Specious Invaders
![Specious Invaders](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/500beccfe4b016a023c2f314/1583355363689-6SPMHQXFNFUOJGKI0O2Y/20200304+-+Arcade+Exterior..Space+Invaders+-+Space+Invaders+logo+on+Japanese+games+arcade+sign+-+Taito+-+1978..2018+-+Taito+Station+Akihabara+-+Akihabara+-+Resized.jpeg)
In the 1970s there were 10 of these buildings in a row. In an earthquake in which no one was harmed or inconvenienced, they all began to collapse in unison, at a steady tempo, by one storey at a time.
To reduce and contain the damage, the army rocketed them to smithereens one by one with a single tank tracking up and down the road under the famously robust tree canopies of the Akihabara boulevard.
That was the inspiration for the worldfamous videogame “Pac-Man”.
This last building still stands as a memorial and you can actually go inside!
Photographer and writer covering Tokyo arcade life – the videogames, the metropolis and the people