I’m deeply disappointed to report that they replaced the awesome retro arcade in the DECKS shopping mall on Odaiba with a kitschy “retro museum” where you can do things like look at a reproduction of a classroom from the 1960s.
The awesome Zarigani in Shinsekai, Osaka succumbed to an electrical fire a few months ago.
Mikado closed their “Natsuge Game Museum” in Takadanobaba, which had some extremely rare and interesting games to play.
What’s left for Japanese retro arcades?
A selection of ones that are still standing at time of posting:
Mikado - Takadanobaba, Tokyo
Mikado - Ikebukuro, Tokyo
Retro G - Gigo #3 6F, Akihabara, Tokyo
HEY (Hirose Entertainment Yard) - Akihabara, Tokyo
Kasuga Gorakujo - Umeda, Osaka
There’s definitely more still around, but this is just a small selection.
Eventually, all the arcades in Japan are going to be just buildings full of crane games and gachapon machines. That’s what as of now most of them are. There’s a small spattering of racing and rhythm games (Mario Kart Arcade Grand Prix DX and Taiko no Tatsujin are still ubiquitous), but in any given arcade about 80% of the floor space is just crane games, medal games and gacha.
If you were thinking about coming Japan to play arcade games, you need to do it NOW, or else it’s all going to be gone.
