Retro Fun At Akihabara (Tokyo, Japan)

[ekianjo]

About a week ago, I met with fellow community member mmKALLL in Tokyo to do a tour of Akihabara in Tokyo with a couple of friends of mine. Here's a detailed report of what you can find there these days -



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[ibisum]

Nice report - had a great time when I was in Akihabra in the 90's, great to hear its still a wonderland adventure, no matter the big changes .. 

 

[Wrath Of Khan]

Good read. Makes me want to visit Akihabra.

 

[PokeParadox]

I've always wanted to visit Akihabara...Step one would be getting to Tokyo I guess...

Nice read!

 

[ekianjo]

- had a great time when I was in Akihabra in the 90's

Care to share more about your experience in the 90s ? I'd be delighted if you could share pictures from that time actually... I can only imagine what it must have been.  

 

[Hồng Thất Công]

I need to carry a big sag of cash with me when I get a chance to visit Akihabra. That Super Potato is super cool. I like gaming stores like that, not the Apple trash stores where everything is white and neat like a girl

 

[bloodfalco]

Man, what I would pay to go into a store like that nowadays. Back in my hometown, Jakarta, 90's game shop kind of like that.

 

[ibisum]

akianjo: don't have any photo's, alas.  I spent a majority of my time in the Softbank building, 3rd or 4th floor, where there used to be one of the biggest collections of second-hand/barely-used musical instruments and studio gear .. was always a blast to visit every week and see the rare synth's and other godly music gear that would pass through that tightly packed shop .. got a lot of stuff from there, actually, still collecting dust in the stuiod..

 

[ekianjo]

 I spent a majority of my time in the Softbank building, 3rd or 4th floor, where there used to be one of the biggest collections of second-hand/barely-used musical instruments and studio gear .. was always a blast to visit every week and see the rare synth's and other godly music gear that would pass through that tightly packed shop .

I was not aware of the existence of that one... do you know if they still have it there ? 

 

[ibisum]

akianjo: I'm not sure, the last time I was there was 1997.  It wouldn't surprise me if it is still there - it was quite a popular spot back in those days.  I'd love to know if you discover its still up and running - if I recall it was in the "Music Shop - Softbank", in the Softbank building on the main drag .. 3rd or 4th floor, and crammed with all kinds of music gear.  Let me know if you find it still open for business!

 

[ekianjo]

akianjo: I'm not sure, the last time I was there was 1997.  It wouldn't surprise me if it is still there - it was quite a popular spot back in those days.  I'd love to know if you discover its still up and running - if I recall it was in the "Music Shop - Softbank", in the Softbank building on the main drag .. 3rd or 4th floor, and crammed with all kinds of music gear.  Let me know if you find it still open for business!

I don't live in Tokyo but I'll ask my friends there

 

[ekianjo]

I spent a majority of my time in the Softbank building, 3rd or 4th floor

AHhhhh !:! you mean SoftMAP building, not Softbank !

Yeha it's still there apparently, on the 5F:

https://www.sofmap.com/tenpo/topics/exec/_/id=shop/-/sid=akb-maccl

 

[ibisum]

Ah, my bad - yes thats the one ekianjo!  I had a real blast in that store back in the mid-90's .. glad to see it still going strong.  Lots of nice vintage gear in there .. 

 

[fusion_power]

Wow, Why can't we have such nice things here in germany too. No Arcade-culture here, sadly, at least a retro-scene.

Impressive stuff they have there in Japan, still factory-new and packed NES Disc Systems? Wow, I'm sure most people here do not even know that Nintendo ever made these, not to mention the much better design of the original Famicom case, compared to the boring EU/US grey box (my opinion).

 

[ekianjo]

still factory-new and packed NES Disc Systems?

Yeah, sometimes they even have new consoles as well (rare, though), or used one in very, very good condition (no stains, no plastic yellowing, etc..). Plus there's tons of hardware that never got out of Japan. It's really interesting just to look around

 

[Hồng Thất Công]

Man, Japan is a haven for rare gaming stuff.  That's why you moved to Japan?  

 

[levi]

I managed to buy a boxed unopened 1990s console in the 2000s in the UK. Sadly it was only an Atari Jaguar.

 

[ekianjo]

Man, Japan is a haven for rare gaming stuff. That's why you moved to Japan?

Not really. Honestly, while I like a number of japanese games, I've always been more of a computer gamer and found that UK or American games were more interesting. Just my point of view.

But I still like consoles, exotic hardware, and J-RPGs (there are some good ones out there).

Anyway, moving to Japan when I did (basically when the Xbox360 came out) would never have been the best time for gaming in Japan. I wish I had known the Japan of the 90s for gaming. The current Japan is just a shadow of that past.

Sadly it was only an Atari Jaguar.

Sad to hear that