Review: Shashingo: Learn Japanese With Photography Is More Fun Than Flashcards

Edutainment games are a constant, and the good ones can really leave an impression on you. This is largely due to them being genuinely enjoyable in their own right, so you get an urge to play even if you aren’t getting any knowledge out of it. Shashingo: Learn Japanese with Photography, a new game now on the Switch, is really about making and learning a language with flashcards, but the exploration and photography elements draw you in even if you don’t really feel like picking up a new skill. 

There’s no real story to Shashingo: Learn Japanese with Photography. It is more about enjoying the moment. You are in Japan. You have a camera. You are learning the language. As you take pictures, each one becomes a flashcard with the English and Japanese names for the pictured items on it. You get to hear the word pronounced as you do so. You also build up a whole little dictionary and get the opportunity to test yourself based upon what you’ve photographed and learned. 

What makes Shashingo: Learn Japanese with Photography both a good edutainment and language learning game and a fun time-sink is that Autumn Pioneer did a successful job of making it enjoyable, easy to use, and helpful. The text on the cards comes up very clearly, and the script for English feels like it was designed to be accessible to everyone. You can see the Japanese words in furigana, katakana, romaji, and kanji. It is easy to see when an object can be photographed and create a card. Plus when you do take a photo, there’s some whimsy to it as you can decorate it. Not to mention, the town we get to explore looks quite pleasant as well.

So right away, Shashingo: Learn Japanese with Photography hits upon that magic formula of getting us to learn, while also perhaps tricking us into doing so via fun activities we’d engage in even if we didn’t want to pick up the language. Taking photos of stuff is fun! Especially when we “collect” things in the process. Take part in the little quiz elements? You can get rewarded with filters and things that let you play around more when snapping those shots. There’s a cute dog? I want to take multiple pictures of said dog!

Also handy is that while it does feel like it is primarily about creating flashcards and using them as an additional option when learning Japanese, Shashingo: Learn Japanese with Photography does offer a few extra modes to test you. It isn’t too in-depth. Don’t think that there actual workbook exercises, fake conversations, or things along those lines. Find Mode is pretty good at helping you connect Japanese words with “real world” objects and English ones, for example. Like it suggests, you need to find a designated object and take a picture, with the game keeping track of how good you are at recognizing and remembering it. 

While it isn’t going to test you as much as other traditional learning materials, I have to say that I really appreciated the “immersion” Shashingo: Learn Japanese with Photography offered. You’ll happen upon signs to read. There are some additional learning materials to help with some phrases and grammar. As you start to wander around the world and spend time with the photography sim, different things become more recognizable in a natural way. It isn’t completely comprehensive and you aren’t going to become a master of the language with this alone, but it’s helpful!

Shashingo: Learn Japanese with Photography feels like the sort of edutainment game that you use in conjunction with other learning tools to help make learning a language more fun. It’s honestly a cozy tool! You explore the streets of a city. You get to see what can or can create a flashcard when you take photos. There are little tests of your knowledge. However, it does feel supplemental to a regular experience and, since it is more about building up a vocabulary collection, may not be enough for some people on its own.

Shashingo: Learn Japanese with Photography is available on the Nintendo Switch and PC.