Sakatsu Gallery (Reproducers of Kobaru stuff)

[cteno4]

OMG! My jaw hit the floor! That has got to be the most scenery/detailed stuff I’ve ever seen stuffed into one store! 
 

so fess up you now have a second suitcase full of little detail bits going home with you! 😜 

 

cheers,

 

jeff

[Madsing]

Luckily, most of these things are small and light 😀

[cteno4]

I’m betting a full suitcase though and your credit cards maxed out!

 

jeff

[Tony Galiani]

Is the shop hard to find?  I did a Google maps search and it showed me the area but not the specific location.  Diorama Fujihara has a video where he goes to the store but not by public transport.  Would really like to go there the next time I am in Tokyo.

 

From the map, it looked like I could safely drop my wife in Nippori Fabric Town and then take the Yamanote Line a bit further to Sagumo station or Otsuka station and possibly walk from there.

And once I dropped my wife off by the fabric shops, she would have no clue how long I was gone!

 

Ciao,

Tony Galiani

[railsquid]

It's on the road which runs right next to the Yamanote Line, short walk from Sugamo Station.

 

Google Street View link: https://goo.gl/maps/AxBYLqLV2qbSLXar7

[cteno4]

Uh oh toni, two extra suitcases needed, one for fabric and one for detail parts!

 

jeff

[Beaver]

Glad to see Sakatsu Gallery survived the last two years. With the webshop I can now bring my collection of Keiben Sanka up to date. Unfortunately they don't seem to have the book on Showa period station design/architecture that I for some odd reason passed up in favour of a book on Taiwanese coal railways (which I'm not even that interested in) while deciding what to buy at my last visit to the actual shop (Went to browse previously but was too concerned about cost to but anything).

[bill937ca]

Hobby Search does have books.

https://www.1999.co.jp/eng/list/2254/6/1

https://www.1999.co.jp/eng/list/1797/6/1

 

There also is a thread on English Language Publications.

There are books being published in the UK by Amberley Publishing and key Publishing in 2022 and 2023.

[MeTheSwede]

I visited Sakatsu Gallery last month during my visit to Japan.

 

 

 

The store is located near Sugamo Station on the Yamanote Line and is thus easy to access for any Tokyo traveler.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The store had lots of little dioramas for sale and to look at.

 

 

 

 

You will also find some of the tiniest trains in Japan in this store.

 

 

 

 

 

 

My reason for coming though was the huge number of products for making detailed layouts/dioramas, like buildings, various raw materials for scratch building, kits with small bits and so on, and not least hundreds of different sets of figures. Here is just some of it:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's available in their online store but seeing it in person is something special. I bought plenty of little things. The only item I really knew in advance I would be buying I couldn't find, but the store owner helped me. He speaks fluent English and was very nice and talkative and curious about how I found the store. Thus I introduced him to the forum, which he wasn't aware of and he registered an account here.

 

 

 

 

Edited May 14, 2023 by MeTheSwede

[Wolf]

If there is ANY store I want to go when comming to Japan in October, it is this, for the exact same reason: detailing material and figures. I hope he takes credit card.

 

Well, my wife probably hopes he does not XD

[MeTheSwede]

It's the only place in Japan where I've payed with credit card.

 

I won't tell your wife.

[cteno4]

8 hours ago, MeTheSwede said:

It's available in their online store but seeing it in person is something special. I bought plenty of little things. The only item I really knew in advance I would be buying I couldn't find, but the store owner helped me. He speaks fluent English and was very nice and talkative and curious about how I found the store. Thus I introduced him to the forum, which he wasn't aware of and he registered an account here.

 

very cool! It’s the store I want to visit most in Japan with all the detail parts!

 

I do expect it would be a huge dent to the wallet… I do bad enough every time I go through their site.

 

jeff

[Tony Galiani]

Working on our plans for our days in Tokyo and current plan is for my wife to go to Nippori Fabric Town while I stay on the Yammanote line for a few more stops and to go to Sakatsu Gallery.  Hoping I can make some purchases but have them shipped back to the US so I don't have to carry them back.  Thinking I can go to the shop, spend time there and possibly walk back to Nippori in the time it takes my wife to go to one shop there ....

Ciao,

Tony

[cteno4]

I dunno tony, you may end up some time in Sakatsu Gallery, there are many many little things to buy! If you take the little figures out of their larger plastic boxes you could put a big dent in your credit card with a very small physical addition to your luggage! Most of the kobaru items are flat and light and tightly packed. I think you will need to worry more about your wife’s fabrics!

 

jeff

[Tony Galiani]

@cteno4 -I'd like to stay in denial just a bit longer!  But between the Nippori Town and Sakatsu Gallery, my current rationalization is that this will be our train and fabric expense for the year.  So the expense will be completely justified.  I am sure of it ....

[cteno4]

Well maybe I reduced your shopping spree a little as I just put in an order so maybe dented their stock a little bit…

 

you realize it’s about the most expensive per gram train shopping except maybe dcc decoders, but close.

 

jeff