An underdocumented part of Japan's video game history: arcades had (and, to an extent, have!) communal notebooks in which people would write game tips, comments, ask questions, and generally communicate – GameFAQs before GameFAQs! These were core for Japan arcades' social aspect. 
Famously, The Tower of Druaga was a “community effort” based on sharing obtuse secrets – Western historians will often say people “shared secrets on the playground”, but I talked to some old-timers in person: in reality, these notebooks were at the heart of that communication!
If ya like obscure Japanese video game history, give me a follow! I tweet about it all the time – and even run a podcast about it! I also do Japanese localization and ROM hacking and hardware hacking, so if any of those are your thing, c'mon down! #soundcloud
I would very much like to scan and preserve some of these arcade notebooks – but it's a tall order. The '80s and '90s ones are likely languishing on the shelf of some ex-arcade owner, never to be read again…
I'll be trying to make some contacts that could help – wish me luck!
I'll be trying to make some contacts that could help – wish me luck!
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