Japanese hotel transforms into airsoft arena after going out of business during pandemic

Yokohama’s New City gets a new lease on life.

A lot of people had high hopes for New City when it opened. Sure, it was a humble capsule hotel, the class of Japanese accommodations where instead of a private room you just get a sleeping compartment, but the place had style, with décor featuring samurai-period and anime art motifs, plus a spacious Japanese-style communal bath and a pretty sweet location near numerous sightseeing spots in the city of Yokohama, about 30 minutes south of Tokyo.

▼ New City

Unfortunately, there hasn’t been a lot of sightseeing going on in Japan for the past year and a half, and the travel downturn forced New City out of business a few months ago. Or, more accurately, it forced New City out of the hotel business, because while the hotel no longer takes guests, it’s now become an airsoft venue!

Out-of-business hotels have long gotten airsoft enthusiasts’ blood pumping, but there are a couple key differences about the Hotel Survival Game service (“survival game” being the term used for airsoft competitions in Japan). First, as an officially sanctioned activity, there’s no risk of getting in trouble for trespassing on private property, like there is when sneaking into an abandoned hotel.

Second, while it may be out of business as a hotel, New City’s building is still in good shape, and the utilities are still hooked up, so you’re not crawling through mounds of debris in the dark, where you’re as likely to encounter as many spiders or rats as enemy squad members. That makes your shootouts feel like they’re happing in an actual functioning facility, not a decaying ruin, and you can even use the building’s still functioning security cameras and P.A. system.

While this definitely isn’t the sort of shift in operations that the hotel’s owner, Yori Fujii, ever expected, he’s excited for the new opportunity it presents. “New City was always a capsule hotel where we wanted to try new things, like capsules with anime, samurai, and ninja themes…I’ll be happy as long as the New City building can be a place for new challenges” he says, adding that he’s also thinking of hosting haunted houses or offering the venue for photo shoots.

Planning and implementation of the airsoft events is being done in conjunction with Get@City, an airsoft-themed bar not far from New City. Following the larger than expected turnout for the first Hotel Survival Game event in March, New City has two more planned for this month. Both of those are already booked solid, but that just means there’s likely to be a fourth event coming soon, with details, when available, coming through Get@City’s Twitter account.

Location information
New City / ニューシティー
Address: Kanagawa-ken, Yokohama-shi, Naka-ku, Fukutomicho Nishidori 53
神奈川県横浜市中区福富町西通り53

Related: Get@City Twitter account
Source: PR Times via Denfaminico Gamer via Livedoor News via Jin
Images: PR Times
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Credit:
at 22:18

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