Japan's arcades have had a tough time of late, with many closing down amid declining revenue and the continued fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sadly, we bring the news that yet another Japanese amusement centre is closing its doors; this time, it's Hi-Tech Land Sega Nishinakajima. It officially closes its doors on May 7th, 2023.
Part of the Hi-Tech Land of indoor arcades founded by Sega in 1990s, the Nishinakajima centre is one of a dying breed; as you can see from this list on Sega Retro, most of the centres opened under the Hi-Tech Land branding have long since vanished.
According to Arcade Tokyo, an excellent site run by Hookshot Media contributor Roland Ingram, "plenty of the actual arcades remain, but whenever Sega gets round to a freshen-up, they lose their Hi-Tech frontage and just get the weak red-n-blues of the late 2010s. Trashing the old with no idea what new looks like."