round1

Driving back from Sendai last weekend we passed by one of the many construction sites in the city.  Usually they’re for apartment buildings or pachinko parlours, but the big sign I saw immediately caught my eye.  This was going to be a Round 1. It’s gonna be right next to Nigatake Station, which is only 8 minutes from Sendai Station.

So, what is Round 1? Basically it’s a giant multi-floor game center. One of these behemoths was built shortly after I moved to Akita City. I hope the one in Sendai is at least as good as Akita’s.

What can you do at Round 1? Let’s see… one floor is devoted to slot machines and gambling, another floor has like 30 or 40 bowling lanes, a different floor has a race track to ride mini motorbikes on. There’s a floor full of video games, pool tables, karaoke rooms, massage chairs, a mechanical bull, catch and release fishing (wtf?!). There’s another floor with basketball, soccer, and badminton courts, batting cages, archery, mini golf, and a curling rink (double wtf?!?!).

(L-R) Basketball, Soccer, Archery, Frisbee, Mini Golf

(L-R) Basketball, Soccer, Archery, Frisbee, Mini Golf

(L-R) Curling, Batting Cages (background), Badminton

(L-R) Curling, Batting Cages (background), Badminton

There’s food, you can drink alcohol, and from what I remember it’s open 24/7. I’ve been there for various parties in the evening, and at 4am after the bars. It’s pretty cheap as well; I don’t ever remember paying more than 3000 yen for a long night of fun.

Here’s a link to a PDF file from the Round 1 website; it’s in English and shows all of what they have to offer. Here’s also a couple low quality YouTube videos I uploaded a couple years ago. One of the mechanical bull, and one of the mini motorbikes.

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