introducing the Auto Shoeser

D1000018 (Small)
Originally uploaded by p1ckle.

I went bowling the other night - the second time in as many weeks, which is more times than i've been in about 10 years! Bowling's actually not too bad in Japan - it's really cheap, and everything is proper retro - except for the shoe system. Back in the UK, if you need some bowling shoes (assuming you don't have your own pair... but who does) you queue at the counter only to be met by a vacant looking school-leaver, who after ascertaining your size comes back with a pair of battered red-and-black monsters, and proceeds to dispense a liberal dose of lemon-scented corrosive spray inside each one. Over here, however, you place your ¥300 into the 'Auto Shoeser' and out come a pair of minty-fresh bowling trainers. Yup, trainers. They look a bit like retro Vans, and boy are they comfortable. There's one drawback for me however; being the gaijin monster that I am, there isn't a Shoeser in my size - i have to go to the counter and get the special 'monster sized' pairs. They still look good though. To top it all off, I managed a 160, which beats the crap out of all the other scores i've ever got...