NQ JPN opens in Soho, built on cabinets flown in from Japan
NQ64's new Berwick Street bar skips the usual retro mix for machines imported straight from Japanese arcades, backed by a sold-out testing night before it opened.
NQ JPN, a Japan-focused arcade bar from NQ64, opened on Berwick Street in Soho on Friday, built around cabinets imported directly from Japan rather than the Western classics that fill the chain's other venues. NQ64 Arcade Bars Ltd announced the project on 12 October, and Time Extension reported the venue was live by 23 October.
Import cabinets, not ports
Where NQ64's existing bars lean on Pac-Man, Street Fighter and other arcade staples familiar from Western cabinets, NQ JPN's machines come from Japan's own arcade circuit. Konami's rhythm games Museca and Jubeat sit alongside Dancerush Stardom and MaiMai, plus an Astro City cabinet believed to be running Samurai Shodown VI — hardware that rarely leaves Japan, let alone reaches a Soho basement.
Cabinets most of its customers have never touched, sourced for players who already know the culture.
NQ64 built its UK chain on nostalgia for games British drinkers grew up with. NQ JPN bets on the opposite: cabinets most of its customers have never touched, sourced for players who already know Japanese arcade culture or want a first look at it.
A sold-out test night
A pre-opening “Games Testing” evening sold out in under two hours, before the bar had confirmed an opening date. NQ JPN's promotion leans on “Japanese Inspired Cocktails” and “Electro Beats” alongside the games, continuing NQ64's format of pairing arcade play with a full bar rather than a coin-op room bolted onto a pub. Entry across NQ64's venues runs on a pre-paid token system, and NQ JPN keeps the chain's standard 18+ policy, with separate family-friendly windows on Sundays.
The opening follows NQ64's biggest venue yet, which opened at Orange Yard off Charing Cross Road on 11 September with more than 60 games. NQ JPN sits a few streets away but plays a narrower game: fewer machines, aimed at a smaller, more specific crowd. It joins a run of new Soho and Covent Garden openings this month, including Aldi's low-cost wine bar in Antwerp on the other end of the price scale entirely.
