Photographs from a small group of islands
Like so many of Tokyo’s bars that are old, cramped and in need of a good clean, this one was a real joy. Serving cheap food and booze, it was packed full of character. Not at all lacking in characters. Plus signs of its 30-odd years in existence were plastered and splattered all over the walls.
So pretty much perfect, really.
Japanese game centres and pachinko parlours aren’t especially conservative when it comes to design — not by any stretch of the imagination. But, at the same time, gaudy is the key watchword rather than anything genuinely creative. Such criticism, however, can in no way be directed at Kawasaki’s Warehouse entertainment complex. A design that is intended to replicate sections of Hong Kong’s now demolished Kowloon Walled City, with no expense — or indeed details — spared.
Admittedly, on entering the building it doesn’t quite feel like one has been transported back to an ungovernable settlement that’s home to more than 30,000 people. Yet at the same time, it does feel like a world away from a regular game centre. Or a regular anything to be honest.
It’s not just about appearances either. Voices can be heard behind doors and windows, plus the lighting hints at the once notorious city’s decidedly seedy side.
Aspects of which are also represented.
Covering two floors, the incredibly confined, cluttered nature of the former no-go area is meticulously constructed.
Complete with businesses and shops.
Along with suitably beaten and grim looking modern vending machines.
An attention to detail that also stretches to the toilets.
But being an arcade, there are actually games to play. And interestingly, some of them date back to a time when Kowloon Walled City was still in existence.
And when said gaming is done, it’s out along the dingy alleys and back into modern Japan.
He had either just got married, or was about to, but either way, it was clearly an event to be inadvertently forgotten.
The Japan Derby is a huge sporting event, with a crowd of just over 130,000 squeezing into Tokyo Racecourse for this year’s June 1st extravaganza. But, just like every other race, in every other country, it’s a case of checking out the horses.
Carefully studying the form.
The closer the better.
Then hoping that one of them will be a winner.
