Kawasaki Warehouse - Location Report, Japan

Wow, I have just got back from Japan and made a fabulous discovery whilst I was there:

Kawasaki Warehouse

This incredible arcade has been built from the ground up to look like a disused, run-down warehouse complete with rusting doors and peeling paint but is in fact a fantastic site with some great games. The site has some neat touches like the front doors that appear to be rusted shut but open when you approach to reveal a red tunnel which looks like a bit passageway to hell. As you approach the second door you are blasted by a smoke machine. Inside the lighting is great (dim but really asmospheric) and flickering neon signs and faded posters cover the walls. The site is over several floors with Bingo (!!!), an arcade and a Darts bar. I have to say I only had a couple of hours free and never left the arcade floor itself.

Amongst the highlights were:

Original Retro cabinets (All in great working order)

Street Fighter
Virtua Racing Twin
Outrun DLX
Hang On
Super Hang On
Pro Monaco GP
After Burner DLX
Space Harrier DLX
Darius
Gauntlet 4 Player
Rad Mobile DLX
About a dozen cocktail cabinets
Daytona 2 (4 Player)
Virtua On (Loved this on the Dreamcast)

In addition I got to play some great recent and new games:

Street Fighter 4 (Got my ass kicked at least 20 times by some guy!)
JuBeat – Really interesting game and very funky cabinet
Afterburner DLX (Played it before but never linked)
Halflife Survivor (Just couldn’t get used to the controls)
Initial D 4 (Good fun!)

If you get the chance I really recommend setting aside a couple of hours and heading over there. It is about 10 minutes walk from Kawasaki train station.