Japan Trip

firen · Post by **firen** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 2:29 am

I will be going to Japan soon with a friend. I will be in Kyoto for a couple of days then go to Tokyo for like ten days. You guys have any recommendations on stores or whatnot to check out in Tokyo that is Dragonball related? Even if it isn't any sort of suggestion would be great.

I hope this is the right section

Post by **Herms** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 2:43 am

Mandarake in Nakano, Tokyo is very good. You can pick up kanzenban and tankoubon for very cheap, and even find most of the Dragon Boxes. Then they've got all sorts of figures, including those One Piece X DB and DB Creatures figures. Lot's of cool stuff. And some creepy stuff too...

Super Ghost Kamikaze · Post by **Super Ghost Kamikaze** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 2:59 am

Herms wrote:And some creepy stuff too...

Oh, do elaborate.

Snail · Post by **Snail** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 2:59 am

Herms wrote:And some creepy stuff too...

I'm curious. What kind of creepy stuff?

"Toooo-shiiii-ohhhh.."

firen · Post by **firen** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 3:35 am

Herms wrote:Mandarake in Nakano, Tokyo is very good. You can pick up kanzenban and tankoubon for very cheap, and even find most of the Dragon Boxes. Then they've got all sorts of figures, including those One Piece X DB and DB Creatures figures. Lot's of cool stuff. And some creepy stuff too...

Sweet, I'll check it out.

Yi Xing Long · Post by **Yi Xing Long** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 4:00 am

Herms wrote:Mandarake in Nakano, Tokyo is very good. You can pick up kanzenban and tankoubon for very cheap, and even find most of the Dragon Boxes. Then they've got all sorts of figures, including those One Piece X DB and DB Creatures figures. Lot's of cool stuff. And some creepy stuff too...

Would those "creepy" things by any chance include mammary-themed mouse pads? Or how about anime blow-up... I think I'll stop... >.>

Aremke · Post by **Aremke** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 4:10 am

The one tip I discovered the hard way for avoiding such creepy sections of stores in Tokyo is this: Don't go into the basement. More often then not, that's where the fetish stuff is. Brave souls can endeavor to explore for fear of missing that one cool relatively innocent section that might have that elusive figure you've been searching for, but more often than not, it's gonna be really creepy.

Honestly, I was disappointed on my visit to Tokyo, even to the supposed mecca that is Akihabara, though I'm told by friends that, one, I missed all the good stores, and two, Aki isn't what it used to be. Next time, I'm taking my more knowledgeable buds.

Kingdom Heartless · Post by **Kingdom Heartless** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 4:42 am

You can pick up kanzenban and tankoubon for very cheap, and even find most of the Dragon Boxes.

Generally speaking, how much does the manga generally go for in Japan? In Yen or USD or whatever? Is it much cheaper than in the Western countries?

Yi Xing Long · Post by **Yi Xing Long** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 5:36 am

Kingdom Heartless wrote:
You can pick up kanzenban and tankoubon for very cheap, and even find most of the Dragon Boxes.
Generally speaking, how much does the manga generally go for in Japan? In Yen or USD or whatever? Is it much cheaper than in the Western countries?

Tankoubon are usually 390-580 yen (brand new) I think. At the moment the exchange rate is ~93 yen to 1 USD. In the US at any Book-Off store you can find used tankoubon for $1 USD.

Kingdom Heartless · Post by **Kingdom Heartless** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 6:14 am

Jeez, if I ever had the chance, at that price I would get a few of the Japanese ones just so I could own them.

Post by **Herms** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 8:34 am

Aremke wrote:The one tip I discovered the hard way for avoiding such creepy sections of stores in Tokyo is this: Don't go into the basement. More often then not, that's where the fetish stuff is. Brave souls can endeavor to explore for fear of missing that one cool relatively innocent section that might have that elusive figure you've been searching for, but more often than not, it's gonna be really creepy.

Mandarake in Nakano is sort of the opposite in that it's all located in the upper levels of the shopping complex, so the higher levels are where you'd want to avoid (the basement there is just a supermarket, though they also have a psychic telephone business, which they'll chase you away from if you get too close). The fetish stuff is mostly on the second highest floor, if I remember right, and the uppermost floor is filled with occult/UFO stuff, including two life-size alien grey statues mounted into the wall.

Kingdom Heartless wrote:Generally speaking, how much does the manga generally go for in Japan? In Yen or USD or whatever? Is it much cheaper than in the Western countries?

Kanzenban (DragonBall and otherwise) generally go for 700-1000 yen, which about $7-10 (more at the current exchange rate).

Snail · Post by **Snail** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 8:39 am

So that's two floors of fetish meterial.

Zenkai Power · Post by **Zenkai Power** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 8:47 am

I am (or was) a Dragonball cel collector and I KNOW Mandarake usually has some pretty good pieces (or did) for sale at decent prices if you get them there. You should check that out and take some pics so I can see what I'm missing out on.

Smindas · Post by **Smindas** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 9:42 am

When I was in Japan, pretty much everywhere in Tokyo's Akihabara (probably spelt wrong, but it's alternatively known as Nerd Town ;P) sold Dragon Ball merch. In fact, one of my enduring memories of my entire travelling around Japan experience was seeing Goku's mug a lot more than I expected - you won't struggle to find something of Dragon Ball relation. There were Lawson convenience stores selling Real Works figures in one town I visited, for instance.

Also, if you're going to Tokyo, and are a manga fan (which I think it is safe to assume you are), it's a necessity to check out the Manga Museum they have there. It provides quite an interesting history of the cultural contexts behind the development of manga (in English, don't worry) and you also get to witness possibly the largest of manga libraries in existence. The English language manga section is tiny, but there's a few good reads in there. Also, when I was there, in the museum's shop they were selling two Dragon Ball shirts; a black Red Ribbon logo adorned shirt (like Android 17) and an orange shirt with Goku's gi symbols.

Too long, didn't read; Japan provides for Dragon Ball fans.

firen · Post by **firen** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 10:12 am

Smindas wrote:When I was in Japan, pretty much everywhere in Tokyo's Akihabara (probably spelt wrong, but it's alternatively known as Nerd Town ;P) sold Dragon Ball merch. In fact, one of my enduring memories of my entire travelling around Japan experience was seeing Goku's mug a lot more than I expected - you won't struggle to find something of Dragon Ball relation. There were Lawson convenience stores selling Real Works figures in one town I visited, for instance.

Also, if you're going to Tokyo, and are a manga fan (which I think it is safe to assume you are), it's a necessity to check out the Manga Museum they have there. It provides quite an interesting history of the cultural contexts behind the development of manga (in English, don't worry) and you also get to witness possibly the largest of manga libraries in existence. The English language manga section is tiny, but there's a few good reads in there. Also, when I was there, in the museum's shop they were selling two Dragon Ball shirts; a black Red Ribbon logo adorned shirt (like Android 17) and an orange shirt with Goku's gi symbols.

Too long, didn't read; Japan provides for Dragon Ball fans.

Sweet thanks for the tip!

Sun_Wukong · Post by **Sun_Wukong** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 12:28 pm

Kingdom Heartless wrote:Jeez, if I ever had the chance, at that price I would get a few of the Japanese ones just so I could own them.

You can find the Tankoubon in pretty much every Japanese bookstore in NYC.

Yi Xing Long · Post by **Yi Xing Long** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 3:57 pm

Sun_Wukong wrote:
Kingdom Heartless wrote:Jeez, if I ever had the chance, at that price I would get a few of the Japanese ones just so I could own them.
You can find the Tankoubon in pretty much every Japanese bookstore in NYC.

Although they bump up the price to around $6 USD (or more, depending) usually (at Kinokuniya anyway).

Smindas · Post by **Smindas** » Tue Jan 06, 2009 1:07 pm

firen wrote:
Smindas wrote:When I was in Japan, pretty much everywhere in Tokyo's Akihabara (probably spelt wrong, but it's alternatively known as Nerd Town ;P) sold Dragon Ball merch. In fact, one of my enduring memories of my entire travelling around Japan experience was seeing Goku's mug a lot more than I expected - you won't struggle to find something of Dragon Ball relation. There were Lawson convenience stores selling Real Works figures in one town I visited, for instance.

Also, if you're going to Tokyo, and are a manga fan (which I think it is safe to assume you are), it's a necessity to check out the Manga Museum they have there. It provides quite an interesting history of the cultural contexts behind the development of manga (in English, don't worry) and you also get to witness possibly the largest of manga libraries in existence. The English language manga section is tiny, but there's a few good reads in there. Also, when I was there, in the museum's shop they were selling two Dragon Ball shirts; a black Red Ribbon logo adorned shirt (like Android 17) and an orange shirt with Goku's gi symbols.

Too long, didn't read; Japan provides for Dragon Ball fans.
Sweet thanks for the tip!

Sorry, I made a rather significant mistake there. The Manga Museum is in Kyoto, not Tokyo!

Sun_Wukong · Post by **Sun_Wukong** » Tue Jan 06, 2009 1:53 pm

Yi Xing Long wrote:
Sun_Wukong wrote:
Kingdom Heartless wrote:Jeez, if I ever had the chance, at that price I would get a few of the Japanese ones just so I could own them.
You can find the Tankoubon in pretty much every Japanese bookstore in NYC.
Although they bump up the price to around $6 USD (or more, depending) usually (at Kinokuniya anyway).

I'd rather spend $6 at Kinokuniya than go broke trying to get to Japan.

But that's me, lol.

Saiyajin no Tatsujin · Post by **Saiyajin no Tatsujin** » Tue Jan 06, 2009 6:41 pm

You can still find some great prices on older Dragon Ball video games (complete) in various game shops in Tokyo's Akihabara district. You have to look hard, though, as they won't be on display.

Kanzenshuu

Japan Trip

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