This book is a guide of common measurements for architects, published in Showa 17 (1942). I found out about this book via @ChillReactor. It is available online via the NDL Digital Collections.
full title: 建築設計資料集成 第1 (Architectural Design Data Collection Part 1) - 建築学会 編 (Edited by Architectural Institute of Japan) - published by 丸善 (Maruzen) 昭和17 (1942)
建築設計資料集成 第1 (Architectural Design Data Collection Part 1) 1942 |
There are a few pages of great interest for arcade fans:
pages 128-129 |
pages 132-133 |
page 134-135 |
I would guess that the first machine is a two-chute candy vendor. The images on it look like confectionary treats.
The 2nd machine looks like an early 1930s vertical ball game. I do not know of a game that looks quite similar, but the curved decoration beneath the winning chute looks similar to patterns seen on 1930s games:
detail from 玉遊菓子自動販賣機 (ball play confectionery vending machine) by 日本娯楽機製作所 (Japan Amusement Machine Manufacturing) |
The third machine appears to be a game similar One Sen Jump:
~1929 One Sen Jump - ワンセンジャンプ |
The 4th machine is a depiction of a fortune teller machine with a separate slot for each birth month. Something similar to this:
~1937 生礼月の占ひ (Fortune-telling of birth month) [生まれ月別占い機] by 日本娯楽機製作所 (Japan Amusement Machine Manufacturing) |
The decoration on the drawing seems representative of the design on the real machine:
Mutoscope model C |
1920 Mutoscope [plate says "No M 10"] |
マトスコープ (Mutoscope) [import] by 日本娯楽機製作所 (Japan Amusement Machine Manufacturing) & International Mutoscope [presumed] |
自動活動寫真機 (automatic activity photograph) by 日本娯楽機製作所 (Japan Amusement Machine Manufacturing) |
A post-ww2 version of a similar machine:
建築設計資料集成 第1 (1942) page 129 - excerpt guessing at the text: (7) 腕相撲器 [arm wrestling machine] (8) 打擊器 (その1) [punching machine part 1] (9) 打擊器 (その1) [punching machine part 2] (10) 體重計 [weight scale] |
superior scan from 竹内孝治 |
The first machine is very exciting. It is a figural arm wrestling machine with a sumo wrestler opponent. In the ~1937 catalogue we see a somewhat similar machine, though with slightly different dimensions.
腕角力 [腕相撲] (arm wrestling) by 日本娯楽機製作所 (Japan Amusement Machine Manufacturing) |
This implies that there is a similar machine, done with a sumo wrestler, that we have yet to discover!
~1937 カ量計 (Physical strength meter) by 日本娯楽機製作所 (Japan Amusement Machine Manufacturing) |
The 3rd machine seems to be an awkward rendition of these imported punching machines, perhaps hinting that there was a different version made in Japan.
Knockout Punch Tester - 腕力計 [import] by Exhibit Supply |
~1918 Champion Punching Bag by Exhibit Supply |
The 4th machine is a generic-looking coin-operated scale, which were a popular coin-op novelty for decades before WW2.
建築設計資料集成 第1 (1942) page 129 - excerpt |
superior scan from 竹内孝治 (11) 卓上球轉し器 [tabletop ball rolling vessel] (12) 力試し器 [force tester] |
We have a table with 5 smart ball games, like you would see them in rows at smartball parlors.
1930s Corint Table Game - コリント・テーブルゲーム (Corinthian Table Game) by コリント商会 (Corinthian Company) |
建築設計資料集成 第1 (1942) page 13 - excerpt |
A cork gun shooting gallery, with an apparent naval / war theme. The guns appear to be suspended between a frame, using 2 chains. We see this identical setup here, which is also a war themed game:
建築設計資料集成 第1 (1942) page 129 - excerpt |
superior scan from 竹内孝治 5個のスポンヂボールを以て10個の標的を落す物にして客溜りの奥行は可及的に大とする事を要す It is necessary to make the depth of the customer pool as large as possible. The customers uses 5 sponge balls to drop 10 targets. |
In North America, this game would involve knocking over stacked milk bottles to win a prize, but here the targets are depicted as hexagonal blocks of approximately the same size
excerpt from 1929 H.C. Evans catalogue |
建築設計資料集成 第1 (1942) page 129 - excerpt |
Demon characters such as these have been popular arcade targets for over 200 years! They are one of the longest surviving uniquely Japanese arcade traditions.
建築設計資料集成 第1 (1942) page 129 - excerpt |
I have combined the final 2 from this page since they are both archery-based. Another one of Japan's longest-running arcade traditions, archery arcades go back to at least the Edo period, and sometimes as an amusement in red light districts.
1902~ 東京 (target gallery) [from '東京風俗志 下' by 平出鏗二郎 published by 富山房 in 1902] |
Archery became popular again in the 1970s as the bowling boom began to fade:
1972 アーチェリー (archery) by タイトー (Taito) |
There are still modern archery arcades that operate in the same fashion!
建築設計資料集成 第1 (1942) page 135 - excerpt |
Bowling alleys in the 1930s were shorter and had pin-setting activated by a lever. This appears to be much larger than the setups I have seen in the 1930s, and helps us see bowling's development on the way to the decade-long post-war bowling craze. According to this page, Japan's first dedicated bowling center opened in 1952, 10 years after this book was published.
No comments:
Post a Comment