Tutorial: How To Make A Japanese Account On Your PS3

This is a detailed tutorial on how to make a Japanese PS3 account on your Playstation 3. Why would you want to make a Japanese account on your Playstation 3? You want to make such an account because the Japanese store has different videos, games, and demos (Yakuza 3) available to download compared to the U.S. store. Making a Japanese account will also allow you to check out the Japanese Home service, which is different than the U.S. version (did you see that killer trailer for Demon’s Souls?). You also want to make a Japanese account because the Japanese store has a free program called Ad Hoc Party in which you can use to play Ad Hoc PSP games online using Playstation 3. These games include Monster Hunter Freedom 2 and the newly released Phantasy Star Portable. You can also use your PS3 bluetooth headset to talk during these games!

Here are the steps. Create a new user on your PS3 media bar. I named mine “Japanese Account”. Sign-in using the new Japanese account, move right on your media bar to sign up for a new Playstation Network (PSN) account. Then create a new account. Change the country/residence option to Japan. Note that there are no English words after this step, so be prepared and don’t lose track of which screen you’re on. Once the language changes, go directly to the third row. The third row is for your birthday. Be sure to select 89 (1989) or earlier so you don’t have parental control issues. For example, if you select the year 1995, you’ll be a minor and may not have full access to all the PSN services. After entering your birthday, highlight and click the “next” button (on the bottom row, last button to the right) to continue to the following screen.

The next screen is simply for agreement acceptance - simply scroll down and press the next button again (last button on the right, bottom row) to move onto the next screen. The new screen contains the following information… “Sign in ID (enter a valid email address here)”, “Password (enter a six digit password with letters and numbers)”, “Confirm Password (re-enter the same password)”, “Check Box (check this box to remember your password)”, “Hint/Secret Question (select any question)”, and “Hint/Secret Question Answer (enter anything, it doesn’t matter)”. Then press the next button (bottom row, far right) to continue.

The next screen has a field for your ID. This is your online ID… enter a name for your ID. It must be different and unique than your sign-in name (do not enter an email address) or you will get an error message. Press the next button again to continue. It may take a few tries to get this one right so keep trying. Once this is completed, you will be taken to the Naming/Gender Screen. The fields are “First Name (enter anything)”, Last Name (enter anything)”, and Gender (select anything, male or female).” Then highlight and click the “next” button to continue.

One the next screen, in the first box, just type in 5 digits. I used 1 2 3 4 5. Then in the drop down menu, select the 2nd option. On the following three rows, just enter random characters and press the next button (bottom row, far right) to continue.

The final screen has a check box. Do not check this box. Simply press the next button (bottom row, far right) to complete the process. Select the option to go to the Playstation store and you’re all done! In the next tutorial, I will show you how to download the “Ad Hoc Party” program from the Japanese Playstation store and set up an online game with Phantasy Star Portable.

Click here for a tutorial on how to use Ad Hoc Party to play Phantasy Star Portable online with others