You've finally downloaded the Umamusume: Pretty Derby app, the music is pumping, the girls are ready to race, and suddenly, a pop-up stops you cold. It’s asking for your age. Or rather, it’s asking for your year and month of birth. If you don’t speak Japanese, this screen feels like a brick wall. Honestly, it’s just a standard compliance check, but if you mess it up, you might find yourself locked out of buying those precious Jewels later on.
Most players just want to get to the gacha. I get it. But how to enter age in Uma Musume isn't just about clicking buttons; it's about making sure your account doesn't get slapped with spending limits that treat you like a literal toddler. This isn't just flavor text. Cygames has to follow strict Japanese laws regarding microtransactions and minors.
If you are staring at the screen and seeing "生年月日" (Seinengappi), don't panic. It’s a one-time thing. You can't change it later. That is the most important part of this whole ordeal. If you accidentally tell the game you were born in 2015, you’re going to have a very hard time spending your hard-earned cash when the next 3-star banner drops.
The Actual Steps to Input Your Age
The prompt usually appears when you first try to access the shop or during the initial setup of a new account. You'll see two main boxes.
The first box is for the Year (年). This is the big one. Japanese games use the Gregorian calendar for this, so you’re looking for 1995, 2000, etc. Scroll through the wheel until you find your birth year. If you're using an emulator, this might feel a bit clunky, but it works the same way.
The second box is the Month (月). Pretty straightforward. 1 through 12.
After you select these, there is a big button at the bottom, usually saying "OK" or "登録する" (Register). Once you hit that, the game will ask you for a confirmation. It’ll show your birth year and month again and ask if you're sure. This is your last chance. Click the button on the right (usually the darker or highlighted one) to lock it in.
Why Does Cygames Care How Old You Are?
Japan takes the "Protection of Minors" very seriously when it comes to "gacha" mechanics. It's not just a suggestion; it's the law. Based on the age you enter, the game enforces a monthly spending cap on Jewels.
For players under 16, the limit is often as low as 5,000 yen per month. If you're between 16 and 19, that limit usually jumps to 10,000 or 20,000 yen. Once you hit 20 (which was the age of majority in Japan for a long time, though it recently changed to 18), those limits vanish.
If you're an adult and you accidentally set your age to 12, you've basically put your account on a permanent "allowance." Since Uma Musume is a heavy-duty resource management game, being unable to buy the packs you want during a major anniversary event is a nightmare.
The Language Barrier: Reading the Japanese UI
Let’s be real—the biggest hurdle for Western players is the Kanji. You don’t need to be fluent, but you should recognize a few key symbols.
- 年 (Nen): Year.
- 月 (Tsugetsu/Gatsu): Month.
- 日 (Hi/Nichi): Day (Though the game often only asks for Year and Month).
- 確認 (Kakunin): Confirm.
If you see a red error message after trying to submit, it usually means you left a field blank or the server timed out. Just try again. Also, keep in mind that the "day" isn't always required in the simplified age verification screen, which confuses people who are used to the standard Month/Day/Year format in the US.
Can You Change Your Age Later?
No.
Well, technically, you can try to contact Cygames support, but good luck doing that in English for a game that is technically only licensed for the Japanese or specific Asian markets (unless you're playing the Korean or Traditional Chinese versions). For the Japanese version, support will almost certainly require you to communicate in Japanese and provide some form of ID if you’re claiming you made a mistake.
It’s usually not worth the hassle. Most players who mess this up just end up restarting their account if they haven't spent money yet. If you have already rolled a top-tier Support Card like Kitasan Black or a specific runner you love, you’re stuck with that age.
What Happens if You Lie?
Look, everyone does it. People have been lying about their age on the internet since the days of AOL. If you are 17 but you want to spend like an adult, you might be tempted to put 1990 as your birth year.
Cygames doesn't ask for a passport or a driver's license just to play the game. They take your word for it at the start. However, if you ever lose your account and need to recover it, support will ask for the birth date registered to the account to verify you’re the owner. If you put a fake date and forget what it was, you might lose your account forever.
Write it down. Even if it's fake, write it down.
Privacy Concerns for Global Players
Some people get sketched out by games asking for personal data. In this case, it’s purely for the payment gateway. They aren’t using your birth month to track you down; they’re using it to make sure they don't get sued by the Japanese government for letting a 10-year-old spend $5,000 on digital horse girls.
The data is encrypted, and for the most part, it stays within the game’s local database linked to your User ID. If you're playing through the Google Play Store or Apple App Store, the payment is still handled by those platforms anyway.
Critical Next Steps for Your Account
To ensure you don't run into issues after entering your age, follow these immediate steps:
- Take a Screenshot: Once you’ve entered the age and confirmed it, take a screenshot of your Profile page (where your Trainer ID is). Keep this in a safe folder.
- Link Your Account: Go to the "Menu" (the three bars in the top right), find "Data Link" (データ連携), and set up a password. This is the only way to save your progress.
- Double-Check Your Spending: If you find you're unable to buy Jewels, check the "Shop" menu. If it tells you that you've reached a limit, it means the age you entered is currently active and restricting your account based on the current month.
- Verify Region Settings: Sometimes, payment errors aren't about age, but about your Google Play or iTunes region. Make sure your store region matches the version of the game you are playing.
Getting the age entry right is the boring part of Uma Musume, but it’s the foundation for everything else. Once it's done, you can finally get back to the actual fun: training your girls, managing their stamina, and crying when they fail a 5% training chance right before a major race. That’s the real Umamusume experience.