Kenji shoved it into his pocket and ran toward Soshigaya Park.

This was the real lifestyle: not fancy vacations, but the ritual of summer. The cold metal of the shaved ice shaver. The mountain of white snow. The violent splash of red syrup. The brain freeze.

The photo captured a very specific kind of Japanese childhood: Kenji in his navy blue shorts and white short-sleeved shirt, a wide-brimmed yellow hat (the gakubōshi ) sitting perfectly on his head. In the background, the shōji screen doors were slid open, revealing a tiny garden where a half-dead morning glory plant clung to a bamboo pole.

But Kenji’s eyes locked onto the third machine. Pokémon: Sleeping Styles.

Click.

Click.