Once the preserve of rowdy teenagers, game arcades in Japan are rapidly becoming the hippest place to hang out for a whole new generation -- their grandparents.
With plenty of time on their hands and cash in their pockets, well-behaved elderly customers make up a significant and growing number of those prepared to feed coins into machines for a few hours' entertainment.
The so-called "silver market" is increasingly important for industries in Japan, where a plunging birth rate and a long life expectancy is leaving society increasingly top-heavy.
And for the elderly themselves, arcades offer a chance to find fun and friendship away from the more traditional pursuits of old age. (AFP)
Once the preserve of rowdy teenagers, game arcades in Japan are rapidly becoming the hippest place to hang out for a whole new generation -- their grandparents.
With plenty of time on their hands and cash in their pockets, well-behaved elderly customers make up a significant and growing number of those prepared to feed coins into machines for a few hours' entertainment.
The so-called "silver market" is increasingly important for industries in Japan, where a plunging birth rate and a long life expectancy is leaving society increasingly top-heavy.
And for the elderly themselves, arcades offer a chance to find fun and friendship away from the more traditional pursuits of old age. (AFP)