Games Workshop seems to be ramping up its operations in Japan, with job openings for Japanese Warhammer translators, a Tokyo store manager, and a new people manager. The firm already stated its intentions to expand its reach in Asia in its most recent annual report – sales via the firm’s retail stores in Japan grew 26% in the last financial year, and it seems it’s capitalizing on that boost.
Currently the Games Workshop careers website has two listings for Japanese translators, one for a Tokyo store manager (and a duplicate listing in English), and one for a People Partner HR manager. There are already 13 Warhammer stores in the country, responsible for $4.6 million (£3.4 million) retail sales in the 2024-25 financial year.
According to CEO Kevin Rountree, writing in the 2024-25 annual report, “our aim is to open c.35 new stores in total across North America, Continental Europe and Asia in 2025-26”. He says the Japanese team “continues to deliver on their exciting store opening plan; adding key jobs to help them continue the momentum they have achieved after a very successful year”.
While GW makes most of its money from selling toy soldiers, the appeal of those figures comes largely from the fictional universes they’re based on, particularly Warhammer 40k, and the miniature wargames they can be used to play.
Every year the firm generates an incredible volume of printed material, from recent Warhammer 40k Codex releases to the Horus Heresy books. Translators – who are managed from the UK but have the option to live in the country they’re translating for – are a key part of its growth strategy.
Games Workshop has been developing its presence in Japan for decades. It’s easy to understand why the nation is such a focus: science-fiction model building is particularly popular in Japan thanks to the cultural juggernaut of Gundam kits. Games Workshop partnered with Gundam maker Bandai to produce a range of single-model kits for the Japanese market in 2017, sold in blind-purchase ‘gashapon’ boxes. The Warhammer Hereos range proved globally popular but still debuts in Japan, and has run to six series so far.
If Japan is Games Workshop’s most mature market in Asia – South Korea is its newest. The firm recruited Korean language translators earlier this year, and plans to open the first first-party Warhammer store in South Korea in this financial year.
If you’re an Asian Warhammer hobbyist, we’d love to hear from you about what your local scene is like! Come and join us in the official Wargamer discord community.
Games Workshop may soon find its job in Japan becoming more challenging. Japan’s domestic market for Bandai’s Gundam model kits (Gunpla) is enormous, and the firm is going to release an original Gundam miniature wargame, Gundam Assemble, in 2026. The model kits are already available as box promos for the Gundam Card Game – Wargamer has test-built some, and we were very impressed.
AloJapan.com