Sonic Brand Wet Wipes

(Originally published 2018 Apr 3)

Who’s this cheeky chappy peeking out of the Kitchen Pocket hole?

This is so Tokyo: a ¥100-shop “Kitchen Pocket” multipurpose storage receptacle, suction-cupped to the side of a Sengoku Taisen cabinet in the basement of Sega Yoyogi, containing what could never have been a very large number of moistened towelettes for patrons to clean their fingers with before/after using the touch screens.

The less grotty arcades in Tokyo often have little touches like fingerwipes and screencloths, plus power outlets, USB ports for charging, a basket for your belongings, etc. The shittier ones just have ashtrays.