There’s something about nostalgia that many people have a great love and affection for, and there are of course lots of museums dedicated to preserving such important periods in a country’s history. This place certainly seems like a relic of the past but it is still open for business nearly 50 years after it first opened.

This old-fashioned game centre and sweet shop wasn’t somewhere I just found by accident as I saw an article about it in a Japanese magazine from last year which talked about the place exuding a mysterious aura whilst being popular with both young and old people.

Getting there involved a tram ride on the Hiroden Miyajima Line in the direction of Hiroshima station but I disemabarked at Higashi-Takasu and then walked south for about 25 minutes where what seemingly looks like a low-flat square-shaped building is located in a quiet residential area surrounded by nondescript offices.

On arrival at Okimoto Dagashi sweet shop Hiroshima, I actually thought at first that it was closed but I not-so-bravely tried to slide the door open and it gave way. Stepping inside was like walking into a time portal taking me back a few decades as boxes and boxes of small dagashi sweets (or candy if you’re American!) lay out in front of the shopkeeper.

For the uninitiated, the word dagashi in the shop’s name refers to very cheap and colourful snacks deriving from the words futile (da) and snacks (kashi) which have been around since the Edo period, and are easily affordable for kids to buy with their pocket money as prices start from just 10 yen.

It may look like a small building from the outside but there is a lot of depth to it and indeed it continues further back into the house behind it. The back of the store consists of pachinko slot machines presumably aimed at the elder clientele who tend to frequent the store in the evenings.

The front part is more dedicated to retro table and arcade games which are popular with both old and young alike. I have to say I am still surprised that any modern-day kid would be interested in playing such old games where the graphics are so basic.

Countless posters cover the store which is far from an aesthetically-pleasing design but in some ways this beauty of imperfection is what makes some of us misty eyed with nostalgia.

One of the most notable things is that each machine is plastered with handwritten signs. They are simply tips and strategies for playing each game more effectively.

There were a few kids present when I stepped into the place which has been around since 1975. They had been brought there by their parents for an hour or two of fun I guess. My amusement came from playing a couple of games of Space Invaders and Tetris with the former being one that I hadn’t actually played for a few decades!

As I mentioned earlier, there are a lot of cheap sweets lined up by the entrance on the right and before departing I filled up a little basket to get my sugar fix for the day week! These retro-style sweets also double up as prizes (between the value of 100-300 yen) which can be exchanged for the coins won on some of the games.

You’d think that such games can’t really compete with the modern day equivalents in anything other than nostalgia but the young kids I saw in there were having a good time whilst their parents wistfully looked on (or joined in!) with fond memories of a far more innocent and simpler time in the gaming world.

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