It seems Death Stranding was inspired by the work of real Japanese porters. Fans’ revelation 5 years after release

Death Stranding had an intriguing ad campaign, but in the end it turned out to be an advanced walking simulator about a courier

Death Stranding was released in 2019. In the new game, Hideo Kojima offered an interesting take on the “walking simulator”, presenting an in-depth game about working as a courier in harsh conditions.

Almost 5 years after release, some players in the West realized what Death Stranding might be inspired by. It seems that the main character, Sam Bridges, has very real prototypes in Japan.

In Death Stranding, Sam stacks complex structures of cargo on his back and tries to somehow deliver them, attempting to overcome all emerging obstacles while keeping balance so that the entire cargo doesn’t spectacularly crash down and scatter all over.

As it turns out, Japan has bokka (“bokka”), real-life porters who deliver goods on their backs through the mountains (and generally work in “hard-to-reach places”). The cargo weight carried by bokka is estimated at 100–165 kg.

However, in 2024, this is far from a “revelation” for all Death Stranding fans. Some community members discussed bokka back in 2019–2020.

Delivery example: https://youtu.be/mL60hmH6ULg

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