1 source 57m ago
Taito Restores Crown 603 Crane Game For AMUSEMENT EXPO 2026
Taito has restored a Crown 603, the successor to its 1965 Crown 602 crane game, and will exhibit it at its AMUSEMENT EXPO 2026 booth.
Reporting from 1 source: Inside.
Why it matters
The Crown 603 is the surviving hardware of the line that replaced imported crane games in Japan, and Taito is now treating a coin-op cabinet as a preserved cultural asset rather than scrap.
Key Facts
- Taito developed the Crown 602, Japan's first domestically produced crane game, in 1965, and the Crown 603 followed in 1966.
- The Crown 603 was discovered through 4,400 pieces of information and had been sitting unused in a warehouse.
- TAITO TECH rebuilt aged wiring and power distribution circuits and repaired and repainted the cabinet and decorations.
- The restored Crown 603 will be exhibited at Taito's booth at AMUSEMENT EXPO 2026.
- Taito says the Crown 603 will be preserved as a cultural asset.
The machine was found through 4,400 pieces of information and had been sitting unused in a warehouse. TAITO TECH rebuilt aged wiring and power circuits and repaired the cabinet. Taito says the machine will be kept as a cultural asset.
The search began with a public relations employee who had only seen the Crown 602 in photographs and wanted to see the real machine. The Crown 602 itself has not been found. Its direct successor, the Crown 603, turned up through 4,400 pieces of information, privately owned and covered in dust in a warehouse.
TAITO TECH, Taito's technical service division, found no major failures in the internal structure. Engineers rebuilt aged wiring and power distribution circuits and repaired and repainted scratches on the cabinet and decorations. The work was done by trial and error because the machine's structure differs from current crane games, and Taito says the knowledge gained will be passed on for other repair cases.
Written with AI by Yomimono from the 1 cited source below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited. See our editorial policy.
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