How do I explain Round1?

Rich Pav General

Round1 There’s an enormous 5 or 6 story black monolithic building next to the middle of nowhere (a.k.a Kurihashi, Saitama Pref.) that houses every indoor activity imaginable, and it’s called Round1. For 1,700 yen a head, Tony and I played arcade games to our hearts’ content for three hours straight while Andy played in an enormous indoor padded playground and my wife…well, I don’t know what she did. I was too busy playing video games to care.

Here’s a partial list of all the things you can do there. I’m just going to type until I get bored.

  • 40 lanes of bowling
  • 21 karaoke rooms
  • darts
  • three floors of video games
  • slot machines
  • UFO catcher machines
  • food courts
  • archery
  • auto tenis
  • curling
  • more karaoke
  • bb gun target range
  • catch & frisbee
  • virtual golf
  • soccer, mini and kick tick-tack-toe
  • auto ping-pong
  • hoops
  • tennis
  • batting
  • billiards
  • badminton
  • volleyball
  • mini bowling
  • robot rodeo bull (nobody used it)
  • robot boxing (it was lame)
  • indoor fishing (tsuri bori, don’t make fun if it, it’s fun: example)
  • inline skating/minibike racing
  • music rehersal studio
  • massage chairs (example, from elsewhere)
  • party room (byo hookers)
  • massage and exercise machines

That’s it, I’m bored. Go to the bottom of the Round1 webpage and paste some of the katakana words into Google Images to find out more. (Japanese study tip #582)

“Why didn’t you take video?” you ask. Well, I tried. I ran out of tape in about 30 seconds and forgot to bring a spare, so we’ll have to go back again soon.

If anyone wants to go on a weekend, let me know. Seriously, if I’m free I’ll pick you up at Koga station and drive you there. I can fit a max of 4-5 well-behaved extra people in our minivan. I’m totally up for it, and my kids would love to meet you, as long as you’re not a dickhead. (If you are, no big deal. You’ll just have to find your own way back.)

Rich Pav

Richard has been living in Japan since 1990 with his wife and two teenage sons, Tony and Andy.

14 thoughts to “How do I explain Round1?”

  1. That sounds like a lot of fun. We had a place like that here in Chicago and it was called Disney Quest, basically a indoor theme park with a lot more arcade games. We went once and I loved it, but unfortunately it shut down, I don’t know why.

    Ok Rich I’ve asked this before but you didn’t respond, maybe because you were on the verge of updating, but I’m going to ask again. When and where did you learn Japanese?

    1. I took an 8-week intensive Japanese language course at Penn State over the summer after I graduated, back in 1990. Then I spent four years teaching jr. high school English. About half a year ago I started taking Japanese lessons for the first time in over 15 years. Other than that, I just use the language for what it’s for; I do very little if any straightforward studying.

  2. Ok I just saw this interview, it’s obviously a show in Japan and it’s hosted by two black Americans, it’s funny and I like it. It’s called “Sakigake Ongakubanzuke” What does it mean and can you tell me anything about it, like a website or something? Thanks Rich

  3. Wow, I went to their site and that place looks awesome. I’ll have to try to get there while I’m in Japan this summer if it’s not too difficult.

      1. Well, I only did it in audio because it was there. I knew I shouldn’t have fallen for that aesthetic crap.

        Anyway, I want to know if there are more fees after you pay the entrance fee. Is everything free once you’re inside, or do you still have to pay for everything? Or maybe some things are free while others aren’t. Thanks!

        1. Remember the ticket machine at Kusurogi-no-yu when I went swimming with the kids? You pay for what you use. We bought tickets for 3 hrs on the sports floor, which gave us access to the video games, kiddie play area, table tennis, inline skating/minibike rink, soccer, target shooting, robo boxing, karaoke, massage chairs and mini bowling. Maybe there’s a course for using the entire building or a season pass, I don’t know. Since it’s so close to our house and relatively affordable (compared to Disneyland), we’ll probably go back there soon and I’ll bring my video camera with a BLANK tape.

  5. That’s pretty cool. Beats anything one can do in my small town. I wish I could take you up on the offer to go as well, but I’m stuck in the middle of Missouri.

  6. Looks great. Do you happen know if the one in Kurihashi is the largest, or are the branches in Tokyo or Chiba similarly outfitted? Definitely plan to check it out with my boys when we visit in June. Thanks for the info.

    1. Looking at the other stores listed at the same site, the location in Itabashi isn’t quite as large but it’s closer to Tokyo. You can get there on the Mita subway line, Shimura san-chome station, then a 7 min. walk. The closest other stadium-sized location is Ageo, on the Takasaki train line. Get off at Ageo then take a 10-15 min. taxi ride.

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