Review of “Sashingo: Learn Japanese Through Photography”

Sashingo: Learn Japanese With Photography is as straightforward as its title suggests. The game takes you on a journey through a miniature replica of Shibuya, Tokyo, with nothing but a small polaroid camera in hand. You’re free to wander around at your own pace, but the focus is on capturing photos of singular objects. Once you snap a picture, the game provides the Japanese word for that object, complete with Hiragana or Katakana characters. Though there aren’t any strict objectives, you’re encouraged to discover all available words throughout the map and compile these snapshots into your album.

Embracing a relaxed approach, Sashingo offers a fun and inventive way to introduce players to basic Japanese vocabulary. The game includes an optional quiz where you’re tasked with locating a specific object that matches a given word. It’s an engaging blend of exploration and language learning. The game excels in this educational format, with words clearly spoken for the player’s benefit. There’s also a comprehensive manual available, featuring practical phrases to practice basic Japanese communication. In comparison to Duolingo, I found Sashingo to be more immersive. While Duolingo serves as an effective learning platform, it’s not exactly entertaining. Sashingo, on the other hand, makes vocabulary practice more user-friendly, removing the pressured feel of being graded, thus granting more autonomy over which words you want to focus on.

Despite multiple visits to Japan, the language barrier remains a constant challenge. I’ve used Duolingo, and my significant other has attended several Japanese courses. One of the hurdles in language learning is the necessity for daily practice and the push to use the language actively. That’s typically the only path to significant improvement. Sashingo occupies a unique position, as it doesn’t quite stand out as an ideal starting point for learning Japanese. Although it employs effective educational techniques for teaching words, it lacks fundamental elements and interactions necessary for grasping practical language use. The manual delves a bit deeper into contextual situations, combining reading and listening exercises, but without reinforcement within the game itself, retention can be tricky.

Nonetheless, my partner unexpectedly enjoyed watching me play, pitching in with word learning. With her basic Japanese knowledge from classes, she easily recognized terms like bottles, bicycles, traffic lights, and cars, and relished learning new ones such as construction site, garbage bin, and cardboard box. In this sense, Sashingo truly shines as an auxiliary resource for vocabulary expansion and as an enjoyable interactive practice tool. However, as a game, it feels somewhat underdeveloped. Although you can use a variety of filters – purchased by completing tests – there’s limited scope to express oneself artistically. The zoom and focus features are impressive, yet you can’t tilt the camera or take selfies, which makes it feel more like an educational tool rather than a photography game, which might disappoint photography enthusiasts like myself.

Overall, Sashingo: Learn Japanese with Photography serves well as a supplemental resource for those already on a Japanese learning journey. Its charming visual style and miniature Shibuya setting provide a delightful backdrop for discovering a wealth of Japanese words. However, it falls short of being a comprehensive language learning tool or a fully realized photography game. That said, it could still be an entertaining way to pick up a few words and phrases during a flight to Japan, ready to try out in real-life situations upon arrival.