The purpose of the Sakura Taisen English Support (STES) Mini-Campaign is to bring to the attention of Sega/Red the substantial interest in Sakura Taisen from English-speaking fans, in the hope that English support will be added to Sakura Taisen and/or Sakura Taisen 2. Note that we're not suggesting a full translation of the game, which will likely cost too much in terms of time and money, and most fans will prefer the superb voice-acting in the original game be left intact anyway. So text-only English support should be sufficient.

To convince Sega/Red to add English support to Sakura Taisen, we're asking fans to send the letter we supply below to Sega, together with the survey card that came with the game (if you don't own the game or if you lost the survey card, simply send the letters alone). The reason for sending the survey card is that by doing so, we're showing Sega concrete proof of western interest in the game. Since the letters will go directly to their consumer research department, they should have the maximum possible impact.

No need to worry if you don't read Japanese and don't know how to fill in the survey card. You can find a complete translation of it below. There's also a standard letter (in both English and Japanese) that you can download and send with the survey card. Of course you're encouraged to add your own letter if you have something to say that's not already included in the standard letter.

Here's a step-by-step instruction of what to do (simply skip the part about the survey card if you don't have it):

1. Locate the survey card which is usually sandwiched within the user manual.

2. Fill out both sides of the survey card following the translations here. Please do fill out every entry carefully and try not to leave anything blank. You should use English unless you're knowledgeable in written Japanese ^_^

3. Download the English version of the letter. The following formats are available:

Postscript Letter to Sega (English)

HTML version

Plain Text version

Use the plain text version if you'd like to modify the letter in your word processor or if you don't have a postscript printer. Otherwise please download and print the postscript version. Please add your name, address and the date on the top right corner of the letter, and please sign the letter.

4. Download the Japanese version of the letter. The following formats are available:

Postscript Letter to Sega (Japanese)

HTML version

Plain Text version

It is suggested that you use the postscript version if possible unless your printer can handle Japanese fonts. Please write your name and address (in English) at the end of the letter.

5. Place both letters and the completed survey card (and your own letter if you wrote one) in the same envelope and address it to:

Mr. Ooba Norikatu
Second Consumer R&D Department
Sega Enterprises
1-2-12 Haneda
Oota-ku, Tokyo 144
Japan.

6. Don't forget to use sufficient postage for air mail to Japan (should be 60 cents if sent from U.S.).

7. Send the letters and survey card out ASAP. With Sakura Taisen 2 due out next Spring, NOW is a good time to let Sega know we want English support in it.

It is also recommended that you leave messages online in the following places:

Sign Tetsuya's Sakura Taisen Petition!

Sakura Taisen Feedback page on Red's site - you're supposed to write in Japanese I think but they posted my letter (check here) which was mostly in English ^_^ Check here if you want to see whether your letter has been posted (it takes quite a while for letters to be posted though).

Sega Forum - the only English BBS in Sega of Japan's web site.

Sega's Sakura Taisen BBS - You're supposed to use Japanese here I think, but there's no rule that says you can't post in English I suppose ^_^ And this BBS is actually being monitored by staff in Sega, so there's a good chance they'll read your message, even though you shouldn't expect a reply if you letter is not in Japanese.

P.S. There are also survey cards in Sakura Taisen: Hanagumi Tsuushin and Hanagumi Taisen: Columns, which are similar to the one in Sakura Taisen. It may be better to send those in separately. Watch this page for translation of those survey cards.

P.P.S. This is called a "mini" campaign because we don't plan to do anything more drastic than sending in the letters and survey cards. It's just a gentle (but hopefully effective) reminder to Sega/Red of western interest in the game.

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