Day in the Life of a Japanese Game Center Worker

Summary

This video offers a glimpse into the daily life of a 40-year-old Japanese Game Center worker living in Tokyo. From her morning routine, including feeding her cat, to her commute and workday managing sales and arcade machines, viewers get an insight into the vibrant world of gaming in Japan. The video also highlights the importance of customer service, the meticulous organization of the game center, and the worker's role in ensuring a fun and profitable experience for all.

Takeaways

• 😀 The video provides a glimpse into the daily life of a 40-year-old Japanese Game Center worker living in Tokyo.
• 🏠 She resides in an LDK apartment with her cat, which is a common living arrangement in Japan, featuring a bedroom, living room, dining area, and kitchen.
• 🚶‍♀️ Her morning routine includes a short walk to the train station, which is a serene experience she enjoys, reflecting the Japanese appreciation for tranquility.
• 🍵 The worker typically has a light breakfast, often just a cup of tea, which is a part of the Japanese tea culture.
• 🚄 Her commute to work is fairly standard in Japan, taking about 30 minutes by train with a 15-minute walk to the station.
• 🎮 She works at Takata no Baba, a game center under the Taito Corporation, known for pioneering arcade games like Space Invaders and Bubble Bobble.
• 👗 As a store manager, she starts her workday by changing into her uniform and reviewing sales targets, highlighting the importance of appearance and professionalism in Japanese workplaces.
• 🔍 Her responsibilities include maximizing store profits through analytics and adjusting the locations of arcade machines to optimize performance, showing the strategic aspect of her role.
• 🤝 The video emphasizes the importance of customer service in Japan, with workers reviewing each other's uniforms and practicing customer etiquette before opening.
• 🎉 The game center offers a wide variety of games, appealing to a broad audience and reflecting the diversity of Japanese arcade culture.
• 🔧 The worker also deals with machine maintenance and repair, showcasing the technical side of managing a game center.
• 🍽 During lunch breaks, workers often eat alone, which is common in Japanese retail to maximize efficiency.
• 🏆 The video concludes with the worker winning first place among all employees in the company, demonstrating her dedication and success in her role.

Q & A

What is the typical morning routine of the Japanese Game Center worker featured in the video?

The worker wakes up, washes her face, and quickly gets ready for the day without having a full breakfast at home. She lives with her cat in an LDK apartment and usually starts her day with a cup of tea.

How does the Game Center worker commute to work?

She commutes by train, taking three stops without a transfer, which takes about 30 minutes door to door. Her home is a 15-minute walk away from the closest train station.

What is the name of the game center chain where the worker is employed?

The worker is employed at Taito Station, one of Japan's most popular game center chains.

What are some of the responsibilities of the store manager at the game center?

The store manager checks emails, reviews sales results, confirms sales targets, makes adjustments to the shop floor, powers up machines, and ensures all machines are functioning properly.

What is the significance of the daily morning meeting at the game center?

The daily morning meeting is important for reviewing customer service practices, ensuring uniform standards, and reciting key customer service terms to deliver polite and natural service.

Why are there strict hair regulations at the game center?

Strict hair regulations are common in Japan to convey a friendly impression. Bleached hair can give a scary and unfriendly impression, hence the rules, although they are becoming more flexible over time.

What is the role of the tech team at the game center?

The tech team is responsible for repairing games at their own title game centers and also carrying out repairs on their own games at independent locations.

What is the significance of the worker winning first place in Japan among all of the company's workers?

Winning first place among all workers in the company signifies high performance and is a significant achievement, reflecting the worker's dedication and effectiveness in her role.

What is the typical lunch break routine for the game center worker?

The worker usually takes her lunch break alone at a nearby fast food shop, which is common for retail stores in Japan to maximize worker efficiency.

What types of games can be found at the game center?

The game center has a variety of games, including rhythm games, racing games, crane games, card action games, and even games like Oto gay, which are sound-based games that have evolved over the years.

How does the game center worker ensure customer satisfaction?

The worker ensures customer satisfaction by walking the floor to help customers, adjusting the difficulty of games, maintaining cleanliness, and providing tips and advice on how to win, especially for crane games.

Outlines

00:00

🛏️ Morning Routine and Introduction

The video script introduces a 40-year-old Japanese Game Center worker living in Tokyo. It details her morning routine, which includes a quick wash after bathing the previous night, living in an LDK apartment with her cat, and having a cup of tea for breakfast. She commutes to work by train, a 30-minute journey from her home, and enjoys the morning walk to the station. The script also mentions her workplace, Tio Station, a popular game center chain in Japan known for pioneering arcade games like Space Invaders and Bubble Bobble.

05:01

🎮 Day at the Game Center

The script describes the worker's daily tasks at the game center, which include checking emails, reviewing sales, and setting targets. As the store manager, she is responsible for maximizing profits, which involves adjusting the placement of machines to improve performance. The game center offers a wide variety of arcade games, and the worker ensures all machines are operational before the center opens. She also conducts a morning meeting with her team, emphasizing customer service and appearance. The script highlights the importance of cleanliness and organization in Japanese game centers.

10:01

🍽 Lunch Break and Technical Support

During her lunch break, the worker typically eats alone at a nearby fast-food shop, a common practice in Japanese retail to maximize efficiency. The script also covers the role of the game center's tech team, who are responsible for repairing machines. The worker's interaction with a technician who fixes a broken game machine is described, along with the technician's background and how he joined the tech team. The script also explores various games available at the center, including music and rhythm games, and the worker's ongoing tasks of refilling gacha games and maintaining customer satisfaction.

15:02

🏆 Awards and Evening Activities

The script concludes with the worker's end-of-day routine, which includes instructing the afternoon shift and reviewing the day's sales. It is revealed that she won first place among all workers in the company's 160 game centers. After work, she plans to have a drink with co-workers and friends, highlighting the social aspect of Japanese work culture. The video ends with a call to action for viewers to like, subscribe, and support the channel.

Keywords

💡Game Center

A Game Center is a commercial establishment that houses a variety of arcade games. In the video, the main character works at a Japanese Game Center, which is part of a popular chain known for its innovative and entertaining games. The Game Center is central to the video's theme, showcasing the daily operations and customer interactions within this environment.

💡Arcade Games

Arcade Games are electronic games played on large, specialized machines in public venues such as Game Centers. The script mentions the Game Center has 132 different types of arcade games, indicating the variety and appeal to a broad audience. This term is integral to the video's narrative, as it highlights the entertainment aspect of the workplace.

💡Store Manager

A Store Manager is responsible for overseeing the daily operations of a retail establishment. In the video, the main character is the store manager for a Game Center, tasked with ensuring smooth operations, reviewing sales, and managing staff. This role is key to the video's storyline, illustrating the responsibilities and tasks involved in managing a Game Center.

💡Uniform

A Uniform is a standard set of clothing worn by members of an organization or working in a particular occupation. The script describes the main character changing into her uniform at the start of her shift, which signifies her professional role and is a common practice in Japanese workplaces to maintain a consistent appearance among staff.

💡Customer Service

Customer Service refers to the assistance and support provided to customers by businesses. The video emphasizes the importance of customer service in a Japanese Game Center, with workers reviewing key terms and etiquette to ensure a positive customer experience. This concept is central to the video's portrayal of the gaming environment.

💡Gacha Games

Gacha Games are a type of arcade game where players use tokens to obtain random prizes, often featuring popular characters or mascots. The script mentions gacha games as a popular attraction in the Game Center, highlighting their appeal to young customers and their role in the entertainment industry.

💡Crane Games

Crane Games, also known as claw machines, are arcade games where players control a mechanical claw to try and grab prizes. The video describes the main character adjusting the difficulty of crane games to ensure customer satisfaction and profitability, showcasing the balance between customer experience and business operations.

💡Analytics

Analytics refers to the systematic computation, analysis, and interpretation of data to draw conclusions. The main character in the video enjoys using analytics to optimize the performance of the arcade machines, viewing it as a puzzle to solve for maximizing profits. This concept is crucial to the video's depiction of the strategic aspect of running a Game Center.

💡Tech Team

A Tech Team is a group of professionals responsible for the technical aspects of a business, such as repairing and maintaining equipment. The script introduces a member of the Tech Team who fixes a broken video game machine, illustrating the importance of technical support in the smooth operation of a Game Center.

💡Otoge

Otoge, derived from 'Oto' meaning sound and 'Game', refers to sound-based arcade games, such as rhythm games. The video mentions Otoge as a popular type of game in the Game Center, with players using their movements to interact with the game. This term is significant in the video as it represents the evolution and variety of games available to customers.

💡Work Culture

Work Culture encompasses the values, norms, and practices that characterize a workplace. The video provides insights into Japanese work culture, such as the importance of appearance, customer service, and efficiency, as well as the social aspects of work, like eating lunch alone or going out with colleagues after work.

Highlights

A day in the life of a 40-year-old Japanese Game Center worker in Tokyo.

The worker's morning routine includes a quick wash and a cup of tea.

Living in an LDK apartment with a cat, showcasing Japanese living spaces.

Commuting to work by train, a common Japanese transportation method.

Taokasou, the company known for pioneering arcade games like Space Invaders.

The worker's role as a store manager at Takata no Baba game center.

Daily tasks include checking emails, reviewing sales, and setting targets.

The importance of maximizing store profits through strategic machine placement.

A game center with 132 different types of arcade games catering to diverse interests.

Daily morning meetings emphasizing customer service and appearance.

Uniform customization to include radio transceivers for staff communication.

The prevalence of strict appearance regulations in Japanese companies.

Gacha games' popularity among young kids and the variety of prizes offered.

The worker's responsibility for maintaining game difficulty and cleanliness.

Lunch breaks typically spent alone, reflecting Japanese work culture.

The role of the tech team in maintaining and repairing arcade machines.

The evolution of rhythm games from control pads to camera-based motion sensing.

The worker's recognition for achieving first place among all employees.

Socializing with co-workers post-work at a beer and darts bar.

A day ending with the worker's return home, emphasizing the long hours in Japanese work life.

Transcripts

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

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button in the Bell Buton I'll catch you

guys in the next one