Issue #3: Akihabara's Sega Arcade is closing down

The arcade industry is one step closer to extinction

Aug 31, 2020

Hello everyone,

And welcome to the third issue of TÉKUNI, a newsletter about technology in Japan. You can read more about it here.

Japan is currently in a state of unrest following the resignations of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

The effects of this event will ripple not only on Japan’s tech scene, but virtually on every aspect of the country’s society.

As far as this newsletter is concerned, however, what is in today issue regards the closure of Akihabara's Sega Arcade and the trend of arcades closing down in Tokyo.

I have spoken to Dr Serkan Toto, founder of Kantan Games, an independent consultancy focused on Japan's game industry, about this.

👨‍💻 TÉKUNI Exclusive - Dr Serkan Toto, Kantan Games

Serkan is a German national who went to Japan in 2004 for the third time, and remained there since.

Officially, he moved there as he had won a scholarship from the Japanese government for his graduate studies in economics at Keio University in Tokyo.

His actual, underlying reason to return to Japan, however, was his interest in Japanese video games, a passion he had since his high-school time in Germany.

"I basically wanted to live long-term in 'gaming paradise', and the scholarship paved the way."

In 2013, right after graduating, Serkan founded Kantan Games, but the consultant's professional journey started earlier than that, around 2006.

"With no money, no connections and no work experience in gaming, I actually started blogging about tech, startups and gaming in Japan - in English."

That gave Serkan exposure "for free" and at a time when the world's first free-to-play mobile games started popping up in Japan.

"The idea for the business came through unsolicited consulting inquiries, which I answered and later built a business around."

According to Serkan, Tokyo’s gaming community is extremely scaled, very concentrated, and very mobile-heavy.

"Strangely, community or industry events have always been relatively rare, even before the current pandemic started."

Because of that, Serkan thinks interactions between game industry people in Japan are relatively limited when compared to the US, for instance.

Talking about the closure of Akihabara’s Sega arcade, Serkan says the event was "unfortunately just a question of time", as he believes the arcade business is slowly dying.

"My feeling is that there will be more closure of arcades in Japan in the future, further continuing a year-long trend."

The difference, Serkan explains, is that this specific arcade's building had an iconic design.

"The decision was certainly accelerated by the pandemic," he adds, "because of how people behave inside arcades, they are prime candidates for public spaces deemed problematic in the situation we are in now."

Serkan believes a lot of people will feel sad about the closure due to the iconic status of the building and because fans realise the arcade industry is one step closer to extinction.

"Hopefully Sega and other arcade operators find ways to reinvent themselves: they are trying."

Overall, the games consultant's views about Akihabara's gaming landmarks are optimistic, if a little nostalgic.

"Akihabara is constantly changing. I visited the first time in spring 1999, and back then, Akihabara was grungy and full of game stores.

"Today, the area has been redeveloped and is now home to totally different things and attractions, for example, a lot more fan good stores, otaku event venues or maid cafes."

According to Serkan, there is a chance this trend will accelerate, particularly to cater to the rapidly rising number of tourists coming to Japan and visiting Akihabara.

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