Day in the Life of a Japanese Game Center Worker

this is a day in the life of a Japanese Game Center worker [Music] [Music] this is my 40 years old living in the center of Tokyo and she's just waking up for [Music] work she took a bath last night as most Japanese typically do so this morning she simply washes her face and quickly gets ready for the day ahead she lives with her cat in this one LDK apartment a bedroom a living room with separate dining and kitchen [Music] she usually doesn't eat a full breakfast at home but we'll start with a cup of [Music] tea I see you have a switch you play a lot cool what do you play are you any good okay you have a lot of manga too what's your favorite these days huh I'll check it out before leaving she feeds her cat and plays a bit her regular routine just before heading [Music] off she commutes to work by train at three stops without a transfer which takes about 30 minutes at door to door fairly normal in Japan her home though is about a 15minute walk away from the closest train station which may be a little bit too long for some people but she enjoys the morning stroll through her Serene [Music] neighborhood good morning everyone I'm back with another day in the life and I'm super excited to get this one started because I wanted to film this for such a long time and it's been a little bit difficult to try to get permission but we finally got it m should be coming around surely so we can get this thing started good morning did he sleep well last night before going to her workplace she stopped by the nearest convenience store to pick up her breakfast and this is Ma's workplace Tio station one of Japan's most popular game center chains her company Tao is famously known for some of the world's first arcade games such as Space Invaders and Bubble Bobble now with more than than 160 game centers and other entertainment facilities all throughout Japan the company continues to innovate and provide fun and exciting entertainment to all of its customers and my a key part of this is she's the store manager for their Takata no Baba game [Music] center before she officially starts she changes into her uniform [Music] nice other workers are here too what are you drinking oh interesting her first task of the day is to check her email review the previous day's sales results and to confirm the sales targets for today so the store sales are your responsibility okay do you get a bonus here oh [Music] nice so how was your last bonus good for you cool since other workers already had a meeting about the prizes she's provided a summary so that she can use that information to help increase their sales my where are you going now she walks to the floor to see if they need to make adjustments before the shop opens like switching the prizes or refilling any of the machines a wow my and the other workers are moving around the machines so why did you switch the location of the machine as mentioned earlier it's her responsibility to maximize the Shop's profits interestingly though she enjoys the analytics of it viewing it in itself as a puzzle or a mini game adjusting the locations of certain machines so they perform better is all part of solving the [Music] puzzle next she Powers up the machines and all the lights on the floor is that it her game center has almost every type of arcade game you could imagine with a total of 132 different types gam so something for everyone as she walks back to the office she verifies that all the machines are turned on properly and attends to any that may require a [Music] reboot any Machines working funky today oh what's your favorite game to play Oh any tips on how to win well you're not lying [Music] 15 minutes before the game Center opens my gathers the workers for CH their daily morning meeting and how you present the customers is deeply important so the workers review each other's uniforms and overall appearance identifying any flaws that need to be corrected before working next the workers recite eight key customer service terms one example is a proper etiquette to greet and address customers there's a particular way to speak politely in Japanese this ensures their words are delivered naturally all this a common practice in retail shops and [Music] restaurants oh nice their uniforms are customized to fit their radio transceivers dope hey what's that oh don't 13 is really bright having strict hair regulations is common in Japan for many companies in fact Analytics from Japan's buo University Pro that bleach hair can convey a scary and unfriendly impression giving more reason to have such regulations but over time with more diverse perspectives these rules are softening at 10: the game center is officially open for business ma along with other workers stand in various locations at the entrance to welcome and greet the customers quite typical in Japan for entertainment related businesses so it looks like M's going to be in the office for just a little bit longer so while she's doing all of this let's see what's a game around [Music] here let's see what is going on around here this is pretty awesome we got games all around look at this guy playing this game that's my my DX Splash it's been a popular game in Japan for quite a while basically players start by selting a song and as it plays they tap the side buttons and swipe the screen along with music regular players of the game will often wear gloves for smoother gameplay while also helping to protect their hands and they even have racing games here so instead of me trying to play this game for the first time it's like that guy behind me is a pretty experience so let's see how he plays that's a card action game based on Japan's historical Samurai stories and characters by moving a warlord card its Army moves a with it on screen hi do you play this often the cards are provided here so how many cards do you have damn that's a lot thanks so this right here is one of their metal gates maybe I can just get a few coins to see how this all works so first I think we get some points from right here [Music] so basically you drop in more medals game tokens and when they overflow you get those [Music] tokens now she's filling up the gacha games it's extremely popular among young kids in Japan prizes vary from random mascots to toys of popular character items after she's done with a gachapon task she's going to walk the floor to help customers and take care of the machines who why is checking on the crane games if there are too many prizes left over or the other way around it means that it's too easy or too difficult so she makes adjustments throughout the day as much as she wants to make each and every customer happy by helping make the game easier it's also her responsibility to maintain a certain profit for the games also she stays mindful of keeping the games clean for customer by wiping away handprints on the machines maybe a reason why Japanese game centers are extremely clean and organized hey Mike you can only get one prize for this one are there players that win everything can everyone get that good nice [Music] finally M takes her lunch break today she decides to get some lunch at a nearby fast food shop so do you come here often me too what did you get since the workers at the game center take turns on their lunch break ma usually eats by herself this is fairly common for retail stores in Japan in order to maximize worker [Music] efficiency since one of the Video Game Machines is broken Mike called the repair man from their Tech team they repair games at their own title game centers while also carrying out repairs on their own games at independent locations what was wrong with it nice so how long have you been doing this oh really how did you get this job on the tech team he worked diligently to learn as much as he could on his own and stayed focused on understanding the technical side of each machine and eventually when a spot opened up on the tech team he was able to prove that he knew enough to be able to grow into the new job so do you specialize in anything amazing great the machine is fixed and she receives the final report from the technician so it looks like M has even more office work so while she's doing this let's see if we can score some more points out there Hy this is just so much fun going around a game center cuz I actually want to play all of these games myself looks like they have a drummer section here they have guitars over there they even have a DJ booth right here pretty cool these are called Oto gay in Japan Oto meaning sounds gay short for game they became popular in the last decade and continue to evolve check out this guy he's killing it earlier versions of these dancing style Rhythm games relied on a control pad on the floor for player input while now cameras can simply sense the players movement excuse me what's this area ah so what's your responsibility and how long have you been working here that's pretty long so why do you like working here nice what games do you like these days who that sounds really cool thank you hello can I ask what you're [Music] doing how long have you worked here ah you're new why did you choose to work at a game center oh that's great so how can I get better okay thanks cool look we even have Majong here interesting so Majong horse racing and even Bingo sound like a casino but at a Japanese Game Center you can't win money but rather just more game tokens as they purely for [Music] entertainment now may is back on the arcade floor similar to the task she performed in the morning she continues to ensure that her customers are having an enjoyable experience nice Maya's helping out the customer customers in Japanese game centers it's common to ask the staff for tips and advice on how to win especially for the crane games and apparently if you're struggling a lot they'll even adjust the position of the prize so it's easier to win in recent years crane games have become the most popular arcade game in Japan there are even game centers which specialize in only these machines interestingly though the number of game centers in Japan is down by 50% compared to the last 20 years but the recent surgeon and popularity has helped Revitalize the prize Game Center helping boost the industry back it seems like she's wrapping up for the day and the afternoon shift are already here oh is that you where is it from she won first place in Japan among all of their 2200 workers in their 160 title game centers that's very impressive now my gives instructions to the afternoon shift workers before going home she quickly reviews today's sales so far so how was today's sales like which anime yay finally done where are you going tonight she's having a drink with her co-workers and Friends within the company from takadanobaba to Shinjuku it's only two stations away so it's very close I guess they're going to a beer and darts bar nice my friend is here too hi so how long have you known my I [Music] see all right so it looks like May's going to be here for a lot longer probably until midnight before she catches the last then she'll go home take a bath and then go to sleep after that but that's pretty much a day in the life of a Japanese Game Center worker if you guys like this video help me out and hit that like button if you guys want to help support the channel then definitely check out my hot sauce or my merch and if you guys want to see more videos like this or anything with Japan hit that subscribe button in the Bell Buton I'll catch you guys in the next one

Channel: Paolo fromTOKYO

Views: 1,691,452

Keywords: Paolo, Japan, tokyo, day in the life japan, life in japan, working in japan, japan life, japanese worker, working hours in japan, life in tokyo, japanese company, japan work culture, japan working hours, game center, japan arcade, japanese game center, japan, a day in the life, living in japan, day in the life, japan arcade games, japan crane games, japan game center, taito station, crange games, arcade, japan video games, japanese work culture, japanese office culture

Id: VCZQZwtQzrg

Length: 17min 51sec (1071 seconds)

Published: Fri May 31 2024