Navigating The Collector’s Dream

Japan, the home of manga and anime as well as many other things. While in the past people didn’t pay much attention to it, now it's become an almost mystical place. People are constantly going there in hopes of exploring the place to see the many beauties it has. However, what people are usually going there for is to visit the many shops available so that they can buy stuff that’s hard to get back where they’re from. And let me warn you now: if your goal is to buy stuff and you haven’t saved up a lot of money, then you should turn back now. Because once you step into this place, your money is as good as gone.

Due to various reasons the Japanese yen is at an all time low. This means that the exchange rate is very good for foreigners. For instance, every one yen equals about 0.0064 usd. To put this into perspective something that costs about 5,000 yen would instead cost $31.82. This however poses a bit of a problem. Why you ask? Well I mean, think about it. Whenever you find an item on sale, aren’t you always more willing to buy it? With the conversion rate every item is basically on sale, making it so you’re likely to buy up lots of things and in turn lose a lot of money. So to help you make sure you get everything you want before that happens, let me give you a few of my recommendations that you can find in Japan’s electric city Akihabara.

Radio Kaikan

One of the biggest places is Radio Kaikan, one of the city’s most iconic places. This is a multi story shopping mall that has all kinds of shops inside of it. Here you’re likely to find tons of things inside of it from many different series. This can range from trading cards (though keep in mind they’re in japanese), to figures, to books, to model kits and even airsoft guns. Honestly you could go here and likely find almost everything you’re looking for.

Mandrake store

If you somehow don’t find everything here though, then you can take a short walk over to the Mandrake store. This is a place similar to Radio Kaikan, however it focuses more on toys so you likely won’t find as many books here. The trade off though is that as a result they also have more older stuff available to them. So for tokusatsu fans who are looking for old mechas and changers, this place would be perfect for you. It also has more miscellaneous stuff in stock making it so you’re likely to find stuff that you never thought you’d find at all.

Second hand shops

And if even Mandrake doesn’t have what you’re looking for, then you should take a look at some of the second hand shops available throughout the city. While you’ll be less likely to find things that aren’t pre owned, the condition that the items are in on is actually very good and almost indistinguishable from being in mint condition. They’ll also allow you to see how the product looks beforehand so you won’t have to worry about being scammed if you don’t like how it looks. 

Hobby Off

One place I highly recommend is Hobby Off, a place that offers not only old toys, but also instruments and even games.

So if you ever come to Japan in hopes of collecting more things, then you should go to these three places first as there’s so many shops you’ll likely blow all of your money before finding what you actually want. And if you don’t find what you want, there are still plenty of shops in Akihabara and Japan in general. For example, if you’re someone looking to collect manga then bookstores like Melonbooks are perfect for you. One more piece of advice I’ll give is to take your passport with you when you go shopping. While this might seem dangerous, Japan actually has tax-free stores which will waive the tax should you give them your passport as long as the purchase is at least 5,000 yen. So prepare yourself before going on this journey as if you’re not careful this heavenly trip can quickly turn into financial hell.

 

 

 

Logan Floyd-Mcgee | Writer
POP-COOLEDTURED SPECIALIST
cooledtured.com |  GROW YOUR COLLECTION