In Namiji, you are fishers from the Japan of yesteryear, navigating south of the Japanese archipelago, only a few kilometers from the famous Tokaido road. You will need to have a fruitful day at sea in order to win the game.

To accomplish this, you will have the chance to contemplate magnificent marine species, to fish with a line or a net to fill your racks with colorful fish, and haul in your crustacean traps.

You can benefit from stops to upgrade your fishing equipment, and you will also have to contend with the gods of the sea by setting offerings afloat, or by fulfilling their wishes that they express during your contemplation with the Sacred Rocks, for which they will reward you.

Namiji contains gameplay similar to Tokaido. The action spaces are laid out on the game board in a linear track, with the players advancing down this track to take actions. The player who is currently last on the track takes a turn by advancing forward on the track to their desired action and taking that action, so players must decide whether to advance slowly in order to get more turns, or to travel more rapidly to beat other players to their desired action spaces. What players do on the track differs from what they do in Tokaido.