“Thanks for 20 years”: legendary Tokyo arcade Nakano TRF closes
On May 18, 2025, the last machine at Tokyo arcade Nakano TRF was powered down. For anyone who grew up with Japanese arcade culture, it was a genuinely emotional moment: the venue had operated for more than 20 years, becoming a home for fighting-game and retro-game fans. Tournaments were held there, a gaming community formed around it, and legends were born.
The final Nakano TRF champion was a veteran of the Fist of the North Star scene — a player known as K.I.. He not only won the final tournament but also captured the farewell scene as staff shut the arcade machines down for the last time.
In a post after the closure, he wrote:
“I was the first and the last customer.”
For Japanese players, arcades are much like PC gaming clubs were for Russians in the 1990s: places where gaming culture took shape, where people spent hours, days, and weeks with their favorite games, and where lifelong friendships were formed. Today, just as in Russia, these spaces are fading into history as home consoles and online gaming take over. That said, Russia has recently seen news about new PC gaming clubs opening again. Maybe things are coming full circle?
The official reasons for the closure were falling revenue, the effects of the pandemic, and rising rent. The owners do not plan to sell the machines, however — all of the equipment will be moved to a new arcade opening in Tsuchiura, Ibaraki Prefecture.
The Nakano TRF YouTube channel will continue as well, and may document the new venue. So even if the physical space is gone, the culture and spirit of the community live on.
TRF's closure is the end of a major chapter in Japanese gaming history — and perhaps the prologue to the next one.