exploring the arcade in 下町の太陽 (1963) aka Shitamachi no taiyô (The Sun of Shitamachi)

This movie was pointed out by TOO_yoshikawa, who somehow is always able to take clearer screenshots than me.

下町の太陽 (1963)

There is a short scene at 花やしき (Hanayashiki) in 浅草 (Asakusa).

We begin with some pinball.

when you see "Spin" on a bumper, that means its a game with a roto-target

That's all we get, but it's more than enough.

via ipdb

via pinside

 

But the showcase here is an entirely NEW GAME that we've never seen or heard of before.  It's a large shooting gallery that I believe uses photo cels / light gun technology.

Part of the text at the top is cut off, but we can see most and I'm told it says ララミー砦の決戦

My guess is that you have to shoot the light when the target is above it.

I'm combining 3 of these frames into one image for the eremeka database:

ララミー砦の決戦 (The Battle of Fort Laramie) [Shooting Game - seen in 下町の太陽] by アートポイント社 (Art Point)

 

I am unsure if this rotating robot is related to a game, but considering the decorative light board on the right and the two connected spheres on the left, it is probably just a a decoration at the venue.

 

 Then, there is bowling:

There are not many clues here, but let's work with what we've got.  This is a floor bowler game, probably by Chicago Coin.  We know David Rosen was importing all sorts of these in his 1961 catalogue.  The front pin area pushes out in a triangle, but has flat parts on either side.  There is a stripe that goes from the flat part out to the pin triangle.   We can see rollover switches underneath the dangling pins.

There is an inner stripe that runs the length of the gutter.  The instructions at the front of the lane are the same shape on both machines, a rectangle with a darker rectangle at the top.  The metal bar on the ball return appears to be common amongst all of their models.  At the end of the ball return there is no coin box.   The balls appear to be the 4.5" variety.  Clay's excellent article on bowling arcade games on his pinrepair site has been extremely useful here.

These clues help narrow down the options from well over 10 probably bowlers to about 3 that share those visible features, particularly the design of the instructions at the front.

• T.V. Bowling League by Chicago Coin
• Lucky Strike by Chicago Coin
• Classic Bowling League by Chicago Coin

On pinrepair we learn that T.V. Bowling League and Lucky Strike are contact bowlers with no rollover switches, so we can rule those game out.

So this is most likely Classic Bowling League.

1957 Classic Bowling League by Chicago Coin
(restoration by Res Meister) (archive)

 

 

And we'll leave off with some amusement park shots

 

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This blog stands in protest against the horrific eliminationist policies being enacted by the USA to remove trans people from society.  Trans people have always existed, in every society, but this fascist administration has declared a war against reality and says that trans people can no longer be allowed to exist.  Trump's executive orders say that trans children should be abused at school, in their home, in public, and at hospitals.  Trump's orders are a decree to destroy all traces of trans existence from society, and that all trans people are subhuman threats and liars who should not be allowed to exist publicly.  He is attacking children, he is attacking families, and he is delighting in his sadism.

This blog stands in solidarity with all of the youth who are being terrorized by a president who has declared them to be threats that must be eliminated. 

 

exploring the arcade in ひとりぼっちの二人だが (1962) aka Hitoribotchi no futari daga (Two people alone)

Another movie that I found via Sugiyama-san.  This 1962 movie gives us a glimpse of a famous amusement park, but in the background we can get blurred glimpses of machines.

ひとりぼっちの二人だが

This movie has many interesting and inventive shots, and gives us an incredible view of 二子玉川園 (Futako Tamagawa Garden).  Here are a few shots of the amusement park attractions, including the 宇宙飛行 (Space Flight) tower

these shots from the ride are lovely.

 

 

 

From a tweet:  そこは浅草松屋屋上遊園地であった。花屋敷は日本の遊園地の嚆矢である。松屋のスポーツランドは、屋上遊園地の嚆矢である。二つは互いに影響し合いながら発展し、浅草の名物となった。そこには各種ゲームマシンが置かれていたのであった。浅草松屋については、拙著『コリントゲーム史』をお読みいただきたい。

Machine translation: It was the rooftop amusement park of Asakusa Matsuya. Hanayashiki was the first amusement park in Japan. Matsuya Sports Land was the first rooftop amusement park. The two developed while influencing each other, and became famous attractions in Asakusa. There were various game machines installed there. For more information about Asakusa Matsuya, please read my book "The History of Games in Corinth."

 

These telescopes are coin-operated and on a timer, so when the time runs out everyone struggles to find another coin.

Enough sightseeing, let's look at games...

this shot is the back of the pachinko parlour, which we can see into through the right-hand doors. On the right in the foreground is a large drum being spun by a motor. This is a machine for washing pachinko balls.

パチンコホール (Pachinko Hall)

wait a second, what's that in the background?

We can see this machine in another scene.

Even though it is hopelessly blurry, this is still a very exciting find. This game looks similar to the two player racer games that first became popular in the 1920s in the the UK. It looks like a cabinet and they all certainly looked like a fine piece of furniture.

Here is a postwar example:

1954 Helicopter Racer by Ruffler & Walker

There were a number of Japanese games built in this similar cabinet style in the 1930s.

~1937 フートボール競技 (football competition) by 日本娯楽機製作所 (Japan Amusement Machine Manufacturing)

~1937 日本大競馬場 (Japan big racecourse) [卓上競馬機 (tabletop horse racing machine)] by 日本娯楽機製作所 (Japan Amusement Machine Manufacturing)

Here is an early example of a similar style game from the UK.  These machines were often "coin back" machines where each player put in a coin and whoever won the race would get theirs back.

1921 Jolly Fireman Racer by Charles Ahrens

1921 Jolly Fireman Racer by Charles Ahrens
photo from pennymachines.co.uk

I cannot make out any real details here. For all I know the big red mass could be a bucking bull and there could be someone pulling on it on the left. there does at least to seem to be too metallic holes in the middle of the game, which suggests to me that this is a racer game.  If anyone has an idea please let me know.

Perhaps the red circle is the bottom of the bell as it swings to the right. At the very top of the pole you can almost make out an image of a large silver bell, but it is too difficult to say for sure.

unknown 2-player game [seen in ひとりぼっちの二人だが] by unknown

I don't usually pause for the coin-op rides, but since this is such an early film I should probably document them here:

It is quite unfortunate that we do not get a better glimpse of the arcade, but let's squint at the smudgy shapes in the distance and see if we can figure something out.

On the left we have two pinball machines. The rightmost pinball machine is actually fairly easy to identify, because we can see the broad colours smudges that are at a very particular angle.

1956 Derby Day by Gottlieb

The machine on the left is a lot harder to see however. There is some methodology in trying to discern machines from very little visual information. You have to consider how the camera and lighting can smudge far-off images, and take notes of how the broad strokes might align. We can see the a large red line along the bottom with  a white smear above it. There is also a central reddish mass and smear of yellow somewhere up at the top.  

After much searching, I originally thought it was 4 Roses by Williams. But then I realized that 4 Roses came out in December 1962, and this movie came out in November 1962.

1962 4 Roses by Williams

Then I thought might be 3 Coins, which came out in February 1962. I was a bit apprehensive about saying this title, as many of the pinball machines in Japan at this time were from the mid-1950s. 

1962 3 Coins by Williams

But my friend James corrected me and correctly identified the machine. It is definitely Queen of Hearts. 

1952 Queen of Hearts  by Gottlieb

 

To the right of the pinball machines is a ride which is probably a version of Sega's Single Pony.

grey mass to the right of the pinball machine is a horse ride, then a funhouse mirror to the right, then a jukebox

1961 Single Pony by 日本娯楽物産 (Nihon Goraku Bussan) & 日本機械製造 (Nihon Kikai Seizo — Sega)

To the right of the pony ride is a tall funhouse mirror.  Here is an example of similar mirrors at an amusement centre, in a different movie made 16 years later:

exploring the arcade in the 1978 movie 鬼畜 / Kichiku (The Demon)

The next item to the right appears to be a jukebox. A primary distinctive feature we can see is that the glass curves to the back and then ever so slightly down. There are very few jukebox designs that look like that.  I had originally guessed it was a 1954 Wurlitzer 1600 AF (archive) but a reader, johns594, commented that it most likely a M100B by Seeburg circa 1950-1951.  I agree with them, thank you for the correction.

1950 M100B by Seeburg (via)

If we look into the very far left of the shot we can see a row of smartball machines.

 

Here is a representative example of this style of smartball:

1950s スマートボール ローズマリー号 (smart ball rosemary) by 西陣 (Nishijin)

In this shot we can see lines of pachinko machines in the background.

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To my readers in the USA: This blog stands in protest against the horrific eliminationist policies being enacted by your administration to remove trans people from society.  Trans people have always existed, in every society, but this administration has declared a war against reality and says that trans people can no longer exist.  Trump's executive orders say that children should be ripped from their parents and sent to conversion therapy, that all traces of trans existence should be purged from society, and that all trans people are subhuman threats and liars who should not be allowed to exist publicly.  This is Nazi shit and everyone needs to do what they can to stop it.  He is attacking children, he is attacking families.

It is very hard to continue working on hobby shit in the face of the extreme Christofascist horrors being inflicted upon millions. This blog stands in solidarity with all of the youth who are terrified by the president who has declared them to be threats, and a danger to themselves and others that must be eliminated.

If you do not know much about trans people and what is going on, please begin with the videos below.

100 Organizations Supporting Trans People in All 50 States