It is said that play can by categorized into the four classes “competition,” “chance,” “imitation” and “dizziness.” There is “play” in a steering wheel as well, suggesting a nuance of allowance and flexibility. Then there’s the arts. In Japan, ritual “playing for the gods” was the archetypical form of performing arts. Play was always profoundly related to physical activities. That nuance is quite different from today’s games, puzzles and other leisure activities. Although IT has meant a tremendous boost for the development of games and puzzles, we are now far removed from the original meaning of the word “play.”Why? Because the body has been left out.

There are things like position information games, of course, but they invariably rely on turning reality into information, rather than the other way around. For sure, today’s games too come replete with elements of competition, chance, imitation and dizziness, but the original elements of “play” have been excluded along with the body. In most old games, the purpose was never to find the “right solution.” Working toward the “goals” and “correct solutions” set up by game designers or programs is already more like school examinations than “play.”