Japanese video game designer Hideo Kojima issued an anti-woke message on his X account, advocating for teaching history even when it is at its most unsavory.
Kojima is famous for his Metal Gear games, which date back to the late 1980s and have sold over 60 million copies combined over the series' lifetime. The games focus on espionage against the backdrop of secretive governments and the military-industrial complex. At the same time, the games have always honed in on the importance of freedom and the idea of American-style liberty.
Kojima issued his guiding principles in a recent post on X, stating plainly that no matter how dark history has been, it must be passed down.
"We have to pass the torch, and let our children read our messy and sad history by its light," Kojima wrote. "We have all the magic of the digital age to do that with. The human race will probably come to an end some time, and new species may rule over this planet."
"Earth may not be forever, but we still have the responsibility to leave what traces of life we can. Building the future and keeping the past alive are one and the same thing," he added.
Kojima stated that this was the thesis of his 2001 game Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty.
A fan soon replied to his post with a clip from the game that eerily predicted the future of online censorship:
One character in the video asks, "Why would you need to take away individual freedoms and censor the net?"
Another character, who is later revealed to be an artificial intelligence program, explains that humanity cannot be trusted to determine truth for itself. As such, the AI deems it necessary to censor certain viewpoints online to save humanity from being exposed to inaccurate history.
On the 20th anniversary of the game, Kojima posted about the importance of individual liberty and how society — in this case, online discourse — needs to be free and able to move in a natural direction without outside influence.
"LIBERTY and FREEDOM have different meanings, and MGS2 is not about singularity, but about the 'norms' of society having a will of their own," he wrote.
Kojima consistently makes arguments on behalf of traditional Western and Japanese cultures, advocating for simplicity in society. In 2023, he wrote about how he had watched a movie that made him yearn for a time of community and neighborhoods.
"The film reminded me of the importance of community and 'kizuna' (bonds) with neighbors and local residents."
"It reminded me of America in the 60's and Japan in the Showa era," he continued. "When 'home' was not isolated and neighborhoods were still close to each other."
Another Kojima game, Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, has also been applauded for its predictive nature. The 2008 release discussed private military operations in the Middle East and proxy wars fought using drone technology and autonomous war machines.
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