We try to buy a retro Japanese coin-operated arcade machine at this secondhand shop near Tokyo

A giant Pikachu beguiles us with its cute face and affordable price tag, but there’s one surprising hurdle to owning one.

If you’re looking to find a secret treasure in Japan, you’ll want to check out the “Hard-Off” group, which runs a wide range of secondhand stores such as “Hard-Off“, “Hobby Off” and “Off House“. Each store specialises in a certain genre of used wares, as suggested by their names, and at the Eco Town Fujisawa location in Kanagawa Prefecture, you’ll find three “Off” stores under the same roof.

▼ Hard-Off, Hobby Off and Off House in one four-storey building.

As an avid collector of retro toys, our reporter Takuya Inaba loves hunting for treasures, so when he stopped by the Fujisawa branch, he headed straight to Hobby Off on the third floor. It was a particularly large store, with an outstanding collection of items, so he felt a great sense of happiness simply browsing the aisles.

As he made his way to the back corner of the store, however, he stumbled upon something that made him gasp in excitement.

▼ A collection of retro coin-operated machines!

This was something he’d never seen at a Hobby Off before, and the child inside Takuya leapt with joy as he instinctively headed over to one of his childhood favourites — a game by Namco called “Kani Kani Panic“, which translates as “Crab Crab Panic“, although it goes by the name “Cracky Crab” overseas.

With crabs that appear from the sides of the machine at random, the gameplay is similar to Whac-A-Mole, and Takuya lifted the mallet and fished out a coin to play a quick round.

However, that’s when he discovered something amazing…these machines weren’t for playing, they were for buying, and this one was priced at 165,000 yen (US$1,133.30)!

Takuya wanted to pinch himself in excitement because this was like stumbling into a gaming paradise. Walking around, he saw that all these coin-operated beauties were for sale, and they were surprisingly affordable.

There were a variety of famous faces here, with characters from One Piece beaming from one of the rides.

This retro rabbit is another familiar face for loads of locals, as it’s commonly seen at amusement parks.

Jajamaru-kun is another well-known character, earning fame for its appearance in a super popular T.V. segment called Nikoniko, Pun, which ran from 1982-1992.

If you’re a retro arcade lover with cash to spare, this entire collection will cost you a cool 1.837 million yen ($12,615.32).

That’s not a bad price for collectors, and Takuya began wondering if he might one day be able to afford to turn his home into a personal amusement park. That curiosity got the better of him, though, when he actually began thinking that he might be able to purchase just one of the machines that had stolen his heart.

▼ This giant Pikachu!

At 198,000 yen, this wasn’t outside of the realm of possibility for him, and he figured he could make his money back if he played the game 1,980 times, given that each go usually costs 100 yen.

Thinking about it that way made him think this was a great deal, and checking the power supply, it seemed fine to work with a regular household outlet.

Feeling a rush of excitement, Takuya decided to purchase the Pikachu. However, as he lived in an apartment, he would have to come up with another home for it, so he sent a quick message off to his parents, who replied immediately with a resounding “NO!”

As a last hope, he contacted some of his closest friends with houses to see if they could provide some space for it, but their replies drained all the colour from Takuya’s dreams. The responses ranged from “Are you insane ???” to “It’s too big” and, as the final nail in his heart, “We’ve got the space but it probably won’t fit through the front door“.

That final remark brought Takuya back down to reality with a thud, as he realised it would indeed be impossible to fit Pikachu through anyone’s front door.

▼ Sayonara, Pikachu. Sayonara, Takuya’s dreams.

Takuya’s inner child shed a sad tear as he left the building, but his adult self knew it was for the best. He may not have been able to catch this particular Pokémon, but there was comfort in knowing it would probably go to another well-deserving child or collector who can give it a good home.

Now he knows this place exists, it’s given him the impetus to save up and buy a house in future, so he can give Pikachu and all his friends a happy home. Until then, he’ll be seeking out other ways to get his retro amusement park fix, starting with a trip to this rooftop park in Japan, which is one of the last bastions for old-school coin-operated rides and machines.

Store information
Hobby Off Fujisawa / ホビーオフ藤沢店
Address: Kanagawa-ken Fujisawa-shi, Fujisawa 517-1
神奈川県藤沢市藤沢517-1
Hours: 10:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Website

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