Bryan McAllister’s personal reference notebook
September 11, 2026Short & citedBlog
Civic Viewpoint.
A quiet encyclopedia with a personal desk
Kept by Bryan McAllister — short guides, clear facts, and the Canadian angle when it matters.
How It Works • Games & Tech

Harvest Moon

Harvest Moon is the English title originally used for the Japanese farming simulation role-playing game series *Bokujō Monogatari*.

Updated September 11, 20261 min readCited sources

Harvest Moon is the original English name for the Japanese farming simulation series *Bokujō Monogatari*. It debuted in 1996 and later split into two separate series under different publishers.

What it is

Harvest Moon began as a Japanese series called *Bokujō Monogatari*, created by Yasuhiro Wada. The first game, released in 1996 for the Super Famicom and SNES, was localized in English by Natsume under the title *Harvest Moon*. It focuses on running a farm, growing crops, raising animals, and building relationships with townspeople.

How it plays

Core games revolve around restoring and managing a farm: planting and harvesting crops, caring for livestock, and interacting with villagers. Many titles also include marriage and family-building systems. The series is known for its relaxing, open-ended gameplay and is often credited with defining the cozy farming simulation genre.

Why there are two series

After a publishing rights split, the original Japanese series began appearing internationally as *Story of Seasons* starting around 2014. Natsume retained the *Harvest Moon* name and has since released its own separate line of farming games under that title. Both series continue to exist, but they are unrelated in development.

In short

  • The series originated in Japan as *Bokujō Monogatari*.
  • First game released in 1996 for Super Famicom and SNES.
  • The original series is now known as *Story of Seasons* outside Japan.
  • Natsume continues its own *Harvest Moon* series from 2014 onward.
Canadian angle

The series has been widely available in Canada through North American releases and helped popularize farming simulation games among Canadian players.

Quick questions

What is Harvest Moon?
It is the English title originally used for the Japanese farming simulation series *Bokujō Monogatari*.
Is Harvest Moon the same as Story of Seasons?
The original Japanese series is the same lineage, but after a publishing split it became *Story of Seasons* outside Japan.
Why are there two Harvest Moon series now?
Natsume kept the *Harvest Moon* name for a separate farming game series after the original series moved to the *Story of Seasons* title internationally.

Sources

  1. Wikipedia — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Story_of_Seasons
    Supports: Original series title, creator, genre, and the international name change to Story of Seasons
  2. Wikipedia — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvest_Moon_(video_game)
    Supports: First game release details, genre, and franchise origin
  3. Wikipedia Bahasa Melayu — https://ms.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvest_Moon_(siri_permainan_video)
    Supports: Japanese title Bokujō Monogatari and English localized name Harvest Moon
  4. Wikipedia — https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvest_Moon_(serie_de_videojuegos)
    Supports: Series overview, gameplay themes, and first-game release context
  5. Siliconera — https://www.siliconera.com/how-to-play-all-harvest-moon-and-story-of-seasons-games-in-order/
    Supports: Explanation of the publishing split and Natsume's separate Harvest Moon series