Every September, Tokyo Game Show reminds the world that culture and history are never far apart. This year, a typhoon erased the show's ambitious fifth day while a single date on the calendar — September 18, the anniversary of Japan's 1931 invasion of Manchuria — kept every major Chinese publisher away from Makuhari Messe. Yet 257,642 visitors arrived anyway, drawn by long-awaited sequels, creative spectacle, and the quiet resilience of an industry that has learned to adapt to almost anything.