Since I was a kid and had my first sushi, I’ve been crazy about Japan.
I know that people in Japan don’t eat that much sushi and that they would never put cream cheese on it, but that didn’t stop me from being curious about this faraway place.
These days, it’s easy to get video games, anime, and manga from Japan, but true Japanophiles are never satisfied.
Since I can’t go to Japan right now to quench my thirst, I decided to do the next best thing and make Skyrim more like Japan.
Let’s take a look at some of the best mods for an adventure in the East.
12. Japanese Voices
It doesn’t matter how much Japanese fashion and architecture you get into Skyrim.
As long as they’re speaking English, it will never be authentically Japanese.
You could, of course, play the game entirely in Japanese… but most of us can’t understand spoken Japanese – let alone read it.
Creator Seikai15 found an easy solution: changing the voices to Japanese but leaving the subtitles and all written material in plain English.
11. Chi – Asian Nord Preset
If you’ve ever tried to make an Asian-looking character in Skyrim, you know just how hard it can be.
Instead of wasting your time trying to make an apple look like a pear, you can download HoshiNoComet’s Chi – an adorable female Asian preset for the Nord race.
Chi is the Yamato Nadeshiko of Skyrim – a personification of the ideal Japanese woman, with lush jet black hair, dark eyes, and fair skin like porcelain.
Playing as Chi makes you look like an Akaviri wanderer. It makes for some great roleplaying.
10. The Akaviri Collection
The mysterious Akaviri are based on Eastern peoples like the Chinese and Japanese, and their weapons reflect this.
The Akaviri Collection by Silverburst101 introduces a nice variety of Akaviri weapons, including some stylish Sai, a long-ranged Naginata, and a classic Katana.
It also includes a Draconian Madstone. This links it back to Countess Narina Carvain of Bruma, who gives you a quest to retrieve such an item in Oblivion.
9. Hattori Hanzo Katanas
If you really want your weapons to look like they came from Japan, you need the Hattori Hanzo Katanas mod by Alrock10.
This great add-on gives you a set of great traditional Katanas with high-quality textures and brightly colored handles that will look great with any outfit.
I love these Katanas because the sheaths have the same bright colors as the handles and are decorated in a beautiful way. You’ll look like a real samurai when you wear them.
Check out the Katana Crafting mod if you just want Katanas and don’t care much about how they look. It adds a new Katana for every crafting material.
8. Akaviri Martial Arts
As any Japanophile already knows, Katanas are frail weapons that can get snapped to pieces with relative ease.
They’ll cleave through your enemies like butter, but only if you have the proper technique.
Skyrim’s basic attack animations are simplistic and brutish. The average Nord would destroy their Katana on the first swing – so get your Dragonborn some Akaviri training.
The Akaviri Martial Arts mod by Mahiwastaken adds a bunch of over-the-top & stylish combat animations, ideal for Katanas and other Asian blades.
These moves are fast and delicate, relying on the dexterous movement of your limbs rather than your muscles.
It makes them ideal for non-muscular characters.
7. Curse of Akavir
Despite housing one of the most exciting and powerful peoples of Nirn, the lands of Akavir have been left largely unexplored by Bethesda.
Based on what little we know of the Akavir, fans theorize their architecture and cities to resemble ancient Chinese or Japanese styles.
Curse of Akavir explores this idea by summoning the Dragonborn to Phoe, an Akaviri island featuring new quests, monsters, and a large area to explore.
There are towns, castles, and temples with distinct Eastern influences.
Something I enjoyed a ton about Curse of Akavir was the large-scale battles with over 10 NPCs. You only see that kind of stuff in vanilla when raiding forts or during the Civil War questline, making such encounters few and far between.
6. Rifles of Skyrim
Guns won’t make you think of Asia in this day and age.
Still, gunpowder was invented in China during the 9th Century, with hand cannons and other firearms cropping up shortly after.
Any addition of gunpowder and guns to a medieval fantasy setting technically counts as a Chinese influence, so I get an excuse to show you this fantastic rifle mod by ENR.
This new shipping of advanced weaponry to the Empire’s northern province (Imperial partisan here) includes 13 lore-friendly “rifles” based on materials found in vanilla Skyrim.
What I love the most about these weapons is that, despite being called rifles, they look more like the ancient hand cannons and other proto-guns you’d see in a society that’s barely getting into gunpowder.
5. Reiko Samurai Armor
Japan is now known for its technology, video games, cute mascots, and anime, but back in the day, it was the Samurai who spread their culture.
This historically accurate Samurai armor by APK222 is one of the best ways to make your Dragonborn’s adventure a little more Japanese.
If you pick up a longbow or a Katana, you’ll remember all the Samurai movies you’ve seen over the years.
You could also get the scary Samurai Akechi set or the evil Crimson Samurai set. Even though they don’t look as real, they’re badass.
4. Akaviri Ruins of Savirien-Chorak
Just as they were fond of war, medieval Japanese people were highly religious – something they had in common with most of their Asian neighbors.
Savirien-Chorak is an Akaviri ruin hidden deep within the forests of Falkreath.
The dense foliage surrounding the ancient wood and stone structures gives it the air of an ancient Japanese temple somewhere in the tree-covered mountains of Japan.
This potentially sacred place is guarded by a host of undead Akaviri warriors and Tsaesci spirits ready to suck the life right out of your mortal vessel.
Better bring a good Katana.
3. Blades Samurai Armor & Kimonos
We all know that there’s nothing better than finding a mod that has everything you want in a single download.
With just one click, Blades, Samurai Armor, and Kimonos won’t turn Skyrim into Japan.
But you’ll have the clothes you need to act like it is.
You’ll be the biggest fan of Akaviri culture on this side of Tamriel, at the very least.
It has several types of armor for Eastern warriors, like Samurai, as well as a lot of Kimonos to wear at home or when you’re out and about in town.
It also comes with a Katana, a shorter Tanto, a bow made in the Japanese style, and banners to show your loyalty.
This mod has a lot to find, and you’ll have a great time doing it.
If you like these armors and want to see them worn by city guards, you might also want to look into the Samurai Holds mod.
2. Japanese Weapon Pack
This mod adds several Japanese minor weapons that can be crafted at forges and tempered at grindstones.
It includes bamboo blades used for practice in Kendo, as well as the Houzouinryu Jumonjisou, a battle axe invented by a monk named Houzouin Kakuzenbou Inei and used in combat by his apprentice, Insyun, against Musashi Miyamoto.
The mod intentionally does not include the katana, as there are already many excellent katana mods available.
1. Cloaks of Skyrim – Japanese
Cloaks of Skyrim is a mod for the popular video game, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, that adds a variety of cloaks to the game for players to wear.
These cloaks come in different styles and colors, and can be equipped by the player character to provide additional warmth and protection from the harsh weather of Skyrim.
In terms of the Japanese version of the mod, it’s likely that the mod has been translated into Japanese, so that Japanese-speaking players can enjoy the mod in their own language.
This translation would involve translating all of the mod’s text, including item names, descriptions, and any in-game menus, into Japanese.
Overall, the Cloaks of Skyrim mod adds a nice touch of realism and immersion to the game, allowing players to dress their characters in warm, functional clothing that fits with the Nordic setting of Skyrim.
