The sandbox creation game “Minecraft” created by the Mojang team has sold 300 million units worldwide. Over the years, players have been able to see a variety of breathtaking fan creations in the community. Just recently, a Japanese player successfully recreated the entire city of Tokyo in the game.
Japanese player Riku Ma Mikuni released a demonstration video of this “Minecraft” version of Tokyo on March 15. The final product not only includes the complete 23 local special districts, but also covers the wider West Tokyo area, and even the surrounding outlying islands have been completely reconstructed.
According to this player’s introduction, he is actually a doctoral student in architecture from Japan’s Waseda University, and is also one of the organizing committee members of the local “Minecraft” creation competition “Minecraft Cup” in Japan.
東京都全域のMinecraftワールドができました！
23区だけでなく多摩地域から島嶼部もあります。国土交通省のPLATEAUデータを精度高くMinecraftに変換するツールを2年前から研究の合間に開発し始め、ようやく完成しました。
他道府県のデータもコンバートしてマイクラデジタルツインを実現します。 pic.twitter.com/AZrLOHRNM7
— 三國陸真 マイクラ博士学生 (@Tech_Rope0801) March 15, 2026
From his public display video, players can see the Tokyo city he recreated in “Minecraft”. Famous landmarks such as Tokyo Tower, Tokyo Station, and MUFG Stadium have been highly restored. In addition to the urban landscape, Mikuni Rikuzen has not missed the surrounding Mount Takao and the remote Hachijo Town. The coverage is quite amazing.
When explaining the creative process in depth, Mikuni Rikuma emphasized that one of the biggest contributors behind the “Minecraft” version of Tokyo’s reproduction plan is the 3D database “PLATEAU” provided by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism of Japan.
Although the original purpose of the Japanese government’s release of “PLATEAU” was not “Minecraft”-related applications, it was to create 3D models of Japanese cities, which are so-called “digital twins.” By obtaining and integrating data through aerial surveying and other methods, PLATEAU can provide 3D urban models including buildings and terrain. This information is open to the public for free use and can also be used for commercial purposes. It is currently widely used in fields such as infrastructure management, urban planning simulation, and disaster prevention.
Not only that, in order to realize this reconstruction, Sanguo also specially developed a set of tools that allowed him to convert the data in PLATEAU into “Minecraft” with high accuracy. In the past two years, he developed this set of tools in his spare time while conducting university research, and after successfully completing it, he finally started the construction plan of Tokyo City in “Minecraft”.
After “Minecraft” completely restored the city of Tokyo, Mikuni Rikuzen also began to expand his ambitions. Since the PLATEAU database contains information about Japanese cities, this player also began planning to create more Japanese cities in Minecraft.
Although many players have tried to use real geographical data to recreate real-life locations in Minecraft in the past, the most special part of this project is that one player developed the tool alone and used open source data to recreate the entire Tokyo metropolitan area. If Rikuma Mikuni continues to push forward with his ambitions, we may see him successfully build an entire Japan in Minecraft in the near future.
At present, “Minecraft” produced by Mikuni Rikuzen in Tokyo has not yet been opened to players for download, but he has already begun to decide whether to make it public. At the same time, he also shared a set of tools provided by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism of Japan. Although this set of tools can also transfer PLATEAU data into the world of “Minecraft”, unlike the tools he developed himself, this official tool does not support the output of texture maps.
Source: KOCPC Chinese