Tips for Game Shopping in Japan?

[robbievgb]

Not sure if this would be the correct forum, but given that a majority of retro games in Japan fall into this era, I though this would be a good place to start. Feel free to move the post if you think it belongs somewhere else.

My wife and I are going to Japan in May for a couple weeks right after Golden week, and I'm wondering if anyone here has been before and could give me some shopping tips or store recommendations (other than the obvious Super Potato) that might be worth checking out. Any general travel tips are also welcome - but I'm mostly wanting info about retro game shopping.

A little idea of our itinerary:

We're staying in Shunjuku near Golden Gai for the first leg of our trip, followed up by a few days in Osaka near Dotonbori, from which we will venture out to Kyoto and Hiroshima. Then finally for the last few days we will head back to Tokyo (again in the Shinjuku area) for a few days before we leave. Game hunting will be a thing I want to do, but it's not THE sole reason I'm going, so anything close to those areas already would be preferable.

I've already watched Adam Koralik's YT playlist on his experiences Game hunting in Japan and made copious notes, so that just about covers my knowledge about game hunting in Japan and what I've taken note of already.

Any tips/advice are greatly appreciated!

[spacecadet]

I've been game shopping there since 2000, but last time I literally just went through the list of shops here in this blog post: http://www.chriskohler.biz/retro-game-shops-japan/

 

I wanted to try to have an actual plan this time, so I read his recommendations. Hands down the best one on that list is Surugaya. It had just opened when that blog post was written, but it had obviously established itself by the time I went because it was just *packed* with stuff. And I mean *multiples* of even uncommon consoles and games. I was able to take my pick among four CIB Sega Mark III's, for example. I ended up picking the worst one they had, because it was still better than most you'd find on Ebay and it was a lot cheaper.

 

I also always make a point of visiting all the Trader stores on Chuo-dori even before I had read it there. I have bought many things from there over the years. Last trip, among other things I bought a PSP lucky pack, which was 25 CIB games for I think ¥1,980. And they were good games. Some of them were extremely Japanese to the point that I can't play them, but they're big name titles. They always have lucky packs like that for various systems.

 

Mandarake is a really cool store with a HUGE selection of boxed Famicom/SFC games and an equally impressive number of boxed rare systems, but they are quite expensive. Still, they might be the only place that has something you really want.

 

And, while I did buy Radiant Silvergun for the Saturn at the Akihabara Super Potato, I actually think the branch in Ikebukuro is better. That's where I got my Bandai Intellivision, and they seem to get less picked over than the Akihabara store so really uncommon stuff like that, they seem to have more of.

 

Like the blog post says, also make sure to visit some Book*Offs and Hard*Offs if you're looking for anything relatively recent. I always end up buying *something* there. Last trip I bought my PSP and a bunch of their ¥250 PSP games.

 

If you buy any hardware, make sure to look carefully at the tag to see if any problems are listed. Especially look for the word "junk" ("ジャンク") in Japanese. This means an item is either not tested and sold as is, is tested and broken, or otherwise is being sold basically for parts. But sometimes you can get good deals on "junk" if you know a little bit about the system. A lot of stuff is marked that way because the store just didn't want to bother with it, or maybe didn't know or didn't have the equipment to make it work. If an item's not marked as junk but has a sentence or two of Japanese writing on the tag, try to see if anyone in the store will attempt to explain the problem in English. They write down every little thing so it could be something inconsequential like the warranty card missing from a boxed system, or a small scratch on a cartridge.

 

That's about all I can think of offhand. I've got a decent amount of experience shopping there at this point so I'm happy to try to answer any other questions you've got.

[+eebuckeye]

I'll be heading to Japan for my first time in October and this is great information. Thank you!

[robbievgb]

I'll be heading to Japan for my first time in October and this is great information. Thank you!

Agreed! I'm going to have to go over that blog post and make some more notes.

 

It's also good to know what stores have better prices, I've heard that super potato, especially the one in Akihabara is usually on the high end because they get a lot of tourist traffic.

 

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[spacecadet]

It's also good to know what stores have better prices, I've heard that super potato, especially the one in Akihabara is usually on the high end because they get a lot of tourist traffic.

 

They definitely are, but like Mandarake they also might be the one store that has something really specific. I'd been looking for Radiant Silvergun literally every time I'd gone to Japan for the last 17 years. I know you can just buy it on Ebay but I didn't want to pay $200. I actually *don't* generally go to Super Potato exactly for the reason you say - I never found anything on my first go way back when (well, except a CIB Atari 2800 that I took a picture of but stupidly didn't buy), then assumed afterwards that it's basically a literal tourist trap, and somewhere nobody who's "in the know" would actually go.

 

But I went there on my last trip and they had like ten freakin' copies of Radiant Silvergun. Nobody else had it. And I'm serious that they had like ten! (I didn't actually count, but they showed me two handfuls of them!) They ranged in price from ¥9,800 to ¥16,800, depending on how complete they were. I ended up buying the ¥16,800 one, because I just figured hell, I'd been looking that long, it was fully complete and in mint condition, and it was still a fair bit less than you'd find a similar one for on Ebay.

 

But the point is I actually had a *choice*!

 

So, I definitely like Surugaya better, and I don't think Super Potato's the place to go if you're just looking for random Japanese stuff. But if there's something really rare and specific that you want, it's definitely worth a visit to ask if they have it.

Edited March 12, 2018 by spacecadet

[MotoRacer]

I can't help much in this topic, but wanted to wish you a happy trip. It's a beautiful country. I know the gaming aspects are too difficult to ignore, but really soak in the country's culture and heritage as much as you can while you're there. I was an exchange student there a long, long time ago and it's still one of the best most memorable experience I've ever had in my life.

[Metal Ghost]

Wow.... This topic couldn't have been started at a better time for me. I'm hoping to be visiting Japan this year at some point (fingers crossed). I too watched Adam Koralik's YT videos.... I'm pretty sure that I'll be staying in Tokyo though, so that blog from Chris Kohler is a GREAT resource. Thanks everyone.... I definitely bookmarked this thread!

 

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[+frankodragon]

I heard about resale stores called Hard Off in Japan. Yeah, it sounds almost dirty but I heard they sell older video games. Just beware the cartridges that are full of gunk and hair.

 

 

[Zonie]

Make sure you do this!

[Eltigro]

I haven't been there, either, but heard Super Potato was over rated. /shrug

 

From what I've seen, the Hard Off (and some of the other "Off" stores) are gold mines... especially the "broken" bins. Most of which isn't really broken, it's just dirty or missing a cord or something. Also, try to find some of the out of the way and possibly less shopped stores as they might not be as picked over and you could find some rarer stuff.

[S1500]

I'll be in Osaka next week doing retro game hunting. I might take home a specific model of MSX(the real nice Sony one) or a Bandai Super Cassette Vision, but not holding my breath. All of anything used seems to just skyrocket in value. It's not just Super Potato with the super high prices. It's anywhere it seems.

[spacecadet]

I'll be in Osaka next week doing retro game hunting. I might take home a specific model of MSX(the real nice Sony one) or a Bandai Super Cassette Vision, but not holding my breath. All of anything used seems to just skyrocket in value. It's not just Super Potato with the super high prices. It's anywhere it seems.

 

Some places are cheaper than others, and it also depends a lot on what's popular/common *in Japan*. That doesn't always seem obvious to us. A specific model of MSX (or the Atari 2800 I mentioned before), for example, is probably not all that common in Japan even though it's the only territory it was released in. It might still be relatively rare, and therefore hard to find and unpredictably priced if you do find it.

 

But stuff that's pretty common in Japan is still usually pretty cheap. Sega Mark III's are cheaper than Sega Master Systems, for one example. NEC PC-FX's are worth practically nothing. Bandai Wonderswans, a lot of Neo Geo stuff, and basically any Nintendo hardware is super-cheap compared to the US.

 

I used to not have a very good handle on what actually sold well initially in Japan, which I think is common to a lot of westerners. So in my head I had this unconscious feeling that I'd be able to find anything pretty easily, as long as it had been released there; ie. an Atari 2800 would be as easy to find as a Nintendo Famicom. But they've had their winners and losers in the hardware wars just as we have, and the thing it took me the longest to figure out is that even *Japanese* systems might be less common there than they are here, because they just weren't popular. (Like the SMS or even MegaDrive.) OTOH, some stuff that most people here have never heard of is dirt common there, and cheap.

 

So it all just depends.

[robbievgb]

I'll be in Osaka next week doing retro game hunting. I might take home a specific model of MSX(the real nice Sony one) or a Bandai Super Cassette Vision, but not holding my breath. All of anything used seems to just skyrocket in value. It's not just Super Potato with the super high prices. It's anywhere it seems.

Please let me know what you think of Osaka and if there are any must-see stores vs ones that might be a waste of time. We are spending half the trip in Osaka.

 

Also look for good bars, but that's a different topic altogether

 

I'm not setting many expectations in terms of hardware or "rare" stuff to find. There are a a lot of things that if I can find, I will pick up as a momento/souvenir (like at least one N64 pachinko game). But I don't want to set myself up for disappointment.

 

 

 

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[robbievgb]

I can't help much in this topic, but wanted to wish you a happy trip. It's a beautiful country. I know the gaming aspects are too difficult to ignore, but really soak in the country's culture and heritage as much as you can while you're there. I was an exchange student there a long, long time ago and it's still one of the best most memorable experience I've ever had in my life.

Certainly! Retro game shopping is something I do whenever we visit somewhere new, it will obviously be a bigger part of this trip, but I'm also looking forward to the sights and the culture most of all. Thanks for your well wishes! I hope this is only the start of many visits.

 

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[S1500]

Welp, I did a tour of retro gaming/secondhand stores in Osaka, Nagoya and Kyoto.

 

WOW are the prices into the stratosphere. Today's adventure in Kyoto got me a Wii for 21 bucks(for chrisbd), but they wanted over 400 for a Sega Mk3. They had a Bandai Cassette Vision(boxed) for 100 bucks,but couldn't justify the purchase. Probably wouldn't fit in the luggage anyway. The other oneI saw for sale was 160, and a Super Cassette Vision for over 200.

 

Just about anything pre-Famicom is priced sky-high.

 

But, I tried.

 

Also, vintage giant robo toys from the late 70s to the early 80s are priced crazy stupid high. Their toy stores end up being just museums.

[robbievgb]

Welp, I did a tour of retro gaming/secondhand stores in Osaka, Nagoya and Kyoto.

 

WOW are the prices into the stratosphere. Today's adventure in Kyoto got me a Wii for 21 bucks(for chrisbd), but they wanted over 400 for a Sega Mk3. They had a Bandai Cassette Vision(boxed) for 100 bucks,but couldn't justify the purchase. Probably wouldn't fit in the luggage anyway. The other oneI saw for sale was 160, and a Super Cassette Vision for over 200.

 

Just about anything pre-Famicom is priced sky-high.

 

But, I tried.

 

Also, vintage giant robo toys from the late 70s to the early 80s are priced crazy stupid high. Their toy stores end up being just museums.

This is great info, luckily I wasn't looking for too much pre-famicom or many consoles (also for luggage reasons) unless the price is right or it's a once in a lifetime thing. I do have a good budget set aside though. Thanks for the feedback!

 

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[MotoRacer]

Looks like we might be going to Tokyo within a year. You'll have to let us know if you find anything cool we should seek out while we're there.

[S1500]

Some random pics,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Metal Ghost]

Well, it's finally official: I'm heading to Japan! It's really more of a relatively short stopover from a business trip to China. However, I do have some business in Tokyo, and coupled with the fact that we're arriving on the weekend mid-afternoon on Saturday), and it adds up to a solid 2 1/2 days. And Sunday all to myself!!

 

So I'm hoping that the blog post from Chris Kohler and Spacecadet referenced (BTW.... thanks again!) is still pretty accurate. My hotel is only a 30 minute walk or 15 minutes by train to Akihabara, so I think that's definitely where I'm going to spend most of my time.

 

That having been said, if anyone has any inside lines for solid game shopping in Tokyo beyond what's already been mentioned, please chime back in! I'm not looking for anything specific or even necessarily very retro, really.

 

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[Metal Ghost]

Also, if anyone has any ideas for solid Japanese games to try for within some specific criteria, please lend me hand on this thread: http://atariage.com/forums/topic/215905-import-from-japanwhat-to-try-for/?fromsearch=1

 

Since my original post, I did open it up to some platforms we now have in the house that we didn't at the time. So now beyond N64 and GCN, I'd also consider Wii(U), 3DS and Vita, within the confines I talked about (i.e. language friendly, etc).

 

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[darthkur]

What I'd like to know is how difficult it is to find retro computer systems there such as: FM-7, Sord M5, Sharp X-1, MZ series, X68000, NEC PC-8001/9001, etc and how affordable are they?

[Eltigro]

I remembered something else, too. The YouTuber guy Adam Koralik (spelling?) goes shopping in Japan relatively often and he mentioned something about getting a tax break for essentially being a foreigner. He said there's a sign in the window in some shops and if you spend over a certain amount and ask them for it, they take off the tax or something. Sorry, I don't remember the details, but maybe you save some money that way.

 

Yeah... found this.

 

https://tax-freeshop.jnto.go.jp/eng/shopping-guide.php

Edited September 4, 2018 by Eltigro

[+frankodragon]

In that pics above with the Epoch and Atari 2800, the Atari is about $400 and the Epoch around $97. Japan also loves their trains including their N scale models so don't be surprised at resale shops if you see them in glass cases. There's also a "naughty" section of stuff sometimes near the restrooms. I don't know if that was done intentionally.

[S1500]

What I'd like to know is how difficult it is to find retro computer systems there such as: FM-7, Sord M5, Sharp X-1, MZ series, X68000, NEC PC-8001/9001, etc and how affordable are they?

 

There's a retro computer store in Tokyo I forgot to visit called BEEP that might have a lead.

 

But a few retro gaming shops I did hit up have MSX systems for sale. Sadly, my dream MSX(that black one with tons of controls on the keyboard) was not available. I think they average 70 bucks for a regular MSX.

 

 

On an unrelated note, all the retro gaming bars in Osaka have been shut down, only a few months after I visited them. Why? Copyright laws.

Edited September 7, 2018 by S1500