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Hong Kong Supreme Feng Shui Committee @hksupremefengshui.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Original Planner Inoue Koki sought Haishima Kuniaki for Kowloon's Gate after hearing his work in the 1992 classic Jdrama Night Head, and was able to establish contact through Fuji TV staff. Haishima cites his "spiritual" sound to musicologist Koizumi Fumio's collection of Asian folk samples.

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Hong Kong Supreme Feng Shui Committee @hksupremefengshui.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Warehouse Kawasaki was an arcade centre in Japan that sought to recreate the atmosphere of Kowloon Walled City. The entrance from the parking lot, however, showed the influence of Kowloon's Gate rather than the historical Walled City. The arcade closed in 2019 and was demolished the next year.

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Hong Kong Supreme Feng Shui Committee @hksupremefengshui.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

For the 10th anniversary of Kowloon's Gate, original designers of the game got together and recreated the Kowloon Walled City in Second Life in 2007. Technically the first official piece of Kowloon's Gate media available to the West, the region Kowloon is still accessible in Second Life to this day.

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Hong Kong Supreme Feng Shui Committee @hksupremefengshui.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Demon's Gate was a smartphone game set in 1935 Tokyo in the same world as Kowloon's Gate. Despite an all-star development team from the Megami Tensei series (incl. KG's Kimura Nakaji), the game only lasted a year and shut down in 2017. It included a collab event with KG.

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Hong Kong Supreme Feng Shui Committee @hksupremefengshui.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

The player never had to pay to hire navigators to traverse the hutongs of Kowloon's Gate. The reason for this, though this is never specified in the game itself (only in the Deluxe Playstatoin Guide), could be that the director of Kowloon Navi is none other than the bartender of Dragon Hotel, Rich.

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Reposted by Hong Kong Supreme Feng Shui Committee

Cargodin @cargodin.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

After checking, Kowloon's Gate Suzaku appears to be on the North American eshop. We will tabs on this release. While we haven't confirmed the recent JP release for AI-generated assets, Jetman has used it in merchandise and promotion since/during KG Rhizome's development. (1/2)

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Hong Kong Supreme Feng Shui Committee @hksupremefengshui.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

The brothers Zhang Ling 張陵 and Zhang Lu 張魯 in Kowloon's Gate are named after the founding figures of Daoism as a religion who lived in the Han Dynasty. (Zhang Lu was the grandson of Zhang Ling) The brothers actually re-appear in the final dungeon, even though the game doesn't tell you explicitly.

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Hong Kong Supreme Feng Shui Committee @hksupremefengshui.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

The character Nguyễn Nguyên has an intentionally reduplicated name (グエン・グエン in Japanese). According to the Kowloon's Gate game booklet, the name calls attention to the famous Saigon Execution photo (not posting it here), where the executioner and the executed both were said to have the name Nguyễn.

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Hong Kong Supreme Feng Shui Committee @hksupremefengshui.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Great World Venus in Men's Street of Kowloon's Gate is named after the influential entertainment complex in pre-war Shanghai. The real world complex, known under its Chinese name Dashijie 大世界, still operates to this day.

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Reposted by Hong Kong Supreme Feng Shui Committee

Paul Darbyshire 🇪🇺 @pablo0151.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Kowloon’s Gate spotted in Edge issue 43!

A feature on the work of computer graphics artists in Edge Magazine issue 43, circa March 1997.

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Hong Kong Supreme Feng Shui Committee @hksupremefengshui.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Kowloon's Gate references the Nayin system 納音 of Chinese astrology when it refers to the elements of dates. The thing is, 22 May 1997 actually isn't a Day of the Fire (Thunderbolt 霹靂火) but Undersea Metal (海中金) under this system. The sequel Kowloon's Rhizome elaborates on this discrepancy.

ファイアの日（a day of the ﬁre）
陰陽の暦日で火属性の日を指す。陰陽の暦日は、納音（なっちん）によって求められる木火土金水の五属性のいずれかの性質を帯びる。火属性には、霹靂火、山頭火、炉中火、山下火、覆燈火、天上火がある。
1997年陰陽交合事件の際、1997年5月23日が霹靂火の暦日、すなわちファイアの日とされ、朱雀の見立てがなされた。しかし、クーロネットの障害からか同日は海中金、つまり金属性の暦日であった。これにより朱雀の龍脈が脆弱性を呈することになった。2025年7月は7月18日（金曜日）が霹靂火の日である。

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Hong Kong Supreme Feng Shui Committee @hksupremefengshui.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

One of the plot-relevant objects in the Isle of Delusions in Kowloon's Gate is based on the Changxin Palace Lamp 長信宮燈, a bronze oil lamp from the Han Dynasty unearthed in 1968, now in the Hebei Museum. The body is hollow to collect smoke, and there are adjustable slits to control the brightness.

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Hong Kong Supreme Feng Shui Committee @hksupremefengshui.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

The Pipe Man in the Dauphine Room in Kowloon's Gate is a reference to the Solar Phallus Man, a key piece of evidence in Carl Jung's concept of the collective unconsciousness. Jungian psychology permeates throughout the game, and is especially evident in the final act.

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Hong Kong Supreme Feng Shui Committee @hksupremefengshui.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

The Cloven Count in the Vendôme Room is a reference to the fantasy novel The Cloven Viscount by Italian writer Italo Calvino. His design draws inspiration from the works of René Magritte according to the devs.

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Hong Kong Supreme Feng Shui Committee @hksupremefengshui.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

The Palace of Heavenly Purity 乾清宮 in Kowloon's Gate is the only place that resembles its real life counterpart in the Forbidden City. The Hall of Imperial Supremacy 皇極殿 is also real, but looks nothing like the game's. The devs mentioned The Last Emperor (1987) in relation to this part of the game.

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Hong Kong Supreme Feng Shui Committee @hksupremefengshui.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

The Dancer's Reward by Audrey Beardsley was part of a series of illusions for Oscar Wilde's play Salome (1896), an adaptation of the biblical story. As reward for her beautiful dance, Salome asked her father King Herod for the head of John the Baptist.

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Hong Kong Supreme Feng Shui Committee @hksupremefengshui.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

Like its real life counterpart, the Forbidden City in Kowloon's Gate has a Nine-Dragon Wall, but the game's version is pitch black and only has one dragon out of nine. "Nine-Dragon" is the literal meaning of Kowloon 九龍.

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Hong Kong Supreme Feng Shui Committee @hksupremefengshui.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

Of all the districts in Kowloon's Gate, Tai Chang Road most closely captures the atmosphere of the actual Kowloon Walled City (as opposed to HK/China). The devs flew to HK only after the KWC had been demolished, and could only refer to books like the City of Darkness to recreate the city.

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Hong Kong Supreme Feng Shui Committee @hksupremefengshui.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

Japanese media including Kowloon's Gate usually pronounce Kowloon as Kuuron クーロン, but the native Cantonese pronunciation is closer to Gau Lung. "Kuuron" can be traced back to 1886, when Meiji Japanese officials of the Shanghai consulate presumably pronounced the English name "Kowloon" this way.

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Hong Kong Supreme Feng Shui Committee @hksupremefengshui.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

From Kimura's notes: Guattari from the e-mails in Kowloon's Gate was named after French psychoanalyst Felix Guattari, known for his rhizome concept. His characterization was based on Hannibal Lecter, while his sardonic tone was derived from the terminal texts of Bungie's FPS Marathon (1994).

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Hong Kong Supreme Feng Shui Committee @hksupremefengshui.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

Bamboo scaffolding remains common in Hong Kong, where it can reach great heights, despite disappearing in the rest of China. The iconic practice is currently under threat from being replaced by metal scaffolds especially after the devastating Wang Fuk Court fire last year.

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Hong Kong Supreme Feng Shui Committee @hksupremefengshui.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

The fortune-vending machine in Kowloon's Gate was voiced by Mou Sen, a prominent figure in Chinese avant-garde theatre. The problem was that Mou Sen spoke no Japanese at all, which made the doll speak in an intonation that was at the same time disconcerting and endearing to the Japanese players.

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Hong Kong Supreme Feng Shui Committee @hksupremefengshui.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

The Vendome Room on the Isle of Delusions in Kowloon's Gate is inspired by the 1992 film Toys starring Robin Williams.

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Hong Kong Supreme Feng Shui Committee @hksupremefengshui.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

Kowloon's Gate and its sequel Kowloon's Rhizome feature sparrow fortune-telling, a real life practice where trained sparrows pick cards to be interpreted by a fortune teller. A stall in the Temple Street night market in Hong Kong (the real life Men's Street) still offers this type of divination.

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Hong Kong Supreme Feng Shui Committee @hksupremefengshui.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

During development, the devs became convinced that Kowloon's Gate needed a battle system. As reference, game designer Asano Koichiro beat every monster in Dragon Quest III to take notes about their stats, but in the end all that effort was deemed unusable for Kowloon's Gate.

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Hong Kong Supreme Feng Shui Committee @hksupremefengshui.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

The name "Blue Crow" ブルークロウ is a literal translation of Qing Wu 青烏, a legendary figure of the Han dynasty who is said to have authored the Burial Classic of Qing Wu 青烏葬經, a foundational text of feng shui. The game also features a poem from the Burial Classic.

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Hong Kong Supreme Feng Shui Committee @hksupremefengshui.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

Hutong 胡同 are what Kowloon's Gate calls the in-game dungeons. The term is not used in real life Hong Kong but is instead commonly used to refer to the old alleyways of Beijing, which, incidentally, the game does feature!

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Hong Kong Supreme Feng Shui Committee @hksupremefengshui.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

The seminars on the Rhizome network in Kowloon's Gate are inspired by the chat logs of an actual Japanese new religion (ahem, cult). Particularly, Kimura Nakaji recounts seeing the cult leader descend into a chatroom and communicate with worshippers as if divinely possessed.

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Reposted by Hong Kong Supreme Feng Shui Committee

Chris Person @papapishu.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

For @aftermath.site, we're in a boom period for fan translations of unique games that we never made it to the west. I focused on four: Kamaitachi no Yoru, Kowloon's Gate, London Spirit Detectives, and Innocent Tears, and spoke to the people behind the projects. aftermath.site/kamaitachi-n...

aftermath.site

Fan Translations Still Are Being Done The Hard Way

Kamaitachi no Yoru, London Spirit Detectives, Kowloon’s Gate and Innocent Tears are getting their spotlight in the west thanks to fan-translations done without AI.

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Hong Kong Supreme Feng Shui Committee @hksupremefengshui.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

That's literally not a bowler hat, you'd think. The devs apparently thought so too, since in the design docs they call his hat a "silk hat", which usually refers to top hats, despite calling the man Bowler Hat Man 山高帽男. A bowler-hatted man actually shows up in Planet Laika, KG's spiritual successor.

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Hong Kong Supreme Feng Shui Committee @hksupremefengshui.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

The Aged People Centre from Kowloon's Gate existed in real life. In fact, both the building it was in and the organization running it still exist to this day! It occupied the magistrate's office in Kowloon Walled City, which was deemed the only building worth keeping when the city was demolished.

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Hong Kong Supreme Feng Shui Committee @hksupremefengshui.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

The overhanging neon lights of Kowloonfront and Tai Chang Road in Kowloon's Gate "might look cyberpunk-esque, but they are simply recreations of the street scenes of Hong Kong," said the devs. These once-iconic scenes of Hong Kong have faded in recent years in the name of public safety.

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Hong Kong Supreme Feng Shui Committee @hksupremefengshui.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

The Budorion Beer sign in Kowloon's Gate is a parody of Budweiser and Orion Beer, the beer of Okinawa. Why Orion? It's because CG artist Hijiri Taketomi is from Okinawa's Miyakojima. ☯️

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Reposted by Hong Kong Supreme Feng Shui Committee

revolver ocelthot @rnaboursiii.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

Kowloon's Gate spotted on the floor at E3 1997 Source: archive.gamehistory.org/item/667d84e...

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Hong Kong Supreme Feng Shui Committee @hksupremefengshui.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

In Chinese culture, the zi zaat 紙紮 in Kowloon's Gate are papers that are burned in order to be sent to the the world of Yin (the underworld). Known as joss paper in English, they can take the form of money, clothes, and even modern conveniences like smartphones, sport cars, and mansions.

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Hong Kong Supreme Feng Shui Committee @hksupremefengshui.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

Volume 3 of the manga Great Teacher Onizuka (1997) contains a direct reference to Kowloon's Gate.

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Hong Kong Supreme Feng Shui Committee @hksupremefengshui.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

There may not be a Women's Street in Kowloon's Gate, but in the real life Kowloon Peninsula (not the Walled City) there are both a Men's Street and a Women's Street! Men's Street is the nickname for Temple Street, and Women's Street (aka Ladies' Market) for Tung Choi Street - both popular bazaars.

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Hong Kong Supreme Feng Shui Committee @hksupremefengshui.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

Look at this photograph. The composition of this scene, a serious moment in the plot, is actually a reference to a classic Bon Curry commercial from 1969. Says so in the guidebook!

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Hong Kong Supreme Feng Shui Committee @hksupremefengshui.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

The circular structure of Wangren Road is reminiscent of the Hakka dwellings known as tulou in the Fujian and Guangdong provinces. Hong Kong does have fortified villages in its rural areas, but not the iconic circular ones as shown in Kowloon's Gate.

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Hong Kong Supreme Feng Shui Committee @hksupremefengshui.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

Kowloon Gate's character designer Inoue Koki cites his favourite stop-motion animated films such as The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) and Street of Crocodiles (1986) for the game's gothic character design.

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Hong Kong Supreme Feng Shui Committee @hksupremefengshui.bsky.social · 25/07/2026

Kowloon's Gate was originally going to have Otomo Katsuhiro (of Akira fame) do character design. As art director Inoue Koki was making preliminary sketches for Otomo, the producer Sudo Akira decided to have Inoue build upon those sketches in-house instead.

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Hong Kong Supreme Feng Shui Committee @hksupremefengshui.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

The manga Kowloon Generic Romance is very clear about being inspired by Kowloon's Gate. There is the whole plot about the Walled City remanifesting itself in the real world. Also, the characters Xiaohei and Gwen are named after characters in KG (where Gwen is Nguyên, both グエン in Japanese)

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Hong Kong Supreme Feng Shui Committee @hksupremefengshui.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

The lines by The Champion, the cargo ship in the West City Road dungeon, are inspired by the Tears in Rain monologue from Blade Runner (1982) ☯️

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Hong Kong Supreme Feng Shui Committee @hksupremefengshui.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

Guilü 鬼律, the enemy monsters of Kowloon's Gate, is named after the Demon Statutes of Nüqing (女青鬼律 Nüqing Guilü), a 4th-century Chinese demon bestiary. The term originally refers to the text itself and not the demons like it does in the game. ☯️

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Hong Kong Supreme Feng Shui Committee @hksupremefengshui.bsky.social · 19/07/2026

Kowloon's Gate makes "tongji" タンキー as some sort of voodoo. It's actually a form of divination involving a shaman being possessed in a physically-demanding ritual. On the other hand, voodoo is practised in Hong Kong in the form of "villain hitting" 打小人, where dolls are smacked with shoes.

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Hong Kong Supreme Feng Shui Committee @hksupremefengshui.bsky.social · 18/07/2026

West City Road in the game, with its river of diesel, is based on the picturesque water towns of the Jiangnan region. There were no rivers in the real Kowloon Walled City, only open sewers. ☯️

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Hong Kong Supreme Feng Shui Committee @hksupremefengshui.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

The sealing stones with the words 石敢當 (shigandang/ishigantou) are a real life feng shui custom in East Asia including Japan. They are usually placed at intersections, traditionally thought to be inauspicious spaces where qi forces clash, thus needing a spiritual stone to quell the negative aura. ☯️

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Hong Kong Supreme Feng Shui Committee @hksupremefengshui.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

"Mosquito eyes" are actually used in traditional Chinese medicine, known as Yemingsha 夜明砂 ("night-bright sand"), mostly to treat eye conditions. Yemingsha is extracted from bat guano because it is believed bats could not digest mosquito eyes. They're rarely prescribed esp. post-covid.

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