My Japanese trip haul - aka The Great Rising Sun Export

ondafly

Hopefully no one minds me doing a full thread for his

I'm just back from my special holiday aka my honeymoon ! we had chosen to head back to Japan (having gotten engaged there) and visit Osaka, Okinawa and Tokyo (again). I took this opportunity, like I'm sure many of you on this board would, to obtain a few retro bits and bobs.

so when we arrived in Osaka, I decided to seek out the infamous DenDenTown. Its basically a long street, with electronic stores, anime stores, computer shops, robotics stores etc, all along it, mixed in with Japanese fast food places (think CoCo Curry house <-- my new favorite cuisine ).

I had read about the SuperPotato shop chain having a large number of shops in Osaka, however alot of them either dealt with CardCollecting (Pokemon, MagicTheGathering type of thing) or current generation games. There are however retro SuperPotato stores, and I was advised the main retro one was along Nipponbashi street (DenDen town)

so in I wandered, and the first thing that struck me was that the prices had gone up since I was last in Japan (3 years ago). An unboxed Neo Geo AES was now €150, original Famicoms were €40 etc. Having said that, Sega Dreamcast was €30, Sega Saturn was €40 etc

They also had 7 or 8 boxed Virtual Boys all lined up under a table selling for €150. Sadly I couldn't take any photos in the shop, as they really don't want you taking them.

Anyway, because I had a number of flights still left to do, and was also concerned about bag weights etc, I had thought I wouldn't purchase anything in Osaka....famous last words though.

Complete knee jerk purchase, was a boxed Wonderswan and unboxed Wonderswan color. I grabbed 3 games for them, really struggling to find anything decent or something I recognized, plus alot of them were RPG style games, which my Japanese reading skills not being the best !



so I said to myself thats that, no more, until I wandered past a stack of AES games, all boxed. Now everyone knows this are big buggers, and when I saw this one for 500Yen - I just had to have it.



I went to pay for the games, and deceided to ask in my worst Japanese if they had a copy of Bubble Bobble for the famicom. Bubble Bobble is the main game I always try to buy for whatever system I purchase. The guy explained it was only available on the famicom disk system, no cartridge. I didn't own the famicom disk system either, and they were selling them for €40. I threw caution to the wind, and grabbed just the game.



I think from the picture you can just about make out, the game says Bub on it ? thats the sort of problem you have going through these game stores, most of the games are in Kanji, with the only the side of the cartridge visible and what we call Castlevania, is not what they call it :pac:

So that was my first SuperPotato visit, and I was buzzing after it. We walked out of the shop and literally 3 or 4 doors down was another retro shop. At the front of it was 9 14" CRT tvs stacked in a square, with each of them showing a retro game playing. In I wandered :cool:

Straight away my eye was drawn to a red Sharp Family Twin. I knew it had the ability for AV out, which the original famicom doesn't have, I had to have it - stuff it if I couldn't fit it into my case ! I'll carry it on the plane

It cost me 8000YEN (€75)


and I couldn't leave without buying a game, so I grabbed a classic for 400Yen




That evening we went out for a meal and a few beers (I've another thread on the Japan forum about the places we ate) and decided to give the local Taito City arcade a go. Again only managed 1 sneeky photo of Darius. What a game, christ the sound out of the thing is amazing. Really loved playing this game.




I then sat down for some SSFIVAE, and had some fantastic matches against local lads. I'm really way off the skills required though, only managed to go win 2 or 3 rounds, in 6 round games.

I stayed well away from any retro shopping in Okinawa ! or any arcades for that matter, however the hotel we stayed in actually had a decent enough arcade on the second floor !



Okinawa is fantastic, and is the most chilled place I have ever been. I met up with a lad off a car forum, and had a good chat with him, and he explained the speed cameras etc. Under a tonne, you won't be done (KMPH). Basically the top speed limit is 80KM, and the majority is either 40KM or 50KM. Bikers and drift cars are everywhere, and from around 11pm at night, the bikers storm around the roads with the cops trying to catch them, and the drift cars all head up to Hedo mountain for some spirited driving. I would love to live on Okinawa !

Anyway after Okinawa, we headed to Tokyo - and this was where I was going to cause some cash walled damage ! Straight off called into Traders, and nothing really caught my eye. Popped into SuperPotato and immediately smiled as I saw a Sharp Famicom Twin for 9800Yen. Again prices were much the same as Osaka, although much larger supply for everything. Some highlights for me, were the Sharp PC ? kind of looked like 2 PS2s standing beside each other (Lukemorse1 featured it recently in his SuperPototo youtube video), and tonnes of MSX games, and a Vectrix. Obviously all the usuals were there also, but I was stunned to see a Sega Nomad for 50000YEN !unboxed !

I knew I'd have an opportunity to call back, so I decided to visit the other Retro store I knew of on the main street of Akihabara. I've no idea of the name of the place, but they use Nyan Cat in their logo. Anyway over the next 3 days, I kind of lost my marbles between these two stores

Some Famicom games


Gameboy Light with some games


PC-Engine CoreGrafxII (really only dipping my toe into the PC-Engine world)


and some games to go with it (stupidly bought Bomberman93 twice!) Raiden in there too,thought of Andy buying that


You always get these flyers when shopping in retro shops too





so at that point, I was chuffed with my purchases, slightly concerned over my baggage allowance, but confident enough I'd be ok.

ondafly

It was then time to indulge my other side - Retro was complete, now it was time for Arcade !

I'd heard about 2 main PCB sellers in Akihabara, MAK and G-Front. The general vibe on the web, was that MAK were more expensive, but nice to deal wtih and allow testing of the PCBs, whereas G-Front were less nice to deal with, and didn't allow testing.

Anyway, I followed a few youtube directional videos on how to get to both stores, and found myself in MAK with a PDF (with some Kanji translations for games). I honestly only went initially to buy a single player control panel for the New Astro City which comes fully populated with buttons and sticks from Sanwa, but after viewing the website and checking the prices, I though I'd be able to squeeze in a PCB into the case.

I ended up buying Ketsui full kit, and EspgaludaII with documents but no box, and a single player control panel. Chuffed to bits, and found the guy in MAK to be a complete gent, allowing me to wander around the shop, testing PCBs etc. It was a bit of a pain in the arse however dragging the CP box home that evening on the train. When I arrived back at the hotel, I couldn't resist opening the CP box, and to my horror lol, it was a 2 player control panel 6 button, all sanwa. Doh ! the guy had diddled himself out of money also, as the 2 player panel costs a good bit more plus I already have a 2 player 6 button setup at home, so I knew I'd have to a return to MAK, and try in my worst Japanese to exchange it for 1 more PCB and thats how I ended up with IBARA

Cave PCBs aren't really much to photo, however heres a few snaps




a perspective shot to show the size of these PCBs


and for the craic, I grabbed 2 clear sanwa ball tops


I did manage to visit G-Front also, but the manner of the guy from the minute I walked in, was not the best. They had tonnes of Atomiswave games, Taito games, and tonnes of MVS games. Probably loads more stuff however I didn't like the vibe at all ! plus I'd already spent a shed load.

Anyway for my last bit, I wanted to pickup my Anime Dollies so grabbed some random cat maid and Yoko from Gurren Lagann, and a nice little G-shock watch in red



That was in Softmap, and I thought I'd completed my mission, until I spotted some second hand Cave 360 games, 25 euro each



finally I grabbed this for the laugh, it was a origami style anime character you make yourself



So I obviously had to grab a slightly larger carry-on case, and where better to get a case than Tokyo. Got a great little one, that was ok by the carry on size restrictions, and enabled me to carry the PCBs onboard. I did crap myself a little bit going through the scanners in Narita though, worried the customs guys would grab me due to the PCBs all having that, do not export outside of Japan warning when you turn them on but lo and be-hold it was only when I got to my connecting flight in Germany, did I get any hassle, and all the stuff was swab tested and I crapped myself there, having seen those Aussie customs shows on
living TV, I had no idea where that PC-Engine had lived, nor if someone had snorted something off it Luckily all was well ! and I completely jet-lagged now and too tired to play anything

Anyway, apologies for the long thread, but thanks for reading !

Pyongyang

This thread belongs on the top shelf of a newsagents.

SMUTTY OR WHAT!?

Oh and congrats on the Cave PCB's! My instincts were more or less right!

Andrew76

Lovely lovely stuff ondafly. Particularly envious of one of those PCBs. :P
Great haul man.

Steve X2

Very very nice haul dude.

.

CiDeRmAn

Congrats on the outstanding haul.
Nice one.

I reckon, in time, instead of 50/60 year old Irish men heading to Thailand to get their jollies, it'll be us heading to Japan to buy up their Pc Engines and PCBs!

Retr0gamer

I'll get there.... Someday

Oh and congrats on getting hitched!

Pyongyang

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Oh and congrats on getting hitched!

How rude of the rest of us to ignore the best part and reason (well, we'd like the wife to believe that! ) for your trip!

Congratulations, welcome to the Electronicallytaggedmylifeisover Club! Soon you will learn the true ways of married life, those being:

• Nod and say "yes" to everything.
• Never complain.
• Yes, buying yourself shoes is more important than putting food on the table.
• Coronation Street on the PVR always takes priority over Champions League matches.
• Never assume she's paying.

and of course the crucial one:

• Yes that dress is amazing, your bum doesn't look big in it.

In the words of Blazing Star:

CONGRATURATION! YOUR SKILL IS GREAT!

Steve X2

Retr0gamer wrote: »

I'll get there.... Someday

Oh and congrats on getting hitched!

Haha, Yeah.
Forgot to say that myself

Go on, admit it. You only got married so you could go on honeymoon to Japan


.

ondafly

thanks folks ! I just did a quick test of the 3 PCBs and all are still working ! gonna need to rotate that sucker though. I made sure to bring back a good few 100yen coins too for the cabinet, make it authentic.

i forgot to mention, the amount of times I visited HEY! arcade in Akihabara. What a fantastic place, so big too. They had row upon row of Egrets all playing shmups. I stood there in awe watching a guy in his 50s play Dodonpachi BL - chap was beasting his way through it. Herself got stuck into Zookeeper on a cabinet too in the puzzle game corner. I played a quick game of Ketsui, and then started screwing up, as I could sense a few lads standing around watching me play. Didn't like an audience

Multiple times I played on the SSFIVAE cabs, playing against other guys, hoping to bump into Daigo, alas he was never there when we were ! I'd bet I'd thrash him too :pac:

On the cabinet population side of things. The Viewlixs and the Namco version of same were the most common cabs over there. The new Tekken game was taking up the most amount of cabs in the arcades also. Next up there were plenty of Egret2s and Egret3s, Blast Cities and Naomis, followed by a handful of New Astro Cities, some with the mahjong CPs, and only 1 Atomiswave in HEY!

cheers on the congrats folks - to be honest it was long overdue ! and she knows me well enough at this stage, to know I'm still gonna be buying silly things for the rest of my life

Pyongyang

Steve SI wrote: »

Go on, admit it. You only got married so you could go on honeymoon to Japan

Same reason I got hitched too. Alas my honeymoon to Japan isn't happening until around April-ish now.

Retr0gamer

Pyongyang wrote: »

Same reason I got hitched too. Alas my honeymoon to Japan isn't happening until around April-ish now.

Pick us up a wonderswan crystal :P

Pyongyang

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Pick us up a wonderswan crystal :P

:pac:

pdbhp

Pyongyang wrote: »

Same reason I got hitched too. Alas my honeymoon to Japan isn't happening until around April-ish now.

Pick me up Judgement Silversword amongst other filth!!:pac:

Jack burton

I think I might need to pick your brain sometime. I'm planning a trip to Japan, Tokyo I'd say, for next summer with one of my friends.

I cant stand having not been there anymore

johnny_ultimate

Jack burton wrote: »

I think I might need to pick your brain sometime. I'm planning a trip to Japan, Tokyo I'd say, for next summer with one of my friends.

I cant stand having not been there anymore

The biggest piece of advice anyone could give you: make sure to get outside Tokyo! It's fun and all, but it's worth travelling as much as you can.

Jack burton

I'll make sure to remember that. Some fella was saying to me flights are cheap now, around 500-600 quid, is this bs?

johnny_ultimate

Possibly, the Government are doing a push to get people back over.

There was an announcement of how they're maybe planning to give away tonnes of free flights for tourists next year. But then loads of scam artists set up fake websites about it, and conned loads of people out of personal details

K.O.Kiki

"random cat maid" is Tsuruya from the anime Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi (JP: Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu).

Nice GETs.

Monkeyto

ondafly wrote: »

Multiple times I played on the SSFIVAE cabs, playing against other guys, hoping to bump into Daigo, alas he was never there when we were ! I'd bet I'd thrash him too :pac:

Ah you would have to go to Shinjuku to run into him unfortunately, even though HEY is is the bestest ever arcade in tokyo

And also that G-Front crowd are always grumpy boots. Dirty looks a plenty in there...

Nice haulage overall though, must have been crazy trying to pack it all in!

ghostchant

Welcome to the Twin Famicom owner's club! Amazing haul, great selection of famicom games, including a few I wish I'd picked up myself

ondafly

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

The biggest piece of advice anyone could give you: make sure to get outside Tokyo! It's fun and all, but it's worth travelling as much as you can.

This times a 1000 - I've been to so many places in Japan at this stage, and I'd think I'd might recommend Osaka over Tokyo at this stage. Tokyo is fantastic though, and I already want to go back, but sometimes it can be a little overwhelming for some people. Osaka on the other hand, reminds me so much of Barcelona ! just without the pickpockets

Jack burton wrote: »

I'll make sure to remember that. Some fella was saying to me flights are cheap now, around 500-600 quid, is this bs?

Yup flights were around the 500 mark return with Swissair ? or some Nordic airline recently - they were only to Narita though (Tokyo).

K.O.Kiki wrote: »

"random cat maid" is Tsuruya from the anime Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi (JP: Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu).

Nice GETs.

Cheers so much on the ID ! an anime I have actually watched (well only 2 episodes a long time ago), I'd originally picked out a different one, but when I went back to the store, they had rearranged everything, and I ended up just grabbing this one, as it was the least rudie one I could find:pac:

Monkeyto wrote: »

Ah you would have to go to Shinjuku to run into him unfortunately, even though HEY is is the bestest ever arcade in tokyo

And also that G-Front crowd are always grumpy boots. Dirty looks a plenty in there...

Nice haulage overall though, must have been crazy trying to pack it all in!

doh ! and I wouldn't mind I was in Shinjuku for a fair bit. I had to buy a slightly larger carry on case for the flight and squeezed in everything into that. Luckily my bag as 17KGs going over, so I knew I had 6KGs to spare, plus they (Lufthansa) allowed 8KGs for a carry on.

ghostchant wrote: »

Welcome to the Twin Famicom owner's club! Amazing haul, great selection of famicom games, including a few I wish I'd picked up myself

cheers ! there was one or two random choices in there, as I'm sure you'll remember the right pain in the arse trying to work out what the games are from the kanji ! it was actually your post awhile back that made me get the twin fami


Almost forgot I got to play the initial D cab in Odaiba - the one with the full size cars etc. It was just ok, really didn't feel as realistic as I hoped it would, plus they wouldn't let you pick what car etc, but I let my lady go first, which meant she got the FD and I got the Trueno. But get this ! they don't let you race against each other, so I ended up doing the basic race against Itsuki on the downhill for Akina.