly stylized fantasy Japanese, containing pretty much every one of the above. It's got a lot of inspiration from their writing style and art (like scrolls and paintings). Also a beautiful looking game. Yakuza is all about modern Japanese culture and style. Obviously being set in Japan, it's pretty Japanese themed. Onimusha is all about feudal Japan, so it's got a lot of older looking temples and villages, and it's got a lot to do with their beliefs in demons and whatnot. Probably three of the most Japanese styled franchises I can think of.

Mystical Ninja and Goemon's Great Adventure for the N64 are the first two games that come to mind. (They're both games of the same series.)

I liked Mystical Ninja more because the world was a lot bigger. It was more of an Adventure game because you could explore all of ancient Japan. Mystical Ninja was kinda like a combination of Mario 64 and Zelda OOT. You'll notice how it's similar to OOT when you play the dungeons:

Goemon's Great Adventure was a side scroller, but it was still very fun:

as others have mentioned, theres okami (which is brilliant).

also check out persona 3 and 4. theres obviously a crazy fantasy element to them, but they also have a japanese high school slice-of-life element to balance that out. in conjunction, they approach the same subject from rural and urban settings.

oh, and killer7 too. it has a great play between japan and america. just dont expect anything logical. its much more about feeling.

Okami, amazing game.

I know this is a long shot to ask but can anybody think of some games that have a Japanese art style in some way? It doesn't have to be the entire game... Just themes within the game relating to Japanese culture/decoration. Like cherry blossoms, building styles, clothes style.. ceremonies etc.

Black and White 2 had a Japanese "land" which has been slightly useful with building styles, Mafia 2 had an area called China Town which had some game objects that could be classed as a Japanese theme. I am a games art student doing some practice concept art sketches for an idea I have so I kind of need some inspiration from current games ^^

Hopefully some people have some suggestions, even if it's only a tiny bit in a game it can really help me with ideas! I heard Shogun 2 would be a good starting place so I will have a look at that first.

xdeathpandax

The Yakuza series might have what you're looking for.

Yep, Yakuza series. Wonderful game filled with a lot of Japanese culture and theme.

The World Ends with You takes place in a Japanese city, "Shibuya." With somebuildings taken straight from the city. You also go to Tokyo in Ninja Gaiden II, where you will find Cherry Blossoms.

Abeutifulvillage with Cherry Blossoms also comes to mind from Tales of Vesperia. That's bit more minor though, since it's just one village, it's set in a fantasy world so there isn't much else that comes to mind in that game.

Wow guys thank you so much, I didn't expect such a great response :D

I actually remember Mystical Ninja on the N64 now that was such a crazy game but I thought it was fantastic. (apart from the strange game over screen hehe) now I think about it there was an area on WET (360/PS3) that has Japanese/Chinese themes too.

I now have a good list to research!