Tokyo Days 56 - Arcade Time

Those of you who have visited Japan before would probably know about Japan's huge arcade culture which remains unknown to much of the outside world save the few who harbor a big interest in the country. With multi-story arcades populating the various hot-spots of Tokyo such as Shibuya and Akihabara offering everything from crane games to full-on game machines, Japanese arcades are an attraction in their own right.

One of the most popular games in the arcades these days is, unsurprisingly, the recently released Kancolle Arcade game. While I did not delve into this hit phenomenon myself, I was still gifted two of my favorite ships from a friend who did play the game.

Often in arcades, I avoid crane games for two main reasons. Number 1, I do not have the sufficient skill to play the machines efficiently.

Number 2, the prizes can often be found in shops in Akiba for a reasonable price, often cheap than you would if you played the machine. For those reasons, I avoid playing crane machine games like the plague unless I am absolutely confident in my abilities to win.

Which brings us to these little plush cats. After observing several individuals easily winning the prize, I realized these was one of the easy machines. True enough, 200 Yen later, I was a winner. First and last crane game for this trip.

This last piece is not so much from an arcade but, a gashapon machine. I usually make a point to play gashapon once every trip I make to Japan. This time, I had been eyeing these bookmarks for a while. Of course, I only wanted Mami but, only after 6 tries did I successfully get her. I managed to sell one off which left me with five new bookmarks. Not that I would complain though, bookmarks are always functional and these were made of metal too. With that, I only had two more days left in Japan. After a long journey, it was finally time to end it all. Stay tuned to my final two days of adventure which is, surprisingly, not anime related! Until then, thanks so much for reading and have yourself a great day ahead!