If you’re a fan of horror / zombie / survival video games like Silent Hill or Left4Dead, you know how immersive playing them can be. Sometimes, playing them makes you want to know what it feels to actually be inside those virtual worlds.
Stepping inside the Kawasaki Warehouse in Japan felt like I actually got sucked inside a Cyberpunk dystopia or post-apocalyptic world. Hands-down, this is the most incredibly unique arcade I’ve ever been to.
Kawasaki Warehouse is a five-story arcade facility in Japan that’s designed to look like the former Kowloon Walled City in Hong Kong. For those who’ve never heard of it, the Kowloon Walled City was once the most densely populated places on the planet that was demolished in the 90s.
I’ve been fascinated about the urban enclave ever since I visited Kowloon Walled City Park built on the actual site last year. I found out about this arcade while researching about it and made it a point to visit it while I was on a family trip to Tokyo. The infamous vertical slum has had extensive pop-culture influence on movies, video games and art depicting lawless societies.
The Walled City served as an actual film location and was the inspiration behind gritty settings of overcrowded, crime-ridden cities in cyberpunk and dystopian films like Bloodsport, Blade Runner, Batman Begins and Ghost in the Shell. It’s also been depicted in video games like Kowloon’s Gate, Fear Effect, Deus Ex & Call of Duty: Black Ops.
The Kawasaki Warehouse (also called Anato no Warehouse) facility recreates the old walled city. The building’s rusted facade and ominous entrance just stand out from the rest of the sparkly clean and modern buildings in the area.
The attention to detail outside and inside is just amazing. I’m a fan of offbeat destinations and places that look abandoned, and the whole place is just so well-designed. It’s kind of like a theme park, but the decor is more realistically aged. The elevators are made to look rusty. The perfectly new and functional vending machines look like they belong in a bomb shelter. Even the bathrooms (while clean) look like something out of Resident Evil.
The arcade, which opened in 2009, was designed and decorated by Taishiro Hoshino who painstakingly gathered original source material found in old photos of the city and items collected in Hong Kong. Even though the building itself and all the facilities inside are new, everything inside looks decayed and creepy.
The main entrance opens up to another metal door and a dimly-lit hallway lined with GI sheets and posters plastered everywhere. There are cool sound effects when you walk by, like the humming and hissing of old machinery.
Once you go up the escalators, you’ll see rows of old school consoles, video game machines, racing games and merchandise games.
The futuristic game machines are such a stark contrast to the whole “urban decay” and seedy vibe of the place. You just can’t help but geek out!
I was surprised at how uncrowded the arcade was when we visited. There were barely any people there except for a few older gentlemen and couples playing on the upper floors. I was wondering why there were no kids because normally arcades are full of noisy kids and teens playing.
To be fair, it was a weekday morning when we visited, but based on my experience from Tokyo Disneyland, I was just surprised at the lack of people.
But apparently, the amusement park is an adult-only facility, and the upper floors are casinos with tables for card games, table games like Ping Pong and the 5th floor is an internet den and massage parlor.
I was visiting at the time with my nephew and mother and when we tried to buy tokens to play, we were told that those under 18 are not allowed inside the facility at all (which I did not know), so they had to leave. That really caused some disappointment because my nephew is an avid gamer.
I just checked out the rest of the space on my own while they went out to get ice cream nearby. The arcade has crane games, retro games from the 80s and 90s, modern games, pool, darts, pachinko, slots, and more. The Kowloon theme is only evident on the first two floors, while the upper floors look more modern.
I ended up trying a few of the games, though they were hard to understand since all the controls and instructions were in Japanese.
The whole “abandoned vibe” of the place added to the appeal for me. Since there weren’t a lot of other people, I was able to set up a few selfie shots using the remote on my camera. If you’re into video games or are fond of urban exploration and offbeat places, this place is completely worth visiting if you have some free time in Tokyo. There’s no entrance fee to visit and you can just walk-in to look at the place or buy some tokens to try some games.
Visiting the Kawasaki Warehouse felt really immersive because of the incredible design of the place and realistic details. It’s uncrowded, so you can get some peace and quiet inside. It’s just about a 7-10 minute walk from the Kawasaki Station, easily accessible by train. The building itself is very easy to spot. The place feels like a real work of art in itself!