Mysteries of Old Tokyo

You Are The Historian of Old Tokyo.

In Mysteries of Old Tokyo, you’re the brand new investigator for the Tokyo branch of the secretive Rare Items Acquisitions Ltd. Puzzle your way through 11 chapters that each explore a different aspect of the city’s history.

Mysteries of Old Tokyo is inspired by the CD-ROM "multimedia experiences" of the 1990s like Encarta ’96 and Cosmology of Kyoto, as well as modern detective games like The Roottrees are Dead and the Golden Idol series.

Review the evidence, answer the questions, and help complete an unrivalled, meticulously researched database of Tokyo.

You’re a historian now! 30 hand-crafted puzzles explore the fascinating history of the Imperial Capital. Each week, you’ll explore three new locations based on a 1930s postcard:

• Take a photo to show the present day view at the very same spot.

• Collect evidence linked to the site: books, magazines, maps, paintings, archive photos, and more.

• Use analysis and synthesis to build the complete picture from multiple sources, just like a real historian.

• Extract words to correct the historical record in "fill-in-the-gap"-style gameplay.

  • Why did the Forty-Seven Ronin kill [        ]?

  • Why is [       ] vital to the spiritual defence of the entire city?

  • What became of the Three Human [         ]?

• Analyse your photos to compare the changes between the 1930s to the 2020s.

You’ll fill in the gaps for each postcard and help your mysterious employer create a detailed database of Tokyo’s history, all based on real historical sources.

Meet a cast of wandering spirits, identify the truth in their lies, and unlock their stories.

You won’t be alone as you explore Tokyo. A supernatural dam has burst, spilling confused ghosts from the Iron Age to the 1980s across the city. As they tell their stories, not everything they say will add up.

• Encounter spirits of the "Edokko" ("children of Tokyo") at new and old locations as you explore the city.

• Build up their story bit-by-bit in the Spirit Report.

• Explore 15 hand-crafted narratives each telling the story of a single day in Tokyo’s long history.

• Use the Encyclopedia and your personal experience of Tokyo to identify the errors and lies.

• Chigau! I object! J’accuse! Highlight the inconsistencies and catch them out to help them clear up their memories.

• Each time you submit a Spirit Report, you’ll build up trust with the spirit and unlock more of their backstory, based on the real lives of the Edokko: there are five uniquely-written spirits to meet, from flirty courtesan Kasuga-dono to bubble-bound salaryman Yoshida-san.

• After you finish the main storyline, continue playing in the post-game to unlock all 15 narratives and character stories.

As a roving researcher, take photographs and collect evidence detailing the real history of Tokyo on a sumptuously detailed map.

You’re not just a desk jockey. Each week, with PDA and digital camera in hand, you’ll set out from your office to visit three new locations.

• Go by foot or by train from your home base in Marunouchi to view each postcard in its real-world geographical context across four maps: Central Tokyo, Downtown Marunouchi, Tama River and Haneda.

• Discover each location using your PDA Directory and a nearby station’s Location Board.

• Revisit old haunts based on paranormal analysis to discover new stories for the Spirit Report.

• Plot a route to some of the most famous Tokyo landmarks:

  • Ginza

  • Asakusa Sensō-ji Temple

  • Ueno Station

  • Shinjuku Street

  • Haneda Airport

  • Meiji Shrine

  And many more!

• Unlock new evidence by visiting special points around the map.

Compare 1930s images with real photos taken in 2025 at the same locations. Find what’s new – and what’s old – in this mercurial, ever-changing city.

• Use the Similarity Finder to precisely line up present-day photographs with the original postcards.

• With the Time Loupe in Direct Mode, compare past and present and identify common features.

• In Parallels Mode, tease out the tiniest similarities in views that have changed almost completely since 1935.

• And in the Treasure Browser, unlock ten hand-crafted artefacts in glorious 360 degree 3D, each telling their own story of the Imperial Capital: from a "Galapagos phone" to a samurai sword.

Explore an authentic recreation of Tokyo, past and present.

For lovers of Tokyo, this might just be the most authentic interactive recreation ever made.

• Painstaking research reveals the history behind a set of antique 1930s postcards, discovered at a flea market in Shibuya and scanned in high quality.

• Each postcard is complemented by the original description, human-translated from Japanese for the first time. Illustrations, modern-day photographs, and an author’s commentary provide the full picture.

• From Akabane to Zoshigaya: Ride the rails on a meticulous recreation of 18 real-world train lines and over a hundred stations in Tokyo.

• Go back in time with a complex four-dimensional map of Tokyo’s transit, covering every year from 1872 right up to the present day.

• Hundreds more Tokyo locations in the landmark database, visited by mysterious spirits, from the Imperial Hotel to the Tokyo Skytree.

• A huge encyclopedia based on extensive research, telling the whole story of Tokyo from prehistory, through the Edo period, to the 80s bubble and beyond.

Defeat the supernatural threat and save Tokyo in a story spanning 11 chapters.

Ancient fortresses crumble. Long-forgotten spirits flood the city. A powerful supernatural force threatens to upend the everyday lives of Tokyo’s 14 million residents. Each week, as you unlock more postcards, you’ll uncover more of the backstory with interludes and FMV cinematics, and ultimately save the city.