Location Watch Japan: As One Arcade Closes, Many Open

[Arcade Heroes]

(Post cover photo via Atlas Obscura; also thanks to everyone who send the news about Anata No Warehouse in)
It has been a little while since our last Location Watch post, either due to a slowdown in said news, or it’s me missing out on such headlines. Today’s is going to be slightly different than the norm, as I will address a closure first, then get into an unexpected trend of openings, all located in Japan.
For the bad news first, we have the impending closure of one of the most iconic arcade locations on the planet – the Anata no Warehouse in Kawasaki, Japan. While I had thought that we had covered it on the site before, apparently not. It is something I’ve long been aware of though, with the facility designed to look just like it came straight out of the infamous Kowloon Walled City that used to be in Hong Kong. Kotaku has a collection of Japanese tweetswhere it is reported that the Anata no Warehouse will be closing on Nov. 17th, bringing an end to an era of a venue that is an attraction in and of itself. Hopefully that won’t be the end of the story, but it’s impossible to say without talking to the owner of the place and finding out what their plans are for the future. RIP ANW
[CENTER][/CENTER]
[h=3]Where one door closes…[/h]All hope isn’t lost however, particularly in Japan, as a lot of locations are opening their doors in the country. It isn’t clear why ANW is closing, but otherwise the economy there has given space to strong growth of new entertainment locations.
To be fair, none of the locations below have the same curb appeal that ANW featured, by what I can tell. Most of these new sites appear to taking a page from trends in the USA and giving it a Japanese cultural twist. They are particularly embracing the idea of the “Family Entertainment Facility” that you get here in the USA, but instead of dark game rooms, they are making them bright and inviting for families. Several appear to have soft playgrounds for kids to enjoy, while mentioning arcade games being a part of the options.
Regardless what you think about the model being used, there is growth there, which is important. We’ll start with those that are scheduled to open in the near future and go backwards to when I published the last locations post (August), giving us twenty in total to look at. I am surprised by so many locations opening up this quarter, and to be honest, I don’t follow up on Japanese economic news very often. But if the amount of entertainment opening there is a barometer of anything, I’d say that it’s a great trend. It is also very possible that news about a location was missed, and some may open after this post is published. So don’t take this for “only” 20 new facilities being opened there!
The List
Soyu Game Field Furukawa at the Aeon Town Furukawa in Osaki (Dec.)