Oh man, I’ve died and gone to heaven!! The Yodobashi-Akiba store opened today and I went after work. It’s the largest computer/electronics store in Japan which is a gross understatement. This place is gigantic! It’s like 5 times bigger than Bic in Yurakucho. The other shops in Akihabara are dead! And it’s not just the size, this Yodobashi has everything, EVERYTHING!! It was packed with people as expected on the opening day of any new building or store in Japan. Apparently, people started lining up 3 days ago to be the first ones in. So many people lined up that they put them in the underground parking lot! Some people have too much free time or are just insane. More pictures of the line up here. You have GOT to visit this store. It’s like Disneyland. More pictures below..
(1) Akihabara would not be complete without some chicks dressed as maids handing out tissues for a Pachinko parlor (2) The main entrance closest to the train station was the most crowded of course, lots of police on guard not doing much except making it more crowded (3) This Yodobashi has the same wire ceiling like the one in Osaka. They hang all kinds of signs from the wires, it makes the shop look cluttered and busy (4) The PC section was on the first floor and they also had a big Apple section. Many iPOD Nanos on display but no 4GB in stock.
The big three keitai carriers had enormous floor space to promote their phones. The boxes for the phones were color coordinated with the color of the booths. The AU girls were the cutest.
This Yodobashi is quite different than the others I’ve been to. They have a large cosmetics section on the 3rd floor and a huge wall full of clocks. The 7th floor was completely toys, games and DVDs (1) There were many aisles with hundreds of “gatcha gatcha” or gumball machines. And catering to the Akiba crowd, plenty of figures and gundam models (2) They even sold machine guns. Of course these are just replicas. These toys are so realistic that they are banned in the US and Canada but you can buy the REAL thing (3) And what’s in these boxes? Yes, more guns! (4) The store has 6 levels of underground parking so I took the elevator down to B6 to check it out. No cars here because it was closed off, but the other levels were completely full.
Also spotted this iPOD case shaped like a inrou （印籠）pretty nifty!
Yodobashi-Akiba
More pictures of Yodobashi-Akiba
Holy cow!
Yodobashi Akiba > mama & papa stores.
They sell everything there!
Like a super wal-mart, but not groceries.
I have to ask, how is the security there, to prevent theft?
Saw plenty of pictures and no security cameras or other type of surveillence, are there any?
Serious amounts of electronics and other goodies, that is worth a lot.
Definately going to check that out when I visit Japan in the summer.
I’m so jealous. Thanks for the great report Roy. It will be high on my list of must sees when I get back there.
I read about these special cases for your iPod at:
http://www.wordpress.tokyotimes.org/index.php?p=639
Yodobashi, Our Home Away From Home
The Akihabara district is the center of all things electronic in Japan, as you know. Kind of like a swelling, beating heart full of circuitry. On September 16th, the newest and biggest (six levels of underground parking) electronics superstore…
re: Nicky’s comment - theft is not a big issue here - pretty rare. But don’t kid yourself - there would be surveillance - they’d have state of the art (i.e. -TINY) and delight in making them unobtrusive.
Yodobashi-Akiba: It’s OPEN!
I’m packing my bags and going to Yodobashi-Akiba! Yeah, I wish.. But I do know that next time I’m in Tokyo I’ll be visiting the largest electronics store in all of Japan.
Q-TARO.COM POST: It’s OPEN!
looks cooler than the best buys in the states, but i know i am not sleeping in an underground garage for three days to get in… ; )
That’s insane. While I love electronics as much as the next guy, I would never camp out for days just to be at the grand opening.
Yep it’s insane. But lining up for things like this is akin to lining up to see Star Wars. Most of the people make a party of it and do it just for kicks.
My former fave in Akiba was AsoBit City when they occupied that one big building. They closed down last year I think and are split up now in smaller spaces. I’ll have to check out Yodobashi Akiba on my next visit to Tokyo.
Anything special in the Akiba branch?