From the baseball diamond to the chess board, from the cricket pitch to a Go grid: local communities often provide a place for people to play games and sports together. This week, notice which games and activities are most popular. Where are they played? Are these locations easily accessible? Is there a fee to play? What times of day are games played? If you are already familiar with these games, do you notice any local modifications that give the game a different look or feel? Take a picture of a public gaming space.
Ryan Hildebrandt ’17, Psychology & Japanese
An arcade near a school campus in Kyoto
Gaming spaces in Japan’s cities are quite varied. There are usually baseball and soccer fields flanking minor rivers, and several games like Go and Shogi are common in homes across Japan. But one of the more conspicuous gaming spaces belongs to the pachinko houses and arcade/casinos. These can be found nearly anywhere (there was one about 30 seconds walk from our campus in Kyoto), and usually are brightly lit with signs covered in anime-characters and flashing lights. The street pictured (in Akihabara in Tokyo) is an example of the kind of lights and buildings in which the larger pachinko houses and arcades are housed.
Adam Basciano ’16, International Relations
There are not too many open and public gaming spaces in Israel. A main reason for that is simply because there is just not enough land, let alone flat land. The housing market and the rapidly rising prices of buying a home is a testament to this, and it has been a major point of emphasis during the election season. Nonetheless, it is not uncommon to pass by a basketball court here in Jerusalem. Most courts are also used for soccer games as well with goals at each end. For the fun-seekers who are no longer part of the soccer or basketball circles, plenty of Israelis play backgammon (or sheshpesh in the local dialect) outside markets or coffee shops.
A basketball court in Jerusalem