Namba HIPS

I decided to pay a visit to the amazing Osaka monolith that I uncovered from the depths of Osaka a while back. It’s name… NamBa HIPS. Okay, so it’s huge, really obvious, and right in the heart of Namba…

Anyway… It’s basically a new building with a mini-game center and not-so-mini pachinko and slot entertainment center inside. The cool thing though, is that contraption running down the center of the building vertically.

There is a long amusement park ride seat for about 8 people across. The thing slowly goes up to the top of the building, giving you a great view of the city, before suddenly plummeting down to the bottom again as fast as gravity can pull it.

It’s quite the thrill…

The ride itself is called YABAFO. Which is a shortened form of やばい (yabai) which means, “yikes! or oh no! Literally it means “dangerous”, plus, the first part of “fall” in English, which in Katakana Japanese would be pronounce fooru. The Japanese site says…

ヤバフォとは！？
“ヤバいほど楽しいフリーフォール”

Which means, “What does Yabafo mean!?” “It’s a crazily (yabai) fun  freefall!”

I think I get props for translating “やばい” as “crazily” there. What do you think? I’m pretty proud of myself.
Afterwards we went to McDonalds to try out the new MEGA TOMATO. Gross.

The cell phone there has a movie of my friends face when she was on the ride.

There are cameras mounted inside of the Yabafo that record you as you fall. You can then purchase the videos after the ride is over, and they send them directly to your cellular phone. Pretty cool huh?

Mmm… Mega Tomato.

Ah, be sure to eat the Mega Tomato AFTER riding the free fall ride at NamBa HIPS. I cannot recommend doing it the other way around. I dunno. Maybe you’ll be alright, but hey. Just a warning.

- Harvey