Akihabara photographs, assorted, June 2000 – January 2001

Collection

Identifier: WILLIAMSON.04

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Scope and Contents

From the Collection:

This collection includes roughly 700 digital photographs taken by game journalist Colin Williamson in Japan from 1999–2005. The subjects include include trade shows, interviews with developers, and general photographs from game stores and arcades around Japan. Many of the early digital photographs in this collection were taken at low resolution; their appearance in our digital archive reflects their original resolution and quality.

From the Collection:

Additionally, this collection includes a set of film photographs that Williamson took during a press visit in 1997.

Dates

Creation: June 2000 – January 2001

Historical Note

DSC01468.JPG depicts the Sega Hi-Tech Land Akihabara arcade, as taken on November 2, 2000. Weeks later, this location was refurbished as Club Sega (DSC01667.JPG, taken November 22, 2000; and Dsc01671.jpg, taken December 23, 2000).

The basketball court in DSC01465.JPG was torn down shortly after this photo was taken (November 2, 2000). According to Williamson, an unnamed employee at 2K Sports wanted to include this as a bonus court in NBA 2K2 (released October 2001), but it was torn down before it could be added.

Full Extent

38 Digital Photographs

Language of Materials

Japanese

Additional Description

Abstract

Colin Williamson took these photographs of Akihabara neighborhood of Tokyo throughout 2000 and early 2001. The photos primarily show the streets of Akihabara, as well as arcades, game stores, and the exteriors of office buildings.