Japan is a country in Eastern Asia. The country uses the CERO rating system to rate all Grand Theft Auto releases, with so far all of the series being rated Z (18+). Japan received Grand Theft Auto releases at a much later time, as it has taken a long time for Rockstar Games to localize them, which is done by Rockstar Japan. The GTA games are published in Japan mainly by Capcom which had released the following games:
- Grand Theft Auto III (September 25, 2003)
- Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (May 20, 2004)
- Grand Theft Auto Double Pack (July 29, 2004 Xbox version, February 27, 2007 PS2 version)
- Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (January 25, 2007)
- Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories (July 26, 2007 PSP version, September 6, 2007 PS2 version)
- Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories (December 6, 2007)
- Grand Theft Auto IV (October 10, 2008)
CyberFront has released recent GTA games:
- Grand Theft Auto IV (March 20, 2009)
- Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars (September 24, 2009)
Game World
2D Universe
- The Yakuza, a real-life criminal organization based in Japan, is featured in Grand Theft Auto 2.
- Also in GTA 2, the host of Funami FM is a Japanese woman named Teriyaki-chan.
3D Universe
- The Yakuza also appears in GTA III and GTA Liberty City Stories. Its members are all of Japanese origin.
- The country capital, Tokyo, is mentioned in the Liberty Tree article Yakuza Operating With Impunity.
- The Kuruma is a Japanese car, since it has some visual cues from Japanese sedans and 'kuruma' (くるま or 車) means 'car' in Japanese (Although it might also be a joke on how Kuruma is Arabic for Pussy).
- There are also many Japanese manufacturers in the 3D Universe, such as Kakagawa appliances and the Maibatsu vehicles (Based in Mitsubishi).
HD Universe
- With the addition of the previously mentioned brands in the 3D Universe which reappear in the HD Universe, Japan is also responsible for the creation of the automakers Karin (Based in Toyota), Dinka (Based in Honda), Annis (Based in Nissan), Emperor (based off Lexus) and Nagasaki (Based in Kawasaki).
- A.M. Beer is a brand of Japanese beer.
- Characters such as Shon Kikuchi are of Japanese origin.
- The TV shows Princess Robot Bubblegum and Full Robo Hickey Hurry Mech Battlesuit are parodies of Japanese animes.
- The Uptown Riders, based on the real life Ruff Ryders, mostly ride Japanese bikes.
- The Elegy RH8 is metaphorically described as having been "born in the fires of Mt. Fuji".
- Mark Fostenburg's golf clubs are made in Japan.