City Conquest

20 factions

Each team picks a faction: a group with its own story, strengths and characters.

• Samurai

  “The sword is the soul”

  The warrior class of the Edo shoguns. In Edo they lived in the big estates round the castle and walked the streets with two swords.

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• Ninja

  “Unseen, unheard”

  The shadow agents of the shoguns' Japan: scouts and spies who climbed walls and carried messages no one could read.

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• Sumo Wrestlers

  “Never step out of the ring”

  Sumo has been fought in Tokyo's Ryōgoku, just down the Sumida from Asakusa, since the Edo period. A champion is a star and a gentle giant.

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• Geisha of Asakusa

  “Every art in one evening”

  Asakusa still has a working geisha house behind the temple. Geisha are artists: dance, the shamisen, songs and conversation.

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• Kabuki Actors

  “The show must go on”

  Kabuki was born in Edo's theatre streets; from 1841 the big theatres stood just north of Sensō-ji. The great actor Danjūrō IX has his statue here.

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• Hikyaku Couriers

  “Edo to Kyoto in three days”

  The express runners of the Edo period carried letters and money on foot along the great roads, in relays, day and night.

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• Edo Firefighters

  “Fire is the flower of Edo”

  Edo burned so often that its people said 'fire and fights are the flowers of Edo'. The hikeshi firefighters were the city's heroes, each brigade with its own standard (matoi).

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• Rickshaw Pullers

  “Hold on, we're off”

  The jinrikisha was invented in Tokyo around 1869. Today Asakusa's pullers in short coats and split-toe boots run tourists round the temple and tell its stories.

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• Temple Monks

  “Patience opens every gate”

  Sensō-ji is Tokyo's oldest temple, founded in 628. Its monks keep the hidden statue of Kannon and ring the bell at dawn.

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• Shrine Maidens

  “Clap twice, bow once”

  The miko of Asakusa Shrine dance the sacred kagura and sell the charms. Their shrine has stood since 1649.

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• Ukiyo-e Artists

  “Pictures of the floating world”

  Edo's woodblock artists printed the city's pleasures: actors, the river, festivals, Mount Fuji. Hokusai was born in Honjo, on the other bank of the Sumida.

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• Rakugo Storytellers

  “A fan, a towel and a story”

  Rakugo is a one-person comic story told kneeling on a cushion with only a fan and a towel. Asakusa's Engei Hall has shows every day of the year.

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• Nakamise Merchants

  “Every guest is a god”

  The shops of Nakamise have sold sweets, fans and toys to pilgrims for some 300 years. Their saying: 'the customer is a god'.

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• Temple Carpenters

  “Measure twice, cut once”

  Japan's temple carpenters (miyadaiku) join huge wooden beams without nails. The pagoda's swaying central pillar taught even the builders of the Skytree.

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• Sumida Fishermen

  “The river gives”

  In 628 two fishermen brothers pulled a small statue of Kannon from the Sumida in their net; that is how Sensō-ji began.

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• Shogun's Court

  “Edo is ours”

  From 1603 the Tokugawa shoguns ruled Japan from Edo, today's Tokyo. Shogun Iemitsu had Asakusa Shrine built in 1649.

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• Edo Sushi Chefs

  “Fast hands, fresh fish”

  Hand-pressed sushi was Edo's fast food, sold from street stalls. Asakusa's Sushiya-dōri still carries the name.

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• Rangaku Scholars

  “Learn from the Dutch”

  During Japan's closed centuries, 'Dutch learning' (rangaku) brought Western science through the Dutch post at Nagasaki: medicine, maps, astronomy.

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• Mikoshi Bearers

  “Wasshoi! Wasshoi!”

  At the Sanja Matsuri every May, hundreds of locals carry the portable shrines through Asakusa, shouting and bouncing them on their shoulders.

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• Fox Spirits

  “Now you see us...”

  Foxes are the messengers of Inari; in old stories they play tricks on travellers. Asakusa Shrine's grounds hold a small Inari shrine.

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Two ways to play

Without a game master

You play on your own. The organiser opens the game master page, chooses the default language and the playing time, and starts the game. From then on everything runs by itself on every phone: the zones, the chests, the merchant and the final count.

Often chosen by companies

With a game master

Someone leads the game from the game master page: follows every team live with its points and zones, sends messages to all teams, adds 15 minutes or stops the game, gives a team a power-up or puts a chest right next to it, and looks at the photos and videos. The game master never sees the answers.

€199.00 including 5 teams, €19.95 per extra team

The organiser sets up the game on the game master page (the default language and the playing time) and starts it for all teams.

Every player can pick and switch the language on their own phone.