TOKYO — Evenings are normally the busiest time at Mikado, a retro gaming arcade in Tokyo, but these days the shutters come down early, leaving “Street Fighter” fans out in the cold.
Bright, noisy arcades are still a neighborhood fixture in Japan, but they have been disappearing as business is hit by virus-curtailed opening hours.
“This is when the place usually starts to fill up,” laments Yasushi Fukamachi, a manager at Mikado, whose 250 vintage machines attract nocturnal students and office workers who have just clocked off.
It is approaching 8pm and a few dozen gamers wearing face masks are fighting it out on joystick classics, eking out their final minutes of …
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