Used game console sales illegal in Japan APR 1st.

Phew now i can sleep easy

 

Really? let's say a 2004 Prius is on sale in japan. The car is like 20k new, how much would the guy ask for it? 10k?

 

I got a very odd mail the other day about this. It was from a Japanese mail address and in Engrish. Take a look at it and spread it all over the net !!! How they knew I sold stuff is a question I'd love to be answered and who sent it to me? The mail address is came from was - k-nakamoto@ tamron.co.jp and titled SOS from Japan !

I checked out the softmap link and it does seem 100% true. I say fuck 'em ! They can kiss my arse ! It's like living in some communist country bringing a crap law out like that. What about the recycle shops such as Hard Off ?

Yakumo

 

Email Nakamoto-san back and suggest an otaku sit-down outside METI

Seriously though, what are the consequences if you do just ignore this law? Are you going to be arrested and do jail time for selling a Sega Saturn? If it's just another toothless Japanese law, then it may not be such a problem.

 

From what Yakumo, I see why Japan would enforce it. Most old electronics, especially consumer electronics such as CD players, TVs, etc. are not ROHS compliant. They are full of lead, mercury, and other hazardous materials and people don't know how to properly dispose of them. That stuff gets into the water system and that why a lot of the fish have mercury levels at high levels.


I'm still unsure about this law. I mean does it really affect all electronics? IF so, that can be devestating to the economy in Japan and also monopolistic towards the giant electronic companies liek NEC, Sony, and Matsushita.

 

cf. Pachinko - techinically illegal to win money - but there are still pachinko places everywhere.

They will find a way round this.

Whether it is selling hardware as antiques, ie. stuff not meant to be actually used. Or just leasing the products as it says in the asahi shinbun. This is fundamentally a law not aimed specifically at cracking down on retro games! It is meant to get rid of unsafe appliances, dangerous heaters etc. Sofmap's decision to stop buying used DC etc is a short term reaction before the very vague clauses in the legislation become apparent.

 

This is becoming a rights issue, like cars in the USA. I can certainly understaind a policy to put environmental restraints on older products that may be harmful, but this seems like a win for the eerie corporate-government alliance in Japan.

 

Not sure exactly. Why not watch some on YJ?

I remember a friend of mine bought a Pathfinder (or whatever it's called in Japan) that was 9 or 10 years old, but only had 10,000 miles on it. He got it for about $1600 USD. Obviously it was in great shape.

 

'Secondhand gadgets win reprieve from Japan's "worst law ever"'

Source: The Guardian

"Thus last Friday the law was revised, making 1989 the cut-off date for "old" rather than 2001. In addition, many of the older items won't have to be certified with the requisite safety tests either. It was an almost complete reversal - something that is almost without precedent in Japan."

Only certain 8-bit models and earlier are screwed then.

 

Good stuff.

(Slight shame though as I've bagged some sweet hardware items dirt cheap recently)

 

So, is it changed? Or will we see Japanese Video game mafia families start to grow?

 

Nice, although the technology on it may be outdated, specially in the security area. Plus I dont think a pathfinder is such a great idea in a place like japan, not only for parking but fuel and stuff.

"Look at what they did to my Megadrive!":lol:

 

Yeah, the law was changed about 3 weeks back before it had even started. looks like the goverment finally listened to the people. It's not like the Japanese often complain about stuff in such volume.

Yakumo

 

Wait. I read in slashdot that the government made an exception on certain electronics... Look it up...

 

Im into hondas and the favorite motor swap for civics is a B16,(160hp B18(195hp) motors out of civic and integra type Rs, They sell from shops in the US from 1500-3500 depending on the motor. These motors have an average of 30K which makes sense since the cars over there rarley get used more than 3 years.

haha this just made me think, If a part for a honda is ordered from japan its JDM (japanese domestic market) That would be a fitting term for this site as well.

Copy of dracula X for turbo duo////THaTs JDM Yo!!!

 

From what Warakia said above, this leasing bit is a nice work around me thinkst.

 

So this isn't an April fools joke then? Hmmm... well, this may acutally make the value of your collection increase, as availible outlets to buy old Japanese hardware decreases. Keep in mind laws like this don't pass unless there's somebody making money off it. Someone in Japan could open up a business specifically to make game consoles compliant (for a fee, of course.)

 

Nah, Japan is full of loopholes (see Pachinko) and only subjectively enforced laws. This will just join the ranks of them. I mean seriously -- any dance club after 1AM is illegal, and they're all open until 6. You think everyone's going to follow this law?

 

Update....

The law really changes very little, which is what I suspected. You just can't kill an entire used electronics market overnight.

The affected consoles are the ones that don't have the voltage box in the power cord, or whatever that is/is called. That means Sega Saturns, PC-FX, some PS2s, PS1s, etc. Everything else is OK. I got about 20 Saturn consoles and a PC-FX from a store for $10 just because they wanted to get rid of them. OK with me.

Also, the law does not cover items that are exported, so all of the eBay sellers and web shop owners are free and clear.

Anyway, if you saw that 20 or so PC-FXs on Yahoo in the last week you know what the deal was...