Landmark Akihabara location reopens with new owners.

In July, arcade operator GiGO announced that it would be closing its Akihabara Building 1 branch (pictured above) at the end of August. It’s always sad to hear that an arcade is shutting down, but the sting this time was especially sharp, since not only is the Akihabara neighborhood Tokyo’s biggest video game culture district, before GiGO Akihabara Building 1 was called that, the arcade used to be High-tech Land Sega Shintoku, which was opened all the way back in 1992.

▼ GiGO Akihabara Building 1

Still, there was a ray of hope, as GiGO said it was leaving the building because its lease had expired and use of the space had been acquired by the company Matahari Entertainment. Matahari has a handful of ventures, but one of them is an arcade chain of its own called Silk Hat, and as of November 22, the structure that used to house GiGO Akihabara Building 1 has been renovated and reopened as Silk Hat Akihabara, a gigantic nine-floor arcade with roughly 1,653 square meters (17,782 square feet) of floor space.

Silk Hat isn’t turning a blind eye to the building’s history, either. Their theme for the new arcade is “We love Akihabara – Since 1992 to be continued,” and the company has specifically said that it wants Silk Hat Akihabara to be a place where both people who enjoyed coming to the arcade since its Sega-owned days and new arcade fans alike can have fun.

Different floors will have different themes, with “video games” (standard stick-and-button-controlled games) the basement area, crane games on floors 1 through 4, card-controlled games on floor 5, music/rhythm games on floors 6 and 7, and more music games, darts, and an Ichibankuji merchandise lottery shop on the 8th floor.

Located just a block away from Akihabara Station, Silk Hat Akihabara is likely to be a beacon for international travelers, many of whom are visiting from countries where arcades have already become a thing of the past, and hopefully Silk Hat will enjoy a long future keeping this unique part of Japanese pop culture alive.

Arcade information
Silk Hat Akihabara / シルクハット秋葉原
Address: Tokyo-to, Chiyoda-ku, Soto Kanda 1-10-9
東京都千代田区外神田1丁目10−9
Open 10 a.m.-midnight

Source: PR Times via Anime News Network/Ken Iikura-Gross
Top image: PR Times
Insert image: PR Times
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