Shenmue Music Box in Collaboration with Ryuji Iuchi

A new officially-licensed limited-edition Shenmue collectors' item has been announced for pre-order by Wayō Records: a beautifully-crafted wind-up music box, designed and created in collaboration with composer Ryuji Iuchi. The color outer box is a green hue reminiscent of Phantom River Stone, with a Phoenix motif on the top.

The melody played by the music box is an arrangement of Shenhua's Theme created especially by the composer, and each music box comes with a score sheet hand-signed by Ryuji Iuchi himself.

Pre-Order Link

Although not cheap at 274.80 Euros (approximately US $325), only 250 music boxes are being made available, so fans wanting to secure one may need to act fast. Note, this price may be adjusted after entering your payment details when ordering on the website, depending on factors such as shipping and whether taxes have been applied etc.

• Link to the Pre-order Page (English)

Delivery is scheduled for "Fall 2021".

Music Box Features

• Performs the melody from Shenhua’s Theme (30 seconds, looping 10 rounds), entirely automatic (without handle)
• 220mm (width), 120mm (depth), 55mm (height)
• Wooden box crafted in noble materials
• Precision mechanism made of a rotary cylinder and 30 pins
• Shipped in a quality padded package with Shenmue's designed logo

Comment from Ryuji Iuchi

Ryuji Iuchi commented regarding the music box announcement on his Twitter feed:

"It was my first time arranging music for a music box, and it was fun!" [Twitter]

He also noted that the sound playing in the official video above is synthesized and not actually from the music box itself:

"The sound in the video demo is created by a synth sound source, so I hope you'll enjoy the feeling of pensiveness and character produced by the actual music box. ^_^" [Twitter]

Hopefully we will be able to hear a live rendition from the music box in the future!

About Wayō Records

Wayō Records is a French company that specializes in officially-licensed Japanese videogame and anime soundtracks, working directly with major videogame publishers and even the original composers. This bridging of cultures is reflected in their name, as "wayō" means "Japanese and Western".

Will you be able to resist ordering a Shenmue music box? Leave a comment below.

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Yu Suzuki on Stage at Network Jungle II: Digitaliland

This post is a translation of a report in the May 1999 edition of the Japanese Dreamcast Magazine about the Network Jungle II: Digitaliland event that was held in the months leading up to the release of Shenmue. During the event, a stage event was held in which Yu Suzuki, Hiroaki Takeuchi and Hidekazu Yukawa talked about the upcoming game.

Related posts:

• Exploring Shenmue Forest at the "Network Jungle II: Digitaliland" Event (1999)
• Shenmue Forest Demo

Recap and Comments from Yu Suzuki's Special Talk

Some incredible images were on show at this event, prompting us to ask ourselves "How on earth did they create that footage?" and wonder how far along Shenmue was in its development. The answers to these questions were to be found in the talk show with Yu Suzuki at 3:00 p.m. Many exciting things were said, including comments by Former Managing Director Yukawa!

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Poll Result: Patrons' Choice Topic for June 2021

Every month Phantom River Stone holds a poll among our patrons to choose a topic for the blog in the coming month. After tallying the votes (including accumulated votes from previous months), the winning topic for the start of 2021 is...

"Yu Suzuki's Research Trip to China 1994: Part Nine"

We are now closing in on the end of this travel series which details the two weeks Yu Suzuki spent in 1994 in China gathering material for his upcoming Virtua Fighter II game. After this trip he also went on to work on his Virtua Fighter RPG project which eventually became Shenmue.

Summary of the trip so far: after visiting Beijing, Luoyang, Xi'an and Dengfeng (including Shaolin Temple), Yu visited Mengcun where he met martial arts expert and descendant of the founder of Bajiquan, Master Wu Lian Zhi.

Now in their final day before having to leave China and return to Japan, Yu and his companions reflect on the locations visited and experiences of the trip.

Watch for it on the blog in the near future!

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Suka Pass New Release: How We Restored "Nozomi's Messages"

The latest version of Suka Pass, the fan-made Shenmue Passport, has just been released! I thought I'd talk through some of the new changes that the team has made this time, with a few thoughts and comments about what was involved with putting together the update this time.

Quick-Glance Summary Cards

After you've upgraded to a new version, we thought it would be helpful for the app to highlight the main latest features for those who don't dig into the details of the release notes. So we've added small "at-a-glance" summary cards like the one below, which pop up the first time you open the app after installation.

Eri's Camera (Screenshots)

Just like the original Shenmue Passport on which it is based, Suka Pass gives access to a lot of extra detail about characters and places not to be found in the main game, such as the official character biographies. 

The new Screenshots feature makes sharing any of the content in the app even easier. Just tap the camera icon, which is positioned initially at the bottom of the screen, at any time you would like to share the current app screen with other Shenmue fans or your followers of social media, then choose the sharing destination. The app will pop the image into a draft tweet / email / message etc, ready to send. It will even create a short text message that is tailored to the current screen you are on. The camera icon can also be moved anywhere on the screen if it ever interferes with viewing content. (We originally had a standard-looking camera icon, but decided to make it an instant-camera style icon, in keeping with the one Eri has!).

We've already started planning out some fun ideas for building on this feature in future versions.

Main Menu Updates

If you've been using the previous version, you may notice a minor revamp to the main menu items with some new entries we'll be covering below (Urgent Messages! and Nozomi's Messages) and some reordering which brings it even closer into line with the original Shenmue Passport. The Music Page can now be accessed by tapping on Tom's red stereo which now sits at the bottom right of the screen.

The Suka Pass menu screen

The original Shenmue Passport menu screen

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Shenmue Characters Based on Actual People

Several characters that appear in the Shenmue games have in-game models based on real-life people.  This is not surprising in the case of Shenmue III, where several higher-tier backers were included in the game as a reward for their pledges. What may not be so readily realized is that several of the people Ryo meets in the first game of the series, as workers or residents of Yokosuka, were also modeled on actual people, including but not limited to members of the project development staff and people associated with Sega.

Today's post presents the findings of research to identify and gather together as many of these characters from the early games in the series as possible.

Let's get started!

Characters Based on Actual People: Shenmue I

Susumu Aketagawa

In the game: He is the hard-working owner of Yamaji Soba Noodles in Dobuita who is now considering retirement.

In real life: The name and model of this character are those of the voice & recording director for Shenmue I and II, Susumu Aketagawa. He was invited to provide his own voice for the game, but  declined, commenting with a laugh in a 2019 interview that "I wasn't willing to go that far".

When he worked on the Shenmue project, he was approximately the same age as his character in the game, although they do not share the same birthday date. It is unknown whether he is a big fan of soba noodles, although he did mention in the interview that he used to enjoy going for a lunch of boiled whitebait on rice at a restaurant near the Sega offices.

Left: Susumu Aketagawa in the game is the owner of Yamaji Soba Noodles in Dobuita. Right: directing a recording session for Shenmue around 1998 (top-right) and in a 2019 interview (bottom-right).

Aketagawa-san's profile: retirement from the noodle business beckons.

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The Real Yokosuka That Shenmue Chose Not To Simulate | IGN Japan Article Translation

This is a translation of an article published by IGN Japan on 24 December 2018.

A City with an Inseparable Relationship with the U.S. Naval Base

"In Dragon Quest III, for example, you leave Aliahan on the day of your 16th birthday, right? Shenmue I is a game that depicts only the hero's daily life in his hometown before he sets off on his journey."

This remark about Shenmue was made to me by Esra Krabbe when we spoke at the IGN Japan year-end party.

Before the upcoming Shenmue fan meeting on 24 December (2018), my editorial department received word from Yokosuka City about a Shenmue excursion to be held on 14 December. Being the multi-genre writer that I am, I decided to head there.

When I arrived at the meeting place, the other participants reacted with surprise: "Isn't Mr. Krabbe from IGN Japan coming?" I replied, "Actually, he already wrote a report about the Shenmue Sacred Spot pilgrimage last year," and continued: "For this one, I'd like to look at the world of Shenmue from a completely different perspective than Esra. I want to write a report that combines a documentary with the Sacred Spot pilgrimage".

What was the real Yokosuka like? I asked the locals about how Yokosuka used to be in 1986, when the first Shenmue game was set, and how things have changed since then.

A Place Called Yokosuka

Why was Shenmue set in Yokosuka in the first place? Even if an analogy can be drawn with the town of Aliahan before the hero sets off on his journey, it is none-the-less a very distinctive place in itself.

The Chaos of 1986 Yokosuka

Back in 1999, not only was it a surprise that a major title would be set in Japan, it was also a shock that a major game that cost 7 billion yen to make would be set in a regional city. Not only that, but there was also a series of games released around the same time, such as Front Mission 3, that featured the same setting. So for me, Yokosuka had a special place in my heart.

Japanese Self Defense Force base in Yokosuka, as featured in Front Mission 3

At the time, [the game's depiction of] Yokosuka, which had been chosen as the place from which the main character Ryo Hazuki sets off on his journey, was praised as "a simulator that recreates daily life in a regional town". But these days, when many video games are released that recreate the real world, the atmosphere of the area itself also has a strong correlation with the video game experience.

That mood, which is unique to Shenmue I, and is not in Shenmue II, has to do with the chaos that existed in Yokosuka in 1986. This chaos is reiterated by the people of Yokosuka who live there.

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Poll Result: Patrons' Choice Topic for May 2021

Every month Phantom River Stone holds a poll among our patrons to choose a topic for the blog in the coming month. After tallying the votes (including accumulated votes from previous months), the winning topic for April 2021 is...

"Shenmue at Network Jungle II: Digitaliland" 

At the technology showcase event "Digitaliland" in early 1999, Sega had an entire area devoted to promoting Shenmue ahead of its eventual release at the end of the year, called "Shenmue no Mori" (Shenmue Forest). Attendees were treated to video trailers, playable demos, figurines, art and merchandise for the game as well as stage events throughout the day.

One of  the stage events held was a talk show featuring the game's creator Yu Suzuki, game advisor Hiroaki Takeuchi and Hidekazu Yukawa (the Sega former managing director who featured in the "What's Shenmue" demo). 

We'll be translating highlights from their discussion as they talk enthusiastically about the game before the event attendees.

Watch for it on the blog in the near future!

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Master Wu Lianzhi: Chinese TV Documentary | Guest Post by Chao Yu

With today's post we welcome back Chao Yu, who presents a Chinese television documentary about the life of Wu Lianzhi, with translated English captions. 

Chao can be found at the Shenmue Dojo as yuc02, and is a long-standing supporter of Phantom River Stone on Patreon.

Hey guys, I recently found an old (circa 2008-10) Chinese TV documentary about Bajiquan grandmaster Wu Lianzhi (吴连枝), which gave a fascinating view of the life of a person who inspired Yu Suzuki in his creations of the Virtua Fighter and Shenmue series.  

Through the documentary, one learns of how Wu grew up in Meng Cun as a youngster gifted in martial arts, but often got involved with fights at school and broke the family code.  Later on the show explained how he (and indeed his ancestors) did not initially earn a living through Bajiquan, but a tragic event thrust him into the martial arts world spotlight, ending with him carrying the burden of passing down the Baji style onto the next generations.  Finally as his tireless efforts began to pay off, a chance meeting with Yu Suzuki gave him the chance to travel abroad, and his name soon spread throughout the world.

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