Hey all. Long time reader and follower of the boards, though I hardly post :axe: Much like a few of you I'm sure, I will soon be spending some time in Japan. I will be only an hour or so from Narita, and will make an attempt to visit all the 'tourist attractions'. In terms of buying cheap video game stuff (old Megadrive and SFC carts, PCE's, white Saturns and such, and maybe some rare stuff if I'm lucky), does anyone have some recommendations? Also, what of nice places to visit? Such as country areas or beautiful sites that can only be seen once in a lifetime for a lad like myself? :smt033
Heh, I just got back. I think you will have a great time :smt023 Sights: Nikko: Not terribly far from Tokyo. There's both the Chuzenji lake, which is supposed to be very nice to visit (but I did not) and the temples, which are very nice. The Shinkyo bridge, on the way to the temples, isnt worth the bother, as is paying more money for the Sleeping Cat and Tokugawa Ieyasu's mausoleum. Asakusa: Temple complex in Tokyo. Nice for a few hours, and there's loads of small shops selling souvenirs. Also, very illustrative of Japan's stint to surround authentic architecture with ugly highrise :smt011 Nara: If you have a JR pass it's a nice day trip by Shinkansen, in my opinion. Nice temples, and I also enjoyed climbing the mountain. For a change its not crowded with tourists. Kyoto: Plenty of sights, take my advice and do some planning in advance as it's too big to walk between all the temples. The actual city is very ugly I think, but the temples and shrines are well worth it if you have a JR pass. Ohara: Bit of the odd-man-out, this is a very nice beach in the Chiba prefecture Yokohama: Very nice city, different from any other Japanese city that I've seen, very laid back. Not far from Tokyo by JR. Also has a China Town which, in my opinion, is overrated. Also, Kamakura has been recommended to me by various people, yet I had no time to visit. :-( Games: Akihabara: The obvious choice. Take a day or two at least to get lost there, you won't be disappointed. There's a few stores that know what the good games are, consequently they are a bit more expensive but to Dutch standards it was still very cheap :smt040 Visit Trader and Super Potato, and there's also a PCB Shop somewhere. Maybe PM GaijinPunch for directions. Also, I've found very good deals in the more backwater gamestores. So whereever you are, be sure to walk around a bit in search for them. I've seen good deals in stores of the Enterking chain, for instance. And if you want a free DC Internet Starter Kit, FZ-1 3DO and stack of Saturn magazines you can pick them up in the gaijin house in Ichikawa as I had to leave them behind :smt022
Forget Asakusa and go to Meiji Shrine (outside of Harajuku station). I think Asakusa is gawdy... and far away from the cooler parts of town to boot.
So, I'm in Japan now.. dropped by Akihabara and Asakusa, as well as Ohara. Already consumed 4 rolls of film trying to take everything in. Haven't had a chance to buy any gaming stuff! The girlfriend is busy enough with showing me the sites, and so I can't make an excuse to search Akihabara for odd games :angry Thanks for the suggestions!!
You absolutely *have* to go to Akihabara, or at least to some Japanese gamestore to complete the experience. Akihabara is a hub station where several lines connect, maybe use that as an excuse? Too bad that you already went to Ohara, if I had known I could've pointed you to the Hard-Off along the way :smt009
Hard-Off? Darnit. Totally forgot about that one. I'll check one out tomorrow. Know of one close to Akihabara My girlfriend's brother is going to take me to a retail-chain called Liberty, as he says they carry old carts for the Super Fami for a couple bucks. Not sure if I'll find something of interest, but it's a place to start.
Well, I visited several places in Akihabara. Bought a Famitsu 97 "Model F" Gameboy Pocket for a couple of buck, a Super Famicom, some old boxed Famicom games, and the NeoFami Famiclone (got ripped on that one, but I don't have a Nintendo at home anyway). I saw a Sharp Famicom, MegaJet, Japanese Jaguar, 64DD, mint Famicom's with Disk Systems, several PC-FXs, countless white boxed Saturns and the Dreamcasts with the dude's face on the box, and several other rare things that lapse my mind at the moment. It's a tourist trap. They know what sells and at what price collector's will pay :angry What are some classic Fami games that I should pick up? It's been a while since I touched my Nintendo... ahhh, the memories :smt023
