Why Japan

1:33 Forza Horizon 6 is set in Japan because, in Playground Games' words at the reveal, Japan "has been one of the most iconic and requested locations" by the Forza Horizon community, and because the studio felt it could now build it properly. Art director Don Arceta said Japan had long been "top of Horizon fans' wish lists" and that "now is the right time" to deliver it. The setting was revealed with a teaser during the Xbox Tokyo Game Show 2025 broadcast on Sep 25, 2025, after weeks of reports that pointed to Japan. A Japanese cultural consultant, Kyoko Yamashita, worked with the team. The result is Forza Horizon 6's interpretive Japan, with Tokyo City at its heart.

Quick facts

Sources: Get Ready to Explore Japan in Forza Horizon 6!, Sep 25, 2025; Xbox Wire (Joe Skrebels), Sep 25, 2025; Xbox Wire (Danielle Partis), Jan 22, 2026.

Why did Playground choose Japan?

Playground gave two reasons: demand and readiness. On demand, its reveal post put Japan among the community's most requested places, and in January 2026 it called Japan a place "we've wanted to visit for a very long time". On readiness, Arceta told Xbox Wire that "now is the right time to realize that fully for players"; the French edition of the interview gives his point as technology that can now portray Japan accurately, with each game's lessons making the next more ambitious.

He named one of those lessons directly: the Forza Horizon 5 Hot Wheels expansion "helped us develop the elevated roads of Tokyo City". He also tied Japan to the series' seasons, saying seasonal change has "a dramatic impact on the landscape" there (see Seasons and Weather), and called Tokyo "one of our most detailed and layered environments to date".

Japan's car culture

4:10 Japan is also the home of much of what Horizon players drive. Yamashita listed "Kei cars and vans with cult followings, precision motorsport, drifting's roots", and the game leans on all three: kei cars and Japanese Cars throughout the list, touge mountain roads (see Mount Fuji and Touge Roads and Street Races and Touge Battles), Drift Attack, and Car Meets modeled on Tokyo's Daikoku parking area (see Car Meets and Drag Meets). Arceta promised the game would still follow Forza Horizon 5 "in delivering a broad range of cars", not Japanese cars alone.

The long fan demand

1:07 Fans had asked for Japan for years. Several outlets reported that Xbox Game Studios head Matt Booty said at the reveal that Japan had been the series' most requested location since the first game in 2012, citing his remarks to The Verge (TechSpot); that interview was not read for this page. Windows Central's headline called it the location fans "have been crying out for". Players had even built it themselves: Forza's 2024 review of the year singled out a community EventLab "rendition of Hakone" inside Forza Horizon 5.

Building Japan with a cultural consultant

2:21 Playground hired a cultural consultant, Kyoko Yamashita, and the team traveled to Japan, where, she said, "most of the group were first-time visitors". What she wanted players to feel was its mix: "a neighborhood shrine beside a small workshop beside a neon arcade". Playground's January 2026 post says the team sought advice from people who have lived with Japanese culture all their lives and brought back time lapses of skies, photogrammetry of trees and rock, scans of roads and buildings, and even how fallen cherry blossoms react to passing cars.

0:23 The map is an interpretation, not a copy. Design director Torben Ellert said the aim is to "recreate the experience of having something revealed when you get there", not every corner of the real country, and called Tokyo "the most visually, radically different space" Playground has built for Horizon. Japan Map and Landmarks show what made it in.

A tourist, not a star

12:14 Japan also changed the player's story. In Forza Horizon 4 the player arrived in Britain as a Superstar and in Forza Horizon 5 as a champion; in Forza Horizon 6 the player starts as a tourist, and Playground says "None of that past fame is carried with you". Ellert described the player as "only attending as a fan, with a dream to take part in it". Campaign and Story follows that path.

The Tokyo Game Show reveal

0:00 Reports in August and September 2025 said the next Horizon would be set in Japan and revealed at Tokyo Game Show, and an early ad pointed the same way (Windows Central); they turned out right. On Sep 25, 2025, at the Xbox Tokyo Game Show broadcast, Playground showed a short teaser that, it said, "celebrates the many iconic locations" of past festivals and closed on Mount Fuji, and promised Xbox Series X|S and PC in 2026 and PS5 after launch. The release date, May 19, 2026, followed at the Developer_Direct on Jan 22, 2026 (see Release Date and Times).

Frequently asked questions

Why is Forza Horizon 6 set in Japan? Playground Games says Japan was one of the Forza Horizon community's most requested locations, and its art director said the studio's technology was finally ready to portray it properly. Forza Horizon 6 is the first Horizon game set in Asia.

When was the Forza Horizon 6 Japan setting revealed? Forza Horizon 6's Japan setting was revealed on Sep 25, 2025 with a teaser at the Xbox Tokyo Game Show 2025 broadcast, ending on Mount Fuji.

Is Forza Horizon 6's Japan a real map of Japan? No. Forza Horizon 6's Japan is an interpretation: Playground condensed real places, roads and landmarks into one map built around Tokyo City, rather than recreating the country to scale.

Who was the cultural consultant on Forza Horizon 6? Kyoko Yamashita was Forza Horizon 6's cultural consultant. She spoke with Xbox Wire at the reveal about Japan's car culture and its mix of shrines, workshops and arcades.

Sources

• Get Ready to Explore Japan in Forza Horizon 6!, Playground Games on Steam, Sep 25, 2025
• Forza Horizon 6: Answering the Big Questions About That Japan Setting, Xbox Wire (Joe Skrebels), Sep 25, 2025
• Forza Horizon 6 nous emmène au Japon, Xbox Wire France, Sep 25, 2025
• Xbox Tokyo Game Show 2025 Broadcast: Everything Announced, Including the Forza Horizon 6 Setting, Xbox Wire, Sep 25, 2025
• Forza Horizon 6 set in Japan, coming to PC and Xbox first in 2026, TechSpot, Sep 25, 2025
• Forza Horizon 6 will headline the Xbox 25th anniversary year, Windows Central, Sep 2025
• Forza Horizon 6 ads go live early, confirming Japan setting, Windows Central, Sep 2025
• 2024 Forza Year in Review, Forza team on Steam, Dec 20, 2024
• Forza Horizon 6 Releases May 19 on Xbox Series X|S and PC, Playground Games on Steam, Jan 22, 2026
• Forza Horizon 6: More Details on The Country, The Culture and The Cars of Playground Games' Japan, Xbox Wire (Danielle Partis), Jan 22, 2026
• Earn Your Gold Wristband and Become a Horizon Legend in Japan, Playground Games on Steam, Feb 23, 2026
• Forza Horizon 6 - Everything To Know, GameSpot, May 11, 2026 (video)
• I recommend: Forza Horizon 6 (Review), Skill Up, May 19, 2026 (video)
• Forza Horizon 6 Review - The Final Verdict, GamingBolt, May 14, 2026 (video)
• Forza Horizon 6 Review, IGN, May 14, 2026 (video)
• Forza Horizon 6 - Official Teaser Trailer | Tokyo Game Show 2025, Forza, Sep 25, 2025 (video)