This Sake Bar with a Throwing Star Range Sounds Totally Nuts
Credit: k-a-k-a-s-h-i
In what is either the best or worst idea ever, a Lexington, Kentucky entrepreneur plans to open Ninjas Throwing Star Range, a throwing star range replete with a fully stocked sake bar, in April of this year.
Owner Satou Watanabe was on holiday in Japan when we reached out for details, but he directed us to manager Timothy San Bernardino, who assures us that Ninjas is definitely not a gimmick.
"Think of it like your typical American bar where you can drink and throw darts," says San Bernardino. "This is the same."
Is it, though? Ninjas will have a setup similar to a bowling alley, with 17 lanes accommodating three star-throwers at a time. (Oh, and there are three lanes just for blow guns, which are apparently popular with senior citizens in Japan.) And like a bowling alley—where customers must rent lanes and shoes separately—Ninjas permits you to rent a lane for $12 an hour, and three shurikens, or throwing stars, for $6 per hour.
There will also be bottles of sake, which everyone wants when she’s throwing stars, ranging in price from affordable to baller. “Come in with a pocket full of quarters or a roll of hunnies,” San Bernardino suggests (that’s hundred dollar bills, y’all—the priciest bottle will top out at $2,000). Bourbon-sake cocktails are also in the works because, after all, Kentucky is bourbon country. Amazingly, no pesky paperwork is required. “You don’t have to sign a waiver to throw darts,” San Bernardino says.
Point taken!
When we asked about owner Watanabe’s background, San Bernardino stated simply, “he is a ninja.” He adds that Watanabe owns several dojos (martial arts schools) across the state of Kentucky and, many years ago, operated a now-defunct water park.
But the throwing range is completely safe, right? “We’re not really sure what to expect,” San Bernardino says. ”Hopefully no one gets hurt.”
via Ninjas Throwing Star Range
