00:00:00 John Daub: Hello everybody, greetings and welcome to Shinjuku. Our live stream is focused here in Shinjuku, which is the post office right there. And the building in front of us, the one that you're looking at right now, I'm kind of moving back, is the Nishi Shinjuku Taito Game Center.

00:00:22 John Daub: And Taito, you know, is made famous because of that symbol right there. Taito came up with Space Invaders, which is a big game in the late 1970s, early 1980s. It was part of the Atari game system. And you see one of the Space Invaders up there. Taito is awesome! They have so many really cool games and they're one of the big game centers in all of Japan competing with Sega. And this one is going out of business next month.

00:00:52 John Daub: How you doing everybody? For the next 30 minutes or so, I'm going to be taking you around this area. This area, Nishi Shinjuku, has been hit really hard because of the pandemic. I was walking around here before starting the live stream and I saw dozens of businesses that are now closed. And we're going to walk around here. I think it's important for you to get an idea of what kind of Tokyo, what kind of Japan are you returning to when the country opens up again in the fall or next year. But it is really sad and I've seen so many businesses just walking around here.

00:01:23 John Daub: And there are so many businesses that are gone that were here when I first came to Japan 23 years ago. This is the latest one and this is one that I know a lot of tourists have gone into to play video games, if not to get UFO catchers (claw machines), gachapon (capsule toys), all sorts of goodies in there. And there's actually a lot of people in there that got the news that are going in there just to say goodbye.

00:01:55 John Daub: Maybe not today more people go into there. They won't close some of the other Taito stations. There's a really big one, I think a couple of them in Akihabara as well. Let's go. I'm going to show you the sign really quickly here. They also posted on Twitter that they're going to be closing this location. Yeah, this is the sign announcing the closing of this. It says here the last day will be March 21st, 2021, Sunday. And I can only assume from this that it is because of the pandemic. This is the seal that they are adhering to the rules for coronavirus—alcohol in the front, washing hands, cleaning the machines quite often. There's the alcohol pump here.

00:02:57 John Daub: That's kind of really sad to see that Taito is not going to be making it. There are a lot of closings here in Shinjuku again like all over Japan. I've been seeing tons and tons of these shops closing, but it's the game centers and places like this that really hurt the most. Let's walk around here.

00:03:18 John Daub: Yeah, I'm gonna go back in here. I don't believe that filming is permitted inside of here, so it's nice to get a look inside here. Maybe I will go around really quickly one time, but I get a feeling that the signal is not going to last. There's four floors here: "Stay safe and wear a mask during gameplay." Video games on the fourth floor, driving games and music games on the third floor. On the second floor, sticker booths and prize games which I guess we would call UFO catchers are on the first and second floors. So I guess if you factor in the basement there are five floors, but it's pretty sad to hear that this one is leaving because I've been in here and I know that this location has been used as a game center for a very long time.

00:04:18 John Daub: We're gonna circle back around here and end the live stream back where we started. I want to walk around this area of Shinjuku. Behind me you can see is the Metropolitan Building. That's City Hall. That's where the mayor is, the governor of Tokyo, who's doing really good work to try to keep us all really safe here in Japan. And I'm gonna point out some of the businesses that are gone so you have an idea.

00:04:43 John Daub: This is a Kochi Prefecture store and I hope that they don't go out of business because this is one of the places where you can get some pretty good tataki (seared bonito). That's a nice vending machine right there. Tony P's in the house. Welcome Tony. That's weird. What's Kumamon doing? Is that some kind of Kumamoto food? Oh that's like a Kumamoto ramen shop it looks like. That's why Kumamon is in there. They're doing some business but a lot of people aren't going inside to eat. In fact the restaurants during the state of emergency have to close at 8 p.m. because they were finding a lot of infections are happening at restaurants where people were taking off their masks and they would talk normally as though there was no pandemic at all and this spread the virus around especially at night when people were drunk.

00:05:52 John Daub: That looks really good. It's like katsu sticks, deep-fried sticks of golden goodness. Looks like they're doing some good business. Any business is good business in this economy. This ramen shop looks like it's closed. It looks like maybe it's just until March 3rd or March 7th.

00:06:29 John Daub: The intersection I'm taking you to right now has been hurt the most and I can't recall what businesses were there, but I'm getting the feeling some of our audience might. I believe that's the Odakyu Hotel? One of the hotels is over there. A lot of visitors to Japan will stay in that hotel, which is pretty cool. You have amazing views of City Hall, the Metropolitan Building.

00:07:08 John Daub: All right, this intersection that we're going to right now has been obliterated by the pandemic. You see right straight ahead, this business that used to be here has closed its doors. Straight ahead is Shinjuku Station, the south exit of Shinjuku Station. The southwest exit, I believe. So this is close to you. I'm going to stand right here on this manhole cover, and I'm going to pan around so then you get an idea of what the area looks like. I guess there are businesses in there. I'm not sure. There's a sign, but looks like they're gone. And then over here to the left, Carrie, we do have beautiful weather. Over here is another business that has gone under. And they're actually right now looking for tenants. So looks like a decent enough location for business, but it's gone. There's another door that's shut over there. Onigiri shop. Not a lot of business people are coming here for lunch. The result is that a lot of these places that relied on businesses to come and line up and eat their food, like onigiri or bentos, they've gone under too.

00:08:29 John Daub: Looking here, I can see Kanai opening up a ballet school in here. Hey, Chris. Christopher Miller's in the house. How you doing, Christopher? And Michael Sassano writes in here, "In case you come across a takoyaki, taiyaki, or any other yaki, please enjoy whichever one you like, John." Thank you, Michael. Let's see what we can find here. All right, this business next door is also gone. This looks like a pretty neat location with that stairwell there. That's kind of sad to see. The sign is gone, too. The restaurant next door to that, also gone. What was this? Himawari Sushi. This is a holiday. They would be open because there's more people out today than there would be any other day. But I think that they just closed for the state of emergency, and I guess they will reopen on March 7th, which is supposed to be the end of the state of emergency. It was extended for another month. Just so you know, the state of emergency is not a lockdown. All right? There are no laws saying that you can't go outside. Right? There's no curfew in place. There's nothing. There's just kind of a rule to say stay in your local area. Stay in your prefecture.

00:10:01 John Daub: I live in Tokyo. I have to go out for a job tomorrow. So it's essential travel as far as I'm concerned because I was invited to go as well by the local area. So it's okay to travel if that's the case. But for vacation, I'm not going to be traveling for vacation. I'm staying at home just like everybody else. Some of these shops are temporarily closed. I'm finding out until March 7th, which is the end of the state of emergency. But they might end the state of emergency early because yesterday, for the first time in a very long time, Tokyo, the entire metropolis of Tokyo, which has tens of millions of people, only had 173 infections. All right? So the pandemic really isn't as bad here. But that's not a reason to take this lightly. Right? Thus, you're seeing everybody wearing a mask. Even inside. I'm looking inside of this shop here. Wow, this looks really good. This Chikara Meishi. Some good fried looking food in there. Tartar sauce, chicken nanban. Yes, please.

00:11:22 John Daub: So that intersection back there, probably the worst hit in this Nishi Shinjuku area. This is a Sega game center right here. There's been no notice of closures, but I see maybe two or three people in. And this is the emperor's birthday, February 23rd, when the new emperor took over. The holiday changed from December 23rd to February 23rd, which is the birthday of the new emperor. So happy birthday, emperor. So today is actually a national holiday. But despite that, you would see maybe five times the amount of people in this area. But that's not the case.

00:12:26 John Daub: This area is also very famous for Yodobashi Camera, which has its headquarters in Nishi Shinjuku. The main shop, which has been open for, I believe, over 50 years. Since the 1960s. Which would make it more than 50 years, right?

00:12:58 John Daub: So this Sega is still okay. But I've noticed that a lot of the business is UFO catchers. Uh, crane games on the first floor. Which means that the video arcades are not as big as they used to be. Wow, sure, I wanna get a plastic praying mantis. That looks like my dream come true. 500 yen for that? You gotta be joking! This one might be worth it. Sitting cats. I can see me maybe getting this one, but ha ha ha ha! Look at that! That's 500 yen for that? I only have 300 yen. I have to get change to get one of these. No to the bugs, right?

00:13:50 John Daub: Hey new member, Susan Tan, welcome. New traveler. Wow, this show, this Demon Slayer is so popular right now. The Demon Slayer. That's pretty cute. Whoa, premium gachapon. What? This is the first I've heard of premium gachapon. I've never seen a premium one. How much are they? Oh, these are 800 yen for that. Wow, that is a super pricey gachapon. 800 yen. I guess he's off. All right, let's walk around now.

00:14:50 John Daub: I want to show you the front of Yodobashi Camera, an area that is quite famous. Yodobashi Camera has also taken quite a hit. They were doing okay because people still buy retail. A Demon Slayer, sorry. Nobody calls it that in Japan, by the way. The Yodobashi Camera has had it tough because more people have been buying from Amazon and online retailers and their online shop is still kind of new. Big Camera as well. And during the pandemic with people not going into the shops, this is Ichiryu Ramen, which started in Showa 30. This looks like a pretty good ramen. I've never eaten here to be honest with you. Oh, look at that. They got the English names on them. Ajitama Tonkotsu Ramen. Who doesn't like... If you like ajitama (marinated egg), click the like button. Just do it. Oh, that looks so good.

00:16:02 John Daub: Eredoran for the Demon Slayer gachapon. The problem with gachapon is you need the exact change. I got my wallet here. I'm going through it. See if I can find it. Alright, I might have enough. They should have a coin changer on the outside, right? They don't have that. So this up here is the Yodobashi Camera. Infamous Yodobashi Camera. It's beyond famous. It's been here for ages. And I love the fact that they kind of maintain the neon signs. If they didn't, it would completely lose its identity.

00:17:02 John Daub: So I'm going to take a few steps back and you're going to get a shot that I think is quite famous. Especially at sunset. Because the sun sets in this direction. I'm panning over to the left side. You can see the Tokyo Metropolitan Building. This shot from right about here is quite famous. Especially because at sunset the sky turns almost like a yellow-purple-orange. It's so beautiful. And with these neon lights of the Yodobashi Higashikan. It's a lovely, lovely shot. Iconic.

00:17:47 John Daub: I haven't been here for a while. The lights are flickering just because of the frequency. But it's not flickering in real life. Unless I blink my eyes real fast. Whoa! That guy's taking on the pigeon. The pigeon's going to win. That guy hates the pigeon. What did he ever do to you? He's a pigeon hunter. But the pigeon has come over here. So we're looking at this vending machine. That guy's going to come after you. He's going to come after me. Let's get something from a vending machine before I get beat up by pigeon slayer.

00:19:04 John Daub: Did you see? Whoa! Boss Coffee's got a bunch of weird ones. Non-sugar. Oh, that's right up my alley. Oh, look at this one. This looks fun. Golden time. Oh, I like that sign. That kind of fits with this. I can go for golden time. Who's up for golden time? Oh, they got corn soup and tomato soup now. You know what? I'm going to use a thousand yen. So I can get some more coins. It's up to you. Golden time or Columbia? Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, three, two, one. Oh, no. Not a 500 yen coin. Dagnabbit. For happy times, make it golden time. Nice. Tommy Lee, where you be? I try not to buy any Boss Coffee that doesn't have Tommy Lee Jones on it. The more he comes to Japan, the better for all of us.

00:20:51 John Daub: Whoa. This one's got cutouts. Mountain Dew. I've never seen Mountain Dew in Japan in a vending machine before. What? I'm getting some alcohol here. All right. Let's open her up here. Mountain Dew in Japan. How cool is that? I got to take my mask off. I'm going to this secure area in the corner. This is very difficult. I hate the fact I got to take off my mask. You see what I look like underneath here. All right. Golden time. That's sweet. I taste the cream and the sugar more than the coffee. What does that mean? It means golden time. But the coffee in itself, I don't think it has anything to do with the color of the coffee. It does kind of look golden. There's kind of a plasticky aftertaste. I'm not sure if I'm into this. It's not smooth, but I would not want it to be. If it was smooth coffee, it would just be hot water, I guess. Lovely aftertaste of plastic. It does have caffeine. It's a struggle to put your mask back on with one hand. Golden time equals, no, it does not. Let's keep it real here.

00:23:36 John Daub: All right. Let's go find some gachapon. I'm going to be swinging back around to the Taito arcade that's going out of business. But I think it's important to take a look at the area because a lot of you do like to stay in Shinjuku. This is the Keisei? One of the bus stations. I forget. It's changed hands a couple of times. I think the owners might be the Willer bus station. Actually, it looks like the bus station's out of business. What? That used to be the bus station. Now it's a Yodobashi Camera spot. That's bizarre. And then over there is the Pokemon, a Pokemon vending machine. That looks pretty cool.

00:25:16 John Daub: Check it out. I got one of these before and it ended up being, it was this one. It's kind of fun because it's a button. This one says ramen on it. Wow, a camera. It's Canon. I'm more of a, I've become a Sony guy after changing from Panasonic. You see anything? Yeah, where's the mini defibrillator? That's weird. Whoa. It's a fake doorbell. What? I could use one of these. So then if Kanae wants to come into my office, she's going to be like, he's got to ring the doorbell. That's pretty cool. What's that? It's like a badge, an illuminating badge. Interesting. I like that fake doorbell. Whoa, there's more Canon cameras over here. Do they work? I don't think they actually work. I don't think they actually have squid ink on it. All right, you know what? Let's get this gachapon then. I like the fake doorbell. Let's do it. Here we go. Who wants to click the, who wants to turn it? Ryan does. All right, we'll go for the Demon Slayer on the other side. What's it going to be?

00:28:29 John Daub: Whoa. I like that. It's like forest colored. Oh, take it off. Wow, it works. It's like so Japanese. Cool. I'm getting another one for Kanae. I can just like tape it to something. This is awesome. This is cool. I'm getting another one. I need, I want to see if it has a different doorbell. Ding dong. I want to get the white one. It has a music symbol on it. Gacha, gacha, poom. I don't want to get the same one or else I got to send it to Nosh abroad with his kotatsu on. Oh, it's a blue one. Awesome. Blue. No. It's one of these again. I didn't want another one. It's a gray one. I'm going to just not do it anymore. All right, let's go. Let's go to that other Demon Slayer one. Y'all like Demon Slayer. There's Shinjuku Station. That's the Kabukicho side. And over there is Odakyu. So a lot of you have been to Shinjuku before. Probably recognize this area.

00:30:43 John Daub: It's going to walk out a little bit here. So you get a view. Then we're going to walk back over to the Taito Game Center, which is going out of business next month. Edmund campaign is in the house. Thank you, Edmund. I'm running out of cash. I wish they took like Suica card because I got 10,000 yen on my Suica card. All right, let's walk over this direction. Oh, this is where I was with Jennifer three years ago. We drank the Coca-Cola coffee in this alley three years ago. You can go back through the Only in Japan Go archives and check it out. I like that they have these outside. Those are those photo booths in the center of your screen. You can print out photos from your smartphone and they get about 20 to 30 cents for each photo. So it's kind of neat to have them printed out and then make a photo album while you're here. And then when you get home, you don't have to flick through them on your smartphone. You can just give mom and dad the photo album to check it out.

00:32:10 John Daub: Let's see what Starbucks has on the menu today. Hey, it looks like the Sakura Berry Frappuccino is here. Raspberry. I would like that. I got to go take her one. And they have the pink cherry blossom goodies. Very cute. Look at that teddy bear up there. Nice. I like the fact they leave the doors open so it gets some good airflow in there. All right, let's go take a look here at this Demon Slayer for all of us. Y'all look like you want a Demon Slayer gachapon. I got cash for one more. I got a 500 yen coin there. So I tried some of these Pringles. This is the Karaage Pringles. These were not that good. These karaage (fried chicken) flavored Pringles. They tasted like cardboard to me. Same with the ramen ones.

00:33:40 John Daub: All right, we're back to this area here. This one looks pretty cool. I'd like to get the one with the red and the blue. I'm going to try this one with her in the basket. I think Kanae might like that. But I think this is actually these things and not actually this one. I think that might be this one which is 800 yen. These are just badges and stuff. So you're going to have to pay the big bucks to get one of these. Shall we try it? So you need a 500 yen coin and a 100 yen coin. 800 yen is a ripoff. All right. Let me see. All right, I can get this 800 yen ripoff Demon Slayer. Or I can get like two of them. No, I should do it. You know why not because I'm gonna end up giving it to you because I don't want it. All right, it's up to you folks. Don't do it or do it. Five, four, three, two, one buy a PS5. All right, Tony said to do it. I got to listen to Tony. He knows what he's talking about. Just do it. Aren't you a little bit curious? John never walks away from a gachapon. Okay, I have in the past. It says here that it's a premium gachapon. Really? All right. Let's see what they got inside here. Which one looks better bottom or top? Bottom or top. Okay, we're gonna go top. Freak me out. I feel like I'm doing something wrong. Well, that's a lot of money for this plastic thing. What do you get for 800 yen? I'm supporting this Taito. Oh, it's a 50 yen. Oh no, oh my gosh. I need to get a hundred yen coin real fast. Okay, I got one. Don't panic. All right, which one did we get? Totally ripoff, but I mean if I do it really quickly to come out now. Yeah, you know what? I know it's a ripoff if you feel like it's a ripoff. Somebody don't donate me more super chats then. No, she's in pieces. That's close. Actually, it is a really nice one. Alright, you know what? I'm gonna just keep it like this. Okay, I'm just gonna keep it. Alright, does anybody want it? It's gonna keep it like that. There no they had like 300 yen ones. I'm an idiot. It's alright. Better than that one.

00:38:24 John Daub: Alright, this is folks this is the Sega. And I'm gonna walk now to the front where Taito is. I probably should have gotten it from the Taito one to help support them, because they're going out of business. Whoa, can she get it? Do it, do it, do it. Can she get it? Did she get it? Oh, oh, oh! Oh, no! Oh, no! Oh! No, I love this one! Traffic light! Japanese traffic light! No! Shane says, get it. Shane's like, just do it. I don't know if I got enough coins. Alright, I'm gonna try this one. Alright, Shane, this is for you, okay? No, I don't have enough coins! One, two, three. It's 400 yen. Let me see if I can get... No, I need 100 yen! Alright, Shane, this is for you, buddy. I can't get this one, but I can get this one, okay? So I'm getting you a traffic light, Shane. Just as a way to say thank you, because Shane's pretty awesome. No, take my money! Dudes! No, push it. Put it in there. Get it, dude.

00:41:03 John Daub: Alright, I'm not doing any more unless we get to, like, 800 likes. Yeah, Joy, if you want the Demon Slayer girl, you can have it, Joy. I'm not gonna use it. Joy's one of our moderators, and we love Joy. Oh, Shane! Dude, you got a good one! That's a good one! Alright, you know what? I'm gonna keep this for you, Shane, and just put it in your daimyo package. Alright? Map Camera gachapon. Alright, Erwin. Erwin's here. Alright, Erwin, I'm gonna take you to Map Camera, buddy. I don't think they got a gachapon. Oh, can he do it? Do it, do it, man. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes! Grab him by the butt. Oh my gosh, you did it! Fail. I'm actually looking at Map Camera right now, Erwin. It's right there. And I don't see a gachapon. But I will send you a doorbell, buddy.

00:42:44 John Daub: Alright, you have to have your temperature taken by the man there to go inside of Map Camera. But this is the infamous Map Camera. They're still doing good business. Really a lot online. I've been, I got a couple of lenses inside of there. Hey, so being up. Thank you. And Jay Sharpless. You can make your Twitch all gachapon. I would love to do that. Hey, there's a Leica store. Click like if you like Leica. You don't actually have to click like.

00:43:26 John Daub: Oh, okay. So I wanted to take you here. Sorry for swinging you around. So this here is the Taito Game Center. This is the game center that's going out of business. And the reason why I'm here. Just to pay homage to Taito Game Center. This one in Nishi Shinjuku is out of business on March 21st. And I played games in here before. And it's kind of a sad moment. Thomas Jiang is here. Thank you, Thomas. What is that? F to pay respects. I don't even know what that means. Alright. So it is an end of an era. We've already lost about half a dozen very famous game centers, I believe. We're seeing some in Shibuya that are going. Um, and this is the first one that I know of in Shinjuku. So, so just out of respect. Alright. I'm going to take you inside until they kick me out. But just want to go, go wrap around for a second. To show you the inside of this Taito Game Center before the end is here.

00:44:45 John Daub: Alright. So I'm going to remove the microphone. I'm now on the iPhone microphone. I'm going to take you inside just to pay a little bit of respect. This is the microphone that I'm using, by the way. Oh, by the way, before I go make my way in there, if you're in Argentina and Ireland, your cards are finally going out from Argentina and Ireland. And to Matthew in Utah, this is going to you, Matthew. I'm putting this in the mailbox from Shinjuku. Okay. Thanks for joining the postcard club. So let's just take a quick look in. We might lose a signal, but just going to walk around to pay our respects. To this really interesting place. This is the end. What? They got Monster drinks in here. I guess you could topple it and then just get a bunch of Monster drinks. Does anyone think they could do that? It looks so attainable. Respect. Sad to see them go.

00:46:49 John Daub: If you are in Japan, you are living in Tokyo. Just be aware that the Taito is out of business here in Nishi Shinjuku. I'm going to be taking you on some more live streams tomorrow. I'm going to be heading over to Niigata to Go Yuzawa, where I'm going to be introducing you to a snow refrigerator. All right. So join me tomorrow. I'll be taking you to a snow refrigerator and we'll do a couple of live streams. I'm going to stay the night over there and coming back the next day. And then the next day, I'm going to take you to a Japanese strawberry farm, which is going to be pretty cool. And then before that, some snow walking, which is going to be really cool. I haven't done that in a long time. Again, I had to get a PCR test already. I'm not infected. I have taken my body temperature every day since November. And I have a contact tracing app just in case I come in contact with anybody who is COVID. So I am taking as many precautions as I possibly can, doubling up on the masks. You got to stay safe. But once again, we are not in a lockdown. And the situation in Japan is nowhere near the same as in other countries. Just only travel, not for vacation, but for work only and essential travel. For me, it's just a little bit of a challenge. But it is because this is what I do for a living. And I take you with me to share the adventure. And we'll have more news tomorrow.

00:48:07 John Daub: So stay safe, everybody. Take care of your families. And I will see you back here tomorrow morning as I get on the Shinkansen heading towards Niigata for a couple of live streams. It's going to be a lot of fun. Don't forget to hit the subscribe button and hit up the new Only in Japan channel. We're so close to 100,000 subscribers. And I'm going to be releasing a new tribute video to all of the viewers who sent me their Only in Japan title calls. See you then. Thank you, Thomas. By having for everybody who gave us Super Chat, I really appreciate it. Thanks, Tony P. I got you.