For Japan's department stores, the game is nearly over

Using Google Earth you can get a birds-eye view of the rooftop of the Matsuya department store in the Asakusa district of Tokyo, a block-long art deco building built in 1931 that also serves as the Tobu Railway's Asakusa terminus.

Today, the rooftop is a clutter of air conditioning ducts and vents. No trace remains of the carousel, Ferris wheel, cable gondola and other rides that made Matsuya Sportsland the best-known of hundreds of mini-amusement parks on department store rooftops across Japan from the 1930s until the 1980s.