Current Call for Papers

Call for Papers

Since 2012, when we held the first meeting in Edmonton, the Replaying Japan conference has hosted researchers from various fields conducting research on Japanese game culture. The ninth international conference is also our 10th anniversary meeting. We are returning virtually to the University of Alberta 10 years after we first met for an online conference. We celebrate the rich and international research community that has evolved over the decade.

Replaying Japan 2021 is being organized by a partnership of the AI for Society (AI4S) signature area, the Prince Takamado Japan Centre (PTJC), and the Kule Institute for Advanced Study (KIAS) at the University of Alberta.  It is organized in collaboration with the Ritsumeikan Center for Game Studies, the University of Delaware, Bath Spa University, Seijoh University, University of Liège, Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) and DiGRA Japan.

This year’s conference theme will be “Artificial Intelligence in Japanese Game Culture”. Particular attention will therefore be paid to how AI is represented in Japanese games, the evolution of game AIs, and how big data analytics have changed the game industry.

Proposals that address artificial intelligence in Japanese game culture are thus encouraged, but other topics are also welcome. This conference focuses broadly on Japanese game culture, education, and industry. It aims to bring education, and the Japanese game industry from the perspectives of humanities, social sciences, business, or education. We encourage poster/demonstration proposals of games or interactive projects related to these themes.

Submission Guidelines

Abstracts must be submitted to replayingjapan@gmail.com as a MS Word Document. The abstract should be no more than 500 words. Figures, tables and references do not count toward the word limit.

The deadline for submitting to Replaying Japan 2021 is April 30th, 2021

Notification of Acceptance: Early June, 2021

As the conference is being held online we will be following a compressed presentation format where presentations are short to leave time for questions.

1. Each session will be 30 minutes and will have a chair.
2. We will ask that full papers/posters/demos to be uploaded a week before the conference to a conference website. 
3. During the online sessions, presenters will not present their papers. Instead they will be given a few minutes to summarize their work.
4. There will be a respondent who will comment briefly on the papers/posters/demos and ask the first questions.
5. We will take written questions from the online chat.
6. Sessions will be in English, but we will have translation support for presenters who are not comfortable with English.
7. For work in progress there will be a special Lightning Talks session.

All papers must be original. The following paper categories are welcome:

• Full papers (500 words): If accepted you will be expected to post a draft paper (around 3,000 words) or a video presentation (up to 20 minutes) a week before the conference. The paper can be in English or Japanese, but must have an English abstract.
• Posters/demos (500 words): Presenters who want to demonstrate innovative work best shown visually rather than submit a written paper should take advantage of our poster/demo sessions. If accepted you will be expected to submit a poster OR a short video of no more than 5 minutes a week before. Again, there will be an online session where you can talk to your poster/demo.
• Lightning Talks (300 words): If you have work in progress that you would like to present we will have a Lightning Talk format. If accepted you will be expected to post a short video a week before and to submit a single PowerPoint slide. We will have a session when each Lightning Talk presenter will get 1 minute to talk to their slide.

Figures, tables and references do not count toward the word limit. It is understood that by submitting to Replaying Japan 2021 you assert that the work is original and that there are no copyright issues. You also agree to let the University of Alberta post you work and archive the conference proceedings/video/draft papers. 

Proposals in Japanese are most welcome! 日本語の発表要旨はrcgs[a]st.ritsumei.ac.jpにご送付ください。詳しくはRCGSのウェブサイトをご覧ください。

Note that we plan to have support for Japanese speakers for whom presenting in English is difficult. We will have workshops in Japanese for graduate students on preparing for presentations at international conferences. We will also have translation support during the conference to help with presentations and questions. 

Announcing: The Prince Takamado Japan Centre will also be awarding two essay prizes (1500 words) to the best student presentations on Japanese games. These will have a value of $500 CAD each.

Contact Information

For more information see www.replaying.jp or contact replayingjapan@gmail.com. 

You can follow us on Twitter at #replayingjapan