spocha

Turns out there is another amazing thing Japan has that we need in the USA:  Spocha!  It’s like every sport and game you ever thought of in one huuuuuuuge building for one flat fee.  Todd has been wanting to go ever since Katie told him about it over a year ago, so the kids took me there for Mother’s Day evening.

It was still raining on the way, though not as hard thankfully.  We met one of Katie’s friends there also.  As is frequently the case here, the walk there was interesting, winding through little alleys of cafes and a small temple with incense burning.

There are Spocha places throughout the city.  This place was called Round One and took up several of the floors in the 11 story building in Namba.  Like karaoke, you pay for how long you will stay and then it’s a free for all!

As soon as you enter, you can see game after game throughout the huge floors!  We went straight for the archery area.  I’ve never shot a bow and arrow, so it was really fun and difficult!  Todd is pretty athletic and hit the target starting on the second try.  There are diagrams of how to hold the bow and arrow.  It’s electronic, like dart boards we have in the US.  No risk of real injury and easy to retrieve the arrows–especially mine that were mostly lying on the floor 🙂 

It wasn’t very crowded when we were there–maybe more a thing for Father’s Day haha!  They have like stopwatch timers hanging beside each area with time limits noted, usually 10 minutes which is more than enough.  Fortunately for us, Katie’s friend knows quite a bit of Japanese so she was able to activate the golf machine.  Todd was hitting the ball pretty well for a guy who rarely golfs!

The kickboxing bag was pretty hysterical!  We each took turns putting on the gnarly gloves and kicking and punching the numbers on the bag that registered your points.  Definitely a good way to take out your aggression!

This area was sort of like a trampoline, but way harder to jump on and slippery so we had a fun aerobic workout and broke out a sweat!  Three Japanese girls joined in.  They asked if we could take a video of them jumping with us, so soon I was taping the 7 kids laughing and jumping!  Katie said that happens a lot, where the Japanese kids want the Americans to be in their photos and videos. 

This carnival-like basketball thing was really cool!  There were 9 hoops and the entire mechanism kept moving and shifting.  You had to try to get one ball in each hoop which was registered on a display.  If you got a second ball in the same hoop, it was deducted and you had to hit it again.

One of funniest things was this crazy “soccer” area.  You sort of climb into these huge balls, which attach to your back on the inside like a backpack.  Then you try to score against you opponent, or knock them over, whichever seems best haha!

Todd and Priscila are really good at rollerblading and were spinning around the rink while other people were hugging the wall.  The rest of us sat out for that and Katie and her friend went to the “Relaxation Area” which had massage chairs that Katie said were amazing.  They have thought of everything at Spocha!  

We took a sports break and went to the arcade floor which is entirely covered with every arcade game you can think of!  Todd noted how cool the entire place was because you just go around as you please with no one telling you what to do.  The arcade area could easily accommodate a hundred people, but there only were few people there.  Every single machine was whirring and chiming and ringing and clanging–you can imagine how loud it was! 

There were the stationary racing games and blow things up games, as well as the active games.  I had never seen this scooter racing game. 

The girls took turns on this aerobically challenging dancing game.  Out front of the entrance to Round One, they have this same game and there are always people dancing with a crowd gathered outside rooting them on!  It was obvious people practice and prepare to star for the audience!

We played badminton and soccer, ping pong and target shooting.  One ping pong table required solo players to hit certain areas to score points.  On the roof of the building were batting cages, where you can choose from various pitching speeds, and Todd and Priscila both enjoyed hitting some balls.  And, it had stopped raining!

The funniest thing was bull riding!  Once you were on, you depress a button on the handle and as soon as you release it the “bull” stops.  It really bucks and swings you around, quickly changing directions without warning!

Todd said it was worth it for the fall and the crash was spongy and soft–yikes! 

I’m telling you they had everything!  There was as much we didn’t get to as what we did!  There was volleyball, soccer, baseball catching, pool, bowling, basketball, tennis.  They even had karaoke, so when you’re too tired from sports you can have musical fun 24 hours a day!  We went for 3-hours, but could easily have done 5–in fact, I think Todd is planning a second trip 🙂

Photo:  Round One Spocha in Namba, Osaka