My trips always have a clear purpose, and the main purpose of this Tokyo trip was shopping. On past Tokyo trips I was so busy meeting people that I never had much time to shop properly. This time it was a three-day weekend, so most of the people I know already had plans, and luckily I could focus on nothing but shopping. Chances like that don’t come around very often in life. ^_^ So I went around even harder than usual. Right after eating at Taimeiken, I headed straight to the street of sporting goods shops next to the used-book district in Kanda.
This is the entrance to Kanda
Ochanomizu is a place I used to come to two or three times a month to buy CDs. The great albums I discovered back then made my life so much richer. I have almost no interest in sporting goods, so I had never paid attention to them, but this time there was something I wanted to buy, so I dropped by. Even in summer there were lots of shops selling ski and snowboard gear. I wonder if they all actually make money.. hmm..
London Sports, probably the most famous sporting goods shop in Tokyo.
Think of it as the outlet of the outlets. They bring in huge piles of clearance stock and then slap enormous discounts on top of the already rock-bottom prices. The clothes stacked up like mountains aren’t bad at all in brand or quality, yet the prices are around 1,000 yen or less. Honestly, in this kind of chaos it isn’t easy to find exactly the piece you like, but if you dig carefully you might get lucky like me and pick up a 10,000-yen Adidas top that was in fashion last year for 2,000 yen. It’s fall/winter wear, though, so I still have to wait a few more months to wear it. If you live in Tokyo and need a cheap tracksuit to knock around in, go check it out sometime.. you’ll at least earn back your round-trip train fare.
One Piece event in Kanda’s used-book district
They were running a full-on One Piece event. Nothing but otaku all around..
Original manuscript of a famous scene
Those in the know will recognize the scene. So this is what a real manga manuscript looks like..
Luffy’s favorite meat on the bone
Normally I’d have taken my time looking around, but I was short on time and it was hot, so I moved on quickly.
Kamekichi in Nakano
Nakano is a station not far from Shinjuku. It’s not a sightseeing spot, but it’s famous for having lots of interesting shops packed together. It’s full of distinctive places: Fujiya Camera for used AV and camera gear, the Nakano Broadway shopping arcade, Mandarake plus used CD shops, used watch shops and more. That day I got a pair of HD-25 headphones very cheaply at Fujiya’s AV store (Fujiya Avic), then made a round of the used watch shops. A place called Jack Road seems to be the famous one, but it was pricey and I didn’t see any model I liked. After wandering around for a while I found the watch I was looking for at a shop called Kamekichi and paid in cash -_-. They said paying by card adds a 3% fee. But this shop was doing a roaring trade. I guess taking cash and lowering the prices sets it apart from the other shops around that mostly take cards.
Watches are just expensive and life goes on fine without one, so I’d never been interested, but working life does call for one now and then, so I took this chance to buy a reasonably priced, fairly understated model. It was so understated, though, that nobody noticed I’d changed my watch. It suits my scholarly -_- no, my dorky nerd image, so I think it was a good buy, but I also wonder how it would have been if it were a bit flashier. Before that I’d have to double my income, though. Sigh.
Jack Road
At this shop you can check the stock online right away. That seems to be why it’s popular. Kamekichi, by comparison, doesn’t let you check online, but its prices are a big advantage, so if it were me I’d mainly use Kamekichi. Then again, with the yen this strong these days, unless it’s a really special watch there’s not much point in buying one in Japan.
After buying the watch I went straight to Shinjuku.
The Shinjuku Miyazaki-kan KONNE, Miyazaki’s prefectural shop, had recently opened. I went in to see if there was anything to buy, and it’s better than back when it was the Hiroshima shop, but nothing really grabbed me.
That pretty much wrapped up the first day, so I visited a friend’s place and had dinner and wine together. Drinking wine doesn’t mean it was an elegant affair, but I hadn’t seen these friends in a long time, so we had a great time.