There's a certain arcade out in Kawasaki that a lot of foreigners find out through tour guides or word of mouth, but it seems few people in Tokyo actually know about it. アミューズメントパークウェアハウス (read: Amusement Park Warehouse) is anything but a warehouse. The arcade is known for its interior decoration and unique environment, and boy is it unique. However, that's kind of the extent of the appeal.
Edit Oct 17th, 2019: The arcade will close as of November 2019 due to "various circumstances." While I had middling opinions about the establishment, I do feel a sense of disappointment that the place has chosen to close.
I got a chance to visit this attraction in the last summer, and it was actually quite an easy trip from Tokyo. After a train ride of about an hour we arrived at Kawasaki. The arcade was a ten minute walk away on the overhead walkways around the station. The walk could be a bit confusing as there are multiple levels and paths there, so Google Maps helped put my mind at ease.
As we approached, this obelisk of a building stood apart from its surroundings. The neighbouring structures were roughly the same height, but the exterior of the arcade was made to look like it was made completely of rusted steel. If it didn't have the word "warehouse" on it, it would have looked like a public safety hazard.
We went in through the front entrance of two sets of intimidating automatic doors. A hiss of hydraulics operating made them more menacing as we stepped into the range of the sensors. Moving past the doors felt like we were being transported to another world. It was like stepping through a wardrobe into a more disheveled, cramped, and Asian Narnia. We were greeted with audio of people speaking Cantonese coming from the walls, simulating the lack of aural privacy in such close living quarters. The arcade is famous for trying to share the feel of the the infamous Walled City in Kowloon, and I would say that it achieves its goal of at least mimicking the romanticised version of the city.
There were three portals into the building. Two of them are common social media attractions, one of which was the entrance we came through. The other interesting entrance was a small pool of water with stepping stones behind another automatic door that looked unassuming on the outside. I've heard that sometimes there would be fog floating in this room, but I wasn't able to time it on my visit. Crossing the stone steps across the water leads to a tunnel into the first floor's main area.
Going up the escalators, we found ourselves into a sort of resting area. There were tables and chairs set up in a courtyard surrounded be run-down facades of buildings, complete with overhead walkways and windows. This floor had games on it and we tried a few of them out. There were some old retro games, but the rhythm section seemed to be up to date. For me, there wasn't much to catch my interest save for a few old fighting games like Marvel vs. Capcom 2.
The next floor up is where the games seem to take a more gambling-heavy focus. The place is still Kowloon-themed, but most of the games were electronic Mahjong, horse racing, or medal games. We didn't spend much time here as the gambling game area was also a smoking area, which is common for arcades in Japan.
The fourth floor was a bit confusing for me. Perhaps it was an artistic take, but the theme suddenly changed from the grunginess of Kowloon to the flamboyance of Caesar's Palace. I choose to believe that this floor was meant to represent the complete segregation between the rich and the down-trodden, but that's besides the point of this post. In any case, this floor hosts the pub games such as darts and pool (or billiards, depending where you're from.)
During our visit, it was quite obvious that the building was a certified tourist attraction as there were many other foreigners visiting. We came across a European family sauntering about, marveling at the selection of games and the decor, and I spotted a few non-Japanese Asian people walking about. Some of the patrons on the gambling games shot glances about at the foreigners in a mix of curiosity and annoyance at the lack of purpose in their movement.
It seems that the arcade isn't only for games though, as there also seemed to be some scavenger hunt going on. In the first three floors there seemed to be groups of young people looking at maps and checklists. On the first floor they seemed to be looking at the walls for something specific, and I remember some people moving up and down the floors with a sense of purpose.
On our way out, I was curious to see if the washrooms were modelled to be as grimy as the first three floors. I stopped for a toilet break inside the men's room and found it be exactly as I thought it would be, although there seemed to be an order in the chaos there. It only appeared to be dirty, as the dirt and rust all seemed to be simply painted on, and anything broken was done so purposefully on closer inspection. I tried to take a photo while I was the only one inside, but a female cleaning staff came in behind me and I didn't want to look like a degenerate and make her already awkward presence in the men's room even more awkward.
We used the third doorway out, and the signage for it almost seemed to blend in with the decor. This door was a simple unassuming door that led to the parking lot. Upon stepping out back into the real world, I realized how different the interior was from the surrounding area. We only spent about an hour or so inside as, like I said, the games in the building didn't hold our attention for very long, but the experience was definitely an interesting one. This place is definitely worth stopping by, but not exactly ideal for a primary destination.
As always, thanks for reading!
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