00:00:04 John Daub: Hello everybody, good afternoon and welcome to Akihabara. I'm panning around now in the outskirts of Akihabara and in front of us you can see where the old Sega Game Center was right now. There's a sign saying they're looking for a tenant or it's available for rent and this went under about a year and a half ago. I believe it went down in 2020 which was sad. This is the Sega number two building and the news is that Sega has sold to an entertainment company called Genda.

00:00:34 John Daub: In this episode I'm going to take you to all the Sega locations to see if they change their names and if not to say goodbye because a lot of you were waiting to make their way to Akihabara to play games here. You're not going to get that opportunity as a Sega Game Center because we don't know what Genda has in store for that. How you doing everybody? There's nobody around. Welcome to Tokyo. I'm going to mask up in a second. We're in the middle of the Omicron pandemic and there's a Yamanote line (loop line) going by there, Akihabara station.

00:01:04 John Daub: For the next 20 minutes or so I'm going to take you around and I'm really curious though. These are going to be renamed GiGO, G-I-G-O, which means get into your gaming oasis. I never heard of Genda until about two days ago. It's a new company, 2018 it was established here in Japan apparently and their group has over 50 companies including in the group is Netflix. I was surprised to see that, either Netflix the main one or Netflix Japan. I'm not sure what Genda's association with Netflix is but they're part of that. So you can only assume that they have a lot of money, more than Sega did and they're going to pump it in and perhaps it'll be even better.

00:02:08 John Daub: I'm also curious to see what the vibe is like around Akihabara right now. There goes the Sobu line (Sōbu line). Just put my mask on. This shop here which was a hobby center, a place where you could get gifts and shopping. That's also going out of business. You can see the empty windows there which is sad. I showed this a couple of months ago. But it's what makes me sad is that still nothing has happened here. These businesses are still closed. The streets are virtually empty. So I do feel safe but going to be keeping a distance. I'm sorry I haven't been on for a while either. I've been editing a lot.

00:02:41 John Daub: Somebody really close to the show, a viewer, passed away last month. Marty and I want to say rest in peace buddy. And you're really missed. He was a huge part of this series, this community. He was one of the three amigos and I'll be doing a midnight snack run and paying a tribute to him. All right now we're gonna cross the street here because that's where we get a nice view of Chuo Avenue. I'm underneath the Sobu line. A lot of you that have been to Japan, you're waiting to get in for two years. You've been waiting.

00:03:11 John Daub: I'm gonna stand here on the corner and you probably have been here before and you're looking at this and going wow I wish I was there right now and I wish you were here as well. Part of the purpose of the Only in Japan Go channel is to take you with me live so you can feel like you're here. If you're looking for the edited videos I do have a new Only in Japan channel. A series continues on a new channel. YouTube.com slash John Daub.

00:03:51 John Daub: So there in front of us is the Sega number one building. This is I guess one of the main ones. I'm gonna pan up here. It's still in that iconic red and blue and I don't know what Genda's gonna do but we're gonna go across the street and find out. I'm sure they have a sign announcing this. I put a link in the description to Sega Entertainment, the website, and they've already changed that over to Genda. So this is pretty serious. I'm kind of glad that it hasn't changed over because now we get a chance to see the new one. I'm gonna say goodbye and to see it like it is right now. I'll take some video footage for archive as well because I kind of have been doing that to see how the city of Tokyo changes over the last couple of years. It's both sad and I guess you could be excited about the possibility.

00:05:08 John Daub: We're so close to opening up if this wave didn't happen. I think we'd be talking about when you could be flying in here. Thank you Irvin. One of the three amigos is here. Miss you guys. Miss all of you. Just wish the border opens up pretty quick once the pandemic kind of simmers down. One of the plans that they've had was to increase their UFO catchers and I'm panning over here on the first floor. And UFO catchers, as you know, are a big scam. But people love to do it, especially if they're on a date, impress a girl. You know it's a scam. But people still play and they empty out their pockets. It's a kind of like a gambling, I guess. You can get excited by this. Nijisanji UFO catcher, 500 yen. There's some kind of club. So you get more hooked into it. I don't see any message boards talking about Genda as I get a little bit closer into here. Nothing.

00:06:17 John Daub: Alright, let's go over to the other Sega location. This is pretty cool. The 8-bit. They're really good at finding cool looking things. The 8-bit looking plushies that they got in here. Oh man, I could see Leo wanting one of those. I say that because I want one of those. They do put one game out here, the Taiko no Tatsujin (Taiko drumming game). If you've ever played that, let me know in the comments if you've ever played that before. I don't see that they've actually listed the change. No, it's on social media. Alright, we're going to cross the street here.

00:07:16 John Daub: It seems like this building has finished construction and some businesses have moved in here. Game Panic. This building is just opening up. I thought this was out of business, but it was a new building and they were looking for tenants and I guess they found it. Game Panic. Just as a note, Sega was not the only game center in Japan. There are tons of other game centers. Gonna be a game center oh my gosh it is you can tell with the crane game logos here. They made it part of Akihabara stage of the Yamanote line and the Sobu line here that's classic so this is probably going to be opening up. So again just got some competition interesting. They're looking right now for people to work here so if you're interested in hiring here's the phone number you're going to get a cool uh nine dollars an hour it's not i guess that's not too bad i wonder if you get to play the games now we don't know what it is the curtains are drawn here. Again Taito also has game centers and i think they have one down the street oh across the street is the Sega game center number three let's go take a look at that we're gonna wrap around to the the other sega one across the street from the Akihabara station.

00:09:03 John Daub: It's always kind of cool to walk around Akihabara i try to do it once a month just to get an idea of how this neighborhood has changed. We make the Taiko drum game for consoles wow really gosh i don't know it's not going to be the same to have that red building right who here is with me on this they better keep it as a red building because on the landscape on the skyline of Akihabara you need that Sega red am i right can you imagine. Alright i can cross the street here wrap back around can there i think there's a Taito game center up here both the streets on the left and the right are closed down so you can usually um walk across here all right this one had more arcade games and on the sixth floor they actually have here saying that retro games around the world are here on the sixth floor i'm kind of curious now really take keep note of that i don't know what genda's gonna do none of us does but it's interesting that they have not put in a sign saying that genda has taken over so i'm not quite sure what's gonna happen here sure this the sixth floor is not even listed on this board oh here they have the sega has four shops here sega one which we just saw and then there's sega three which is this one here sega two is gone sega four which is the one across from akihabara station and then they have a i don't know i guess they have this taiyaki (fish-shaped waffle) thing and according to the website they're going to keep that as a sega branded taiyaki so if anyone is into that rest assured it's still going to be there for you all right let's cross back go back across the street here weird maybe it's it's on the on the bottom of the don quixote building there you see that there's the space invaders symbol up there that's the game center and that's still okay takai's here thanks for documenting all the changes to akiba John as both a fan of anime anime and games it's saddening to see these changes before I come I follow her all right let's walk over to walk over to akihabara station some of the maids are still doing their best to try to encourage business but it's still really that's pretty creepy I don't know.

00:12:04 John Daub: I saw they had finger pants at the gachapon (capsule toy) machines that's interesting oh there's the ramen that I ate the zombie bear ramen they got the zombie bears they're very cool yeah the maid cafes are doing their very best but obviously this is not the time to be going to a maid cafe but then again maybe it is because the places could be totally empty I don't know I just know that akihabara right now is is a lot emptier than it normally is so going past the Sega number one building in akihabara hey Michael Sasano's here hey buddy akihabara walkie tour look for a quick snack if you have time I will on the way back around I think that there's a taiyaki place maybe I'll snag one on the way I think it's just a matter of time before these shops all close too you can see a lot of them already closed could be because it's just a weekend I don't know what they're gonna be doing with this building but they've been selling electronic parts and wires forever since basically since the 1950s these could be useful okay so let's move on move on over to to the number four building I believe it was across the street from akihabara station and make a hang a right here Wow it's just so quiet and that's a hotel in front of us so if you're thinking of staying in akihabara that's you don't get any more central than right next to Akihabara station I believe that's a Japan Rail a JR owned hotel called the Met something I'm we'll take a look when we get there radio Kaikan has changed for those that have been here in the last 15 years gosh this neighborhood is changing lightspeed this guy had a shop on the other side and he closed that down sold out now he's got one little stand over there I don't think that picture has changed since the 1980s oh that Pablo's cheesecake is gone anybody remember that it's turned into a ticket center and then across the street is the hamster the hamster electronic store used to be a Yamada Denki branded uh place that's out of business and they're looking for a tenant actually they're going to be reopening as Bic Camera what this is news so Bic Camera bought out this location and they're turning those hamster tubes into a Bic Camera so I I bet you it's going to be heavily uh renovated check that out they're already they're already ready for tourism to return so Bic Camera is going to be really I'm kind of looking forward to going back in here that's good news they're going to keep the style I guess they're not tearing down but it opens in April well they even wrote what the floors are going to be the basement is PCs personal computers first floor smartphones and digital cameras then personal computers on the second floor and then gaming and personal computers on the third floor fourth floor and fifth floor is the Bic Camera outlet which has televisions recorders freezers and refrigerators interesting reitōko (freezer) means freezer and reizōko (refrigerator) means refrigerator Ray meaning ice cold.

00:16:08 John Daub: Sega will be missed support a local to keep them open absolutely I wish I could could have done more including there was a train hostel there's a lot of businesses that went under that are heartbreaking there's not much that I could have done to save I I just wish I had more time and more energy to to try to save them all and and know where they are here's Sega number four building they have not made the oh they did right here okay so here's the the official announcement or one of them that's what GiGO looks like the it's a small i in there and uh Sega is turning into GiGO which is owned by Genda it's a long story just do not urban I'm trying to cut the oh gosh you know what now I'm gonna I'm gonna have to go and get that Michael Sasano would also be it would not approve if I didn't get something so you can see again they turn the first floors into UFO catchers and there really isn't anything special to these I don't know why people play them can anybody write it in the comments why do you play UFO catchers why why are they so so good I don't get it I even took a class on it to try to to learn how to beat the system it's impossible let's cross the street and say goodbye officially to because I I'm getting a feeling that by the time I come back this is not going to be here there's the hotel JR East Hotel Mets Akihabara so if you're looking to book a hotel here you can't get any better location than the JR East Hotel Mets wow owned by JR if you get these rooms here's your view that's pretty sweet although it's not as exciting as it was about six months ago.

00:18:27 John Daub: Bob Joe you've got to get some taiyaki gosh I'm not torn between donuts and taiyaki and I'm watching out for my health I can't get them both so this is the Sega number four building just kind of they're telling you how to wash your hands that's nice public service announcement scrub your hands until you get dizzy what sparkly clean that was worth it all right I'm gonna let you all vote to play donut or taiyaki it's up to you guys and if I don't get one of the other I'm probably going to get it really get again really soon but I can't get booked because I don't want to get sick I've been eating too much I wanna officially a diet Port Katayama sent me some Pop-Tarts that I can only eat one a week both was not one of the options both was not one of the options I'm supporting a local business okay which probably seems like it's going to be the donut shop here. By the way, for those that don't know, the AKB48 Cafe went out of business across the street there, on the other side of the station anyways. All right, let's go around here.

00:20:16 John Daub: Cream brulee rights in Nagoya-jan. Really? How many times have I eaten the cream brulee and you guys still into that? Joey, what am I going to do? I'm lost here. Maybe I'll find something better on the way. Eat half of both. Who made this up? That's cute. He's winking at you. He's not winking at me. Check that out. That is the biggest freaking sushi. Look at this. Can you even see this? This is a sushi roll? I'm not allowed to film that. What the heck? She actually went around to see that it was a live stream. That's funny. Look, I'm not going to eat both. Pick one. You know what? Life is hard. Pick one. That's the way.

00:21:51 John Daub: When I'm editing a video, I want to keep it at like two hours long, but I got to pick and edit. So you got to edit. You can't have one or the other. They can't be both. And we're only moments away from the cream brulee. That rhymes. All right. This is the less busy side of Akihabara station. Well, these Akira vending machines keep getting newer. Look at this one. This looks like a very dark side looking machine, doesn't it? What? I have here the curry drink, which is nasty. It's a curry drink. Trust me. It's not. It's not memorable. Oh, look at these. Fruit sandwiches are a big deal. I heard that the luxury fruit shops, they sell their expiring fruit to them and they make. That's what I've heard. Curry drinks nasty. I'm not going there. I've had it. I mean, it depends if you're like salty curry. It doesn't have rice. If they put little chunks of rice in there, I think maybe. I can get behind it.

00:23:40 John Daub: The Sweets Paradise is closed. Just so you know, they turned it into a gachapon corner. We saw this last time, which is really sad. Kind of looking at these gachapon. Sometimes they have something really interesting. Well, the Battle of Midway. What? There's some toilet sprayers. Well, you put water in there and it sprays water in your face. I always wanted that. All right. Let's get let's just get this done. All right. You know what? Look, I don't even want a donut. I'm just doing it. I'm going to get one for Kanae. How about this? Oh, hey, you guys want to see something cool? Check it out. Hey, Craig Kawaguchi is here. Here's the new 500 yen coin. Check this out. Have you seen this yet? It's kind of got double color in there. In the middle is silver. Oh, the video quality is not good. Let me move out here to the center.

00:25:05 John Daub: All right. The video quality should be a little bit better here. This is a new 500 yen coin. You can see it's got double the color. These came out last year. Reiwa 3. All right. Let's go. Let's go get that cream brulee and I'll get one for Kanae because she likes them too. Although we're both on a diet. That's over. That's so cute. Look at that donut right there. Oh my gosh. I'd eat that. All right. Let's get two cream brulee donuts. Although these galaxy donuts are good. Konnichiwa. Konnichiwa. Two cream brulee donuts. I don't need them. Yes, please. I have no idea if that's copyright music. If it is, I'm running away. I'm going to stay on the edge here with it. Signal might be better. They charge now 3 yen for small bags and 5 yen for bigger bags. So everywhere charges a price for vinyl bags and that keeps everybody kind of carries an eco bag. But I don't have that. I wasn't thinking I was going to get really donuts. Thanks a lot, Irvin. Arigato gozaimasu.

00:27:07 John Daub: All right. We're on the run. There. You like that? Peter loves these too. Oh, next week I'm planning to do a live stream at a restaurant. I'm trying to do live streams that are not just that has some sort of a point behind it. Not just walking around. I don't see the pants. I was looking for the gachapon pants, which is sort of kind of popular right now. You see it here? Here's the door. Push the button and get a sound. Gachapon machine is kind of neat. I'm going to eat this back at my bicycle. Let's take you around now through Akihabara. This place has changed so much over the years. Not traditionally. I think it was the 1970s. Somebody told me there are a lot of streetwalkers here. You can see the Tohoku Shinkansen also goes through here too. But the Tokaido Shinkansen does not. It's kind of neat to see the green and red Shinkansen. The E5 and E6 cruises. And through here.

00:28:55 John Daub: For those that are shoppers, it's a Muji, Uniqlo and a Starbucks on this building. Those are into the brand stuff. Starbucks has a hojicha (roasted green tea) latte going on right now, which is apparently pretty good. Had one of those. This is the Washington Hotel. Inside there, they have a train otaku dream room where you have a train going around the entire room like a toy train. It's pretty cool. Filmed that for NHK about 12 years ago. By the way, I don't know if I'm allowed to break the news, but I'll be on Tokyo Eye in March. And I cannot confirm or deny that it will be one of the last episodes. So just really excited to go back into the studio and see the team at Tokyo Eye. Been working as a reporter for Tokyo Eye over 50 episodes there, which is like one tenth of the show. I did a ton of Tokyo Eye between 2009 and 2012. Then I started doing YouTube a lot more. But still. Once in a while I was on the show.

00:30:18 John Daub: I'm going to ask and see if Leo and Kanae can go. Because that show has been such a big part of my life. I learned so much from Tokyo Eye. I definitely, if I can, kind of share that experience and say Leo was there. Maybe he'll let them on in the video. I don't know. That would be pretty cool. The next generation of Tokyoites taking over. This bridge, if you don't know, will take you to Kanda. And Tokyo Station eventually. This is a shortcut not a lot of people know about it. It follows the tracks of the Yamanote Line. A little inside knowledge for Akihabara-philes.

00:31:12 John Daub: So somebody calls you a weeaboo? Are you supposed to be offended by that? I don't even, I don't understand this. It's somebody apparently that is Western that wants to become Japanese or something. I don't have any friends like that. We just live here and work. It's not like we're trying to become something that we're not. So that word doesn't apply to us. I looked it up. Somebody called me that the other day and I didn't know whether or not to be offended or not. So I just said thank you and kind of walked away. Not a lot of people on this side. There's the entrance, the Electric Town entrance to Akihabara Station. Wow, there's some people. It's starting to bud. Check this out. Do you see this? Blurry. It's hard to focus in on it. They're like little, little pussy willows. The cherry blossoms are coming soon. Two, less than two months. Can you believe it? Cherry blossoms! Click the like button if you like cherry blossoms.

00:33:01 John Daub: Because if I say click the like button for me, no one's going to click it. Click it for something else. Click it so I eat the donut. See if we can get 400. I'll get 400 likes by the time I get to the intersection there and I'll eat this donut. Do it. Just do it. Do it now. One, two, three, do it. I will be traveling around for cherry blossoms. Probably go up to Tohoku. I don't know what the travel situation's like, but I can tell you this. It's not good right now. Japanese have a very 2020 mindset with travel right now. They don't quite understand that. They can't control this anymore. That's kind of sad. Here's the Sobu Line again. I haven't gotten my voucher for the booster shot yet. It's kind of such, it's kind of chaos right now. Nobody wants the Moderna shot. They all want the Pfizer shot. So it's like there's a bunch of, there's so many problems here at the moment.

00:34:15 John Daub: All right, let's go to this bridge here and have a donut. Talk about something better. Okay, let's go hang out with these pigeons. They seem to know a good spot. I think this spot is disease infested too. It's a lot of duty. It's not a good donut eating spot. Ah, crap. They're watching me. They had crows after me at Kuriyama Station the other day. All right, folks. Thanks for clicking the like button. We're 12 likes short. Be a friend. Click like. I would say click love, but they make it a like button. I disagree with taking rid of the dislike button. I think dislike is a good indication of content that you shouldn't watch. So you know what's fake and what's not fake. But bullying is a real thing. So I've been bullied most of my life. What doesn't break you makes you stronger, but nobody wants to be bullied.

00:36:12 John Daub: Here's the donuts. The other one is for Kanae. Cream brulee. They put the cream in the hole there. It's kind of nasty if you think about it. It is illegal to feed the pigeons. Illegal. There are signs. Ah, these cream. Irvin, these cream brulee donuts. They've got that burnt taste on top. It's so good. Oh, burn it. Burn the caramel. Feed them. You're not allowed. All right. I'm going to leave this here. I'm not feeding them. I'm just leaving it there. Seeing what would happen. I'm not going to eat it all. Irvin, I'm sorry. I'm saving it. Because when I give Kanae hers, I'll have something left. Thanks, guys, for this. This is nice. And have a nice day. I got to get back because Kanae is going to dance. Oh, to, I don't know, some sort of dance thing.

00:38:35 John Daub: All right. Let's see what happens. I'm generous. Am I not generous? I'm just leaving it there. I'm not. Let the battle rage. Let the battle rage. There's no battle. They don't even know. This will probably still be here when you guys come back to Tokyo one day. All right. That's all I got. Thanks for watching. It's a very sad story about Sega. But again, this is a reality. It's turning to GiGO, which means getting into gaming oasis or something like that. Have a good day, everybody. I hope this was fun for you. And I'll see you in another live stream soon. Bye. And an edited video coming really soon, too. Gosh, I have four of them to release. This is super exciting. I've been pretty busy this month. It's still there right there. They have class. They don't want leftovers. See, pigeons are smart. Kind of. See everybody. Bye.