How to Play Japanese and European Online Games on Nintendo Switch
There are many digital download games available on Nintendo Switch, but the library varies depending on where you live. Tons of fun games are only officially sold in Japan and Europe, and from time to time the country will get early access to the upcoming global release ahead of other parts of the world.
Luckily, the Nintendo Switch is a region agnostic console, so you can usually import a boxed copy of the game from Japanese or European retailers, pop it into the Switch, and play without much fuss (no language barriers, of course). This also means that users can access a different region’s online store to download games, demos and other country-exclusive content, but this is a little more difficult. To download games from other regions to your Switch, you’ll need to create a regional Nintendo Account linked to its own profile on your system. In some cases, a regional Nintendo Account is even required to play physical copies of imported games, or to access DLC and online features or game modes.
This may sound daunting, but we’ll walk you through the entire account creation process, show you how to pair it with the Switch, and give you tips on how to find and buy games from Japanese and European online stores.
How to Create and Link a Regional Nintendo eShop Account
The first step is to create a new Nintendo Account in the browser on your computer, phone or tablet.
- Go to accounts.nintendo.com .
- Click Create Nintendo Account. (Make sure you are using a different email address from your default account.)
- Select the country / region of residence of the online store you want to access: Japan, Europe, North America, etc.
- Finish creating your account.
Next, you need to create a new user profile on your Switch and use that to link to the Nintendo Account you created above.
- Take the switch, open the home screen and go to Settings> Users> Add User.
- Follow the instructions to create a new profile.
- Select Link Nintendo Account when prompted. Sign in with your regional Nintendo Account.
- A confirmation code will be sent to your Nintendo Account email address. When prompted, enter the code on the switch and the account will be linked.
How to buy and download games from other countries on Nintendo eShop
After setting up a regional account and linking to the switch, you can access the online store of the selected country. Simply open the online store from the switch home screen, then select the correct profile when prompted.
Downloading an online store is easy enough, but when you go to it, things can get confusing.
E-shops in North America, Europe, and Japan look and work the same, but differences in language and currency / price can make it difficult to browse, search, purchase or download content, especially in a Japanese store. Here are some tips to help you navigate the process.
First, you can make it easier to find the game by changing the keyboard language on Switch:
- Open the switch keyboard (a quick way to do this is to click or select an online store search option).
- Select or tap the globe icon at the bottom of the keyboard overlay.
- Select the language you want to use for your keyboard.
- You can switch back to English (or any other language) by selecting the globe icon again.
You can now enter text using the alphabet of a different language, and your switcher will offer text prompts at the top of your keyboard. Unfortunately, there is no way to translate an entire Japanese online store into other languages right on your Switch, but the Google Translate app on your Android or iPhone will do the job just fine if you really need to.
When it comes to buying games, the process is the same for every online store, but your payment methods don’t always work. While you can try adding your credit card information during checkout, not all bank cards will work, and if they do, your bank will likely charge a conversion fee.
Another option is to fund your online store account with a gift card purchased from a retail store like Play Asia, which sells both Japanese and European eShop cards. The Play Asia store pages also have instructions for redeeming cards in the Switch online store.
Play games from other regions on Nintendo Switch
After downloading a game to the Switch, you can select it from the home screen or from the library screen. Luckily, you can play eShop games with accounts from any region, so if you want to play the Japan-exclusive demo on your North American Switch profile, you can. The only exceptions are DLCs, which will be linked to the regional account with which you purchased the game, so if, for example, you are playing a Japanese game with DLC, you can only play the DLC with your Japanese online store account. The same goes for some online games that require a regional account. Given the limitations longtime gamers have faced when importing games from other regions, none of the above should pause you – the whole world of Switch games is open to you.