Hobby Center Kato (Kato Hobby Center) -- Tokyo

[bill937ca]

Kato has a showroom with large displays and several layouts in its Tokyo headquarters.  All items for sale are full retail. I would say this location is an exercise in brand building.

 

This thread is separate from items released under the Hobby Center brand. 

 

Japanese language webpage:    https://www.hobbycenterkato.com/

 

This first video shows you how to get to the Hobby Center Kato. There a couple surprise turns on the way. This video is worth its weigh in gold for this.

 

 

 

Edited April 24, 2022 by bill937ca

[gavino200]

3 hours ago, bill937ca said:

Kato has a showroom with large displays and several layouts in its Tokyo headquarters.  All items for sale are full retail. This thread is separate from items released under the Hobby Center brand. 

 

Japanese language webpage:    https://www.hobbycenterkato.com/

 

This first video shows you how to get to the Hobby Center  Kato 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks. I love the layout at Kato. The first video shows it really well, largely because of the steady camera work that's lacking on most of the videos I've seen of it.

 

It's interesting that the track plan is basically a series of terraced loops, which in spite of it's simplicity, gives an impression of depth and complexity. I don't think there's a single incline in the whole layout. The terracing also looks great on the large station where all trains can be seen in spite of the platforms.

 

 

 

Also, I never noticed something before that they've done with their modelling. The "true modelling" stops before the edge and an outside track level is "partly modeled" to hide it in plane sight. That's really clever, and it's something I would have never given myself "permission" to do.

 

[Jugderdemidiin Gurragchaa]

Hobby Center Kato was one of the highlights of my visit to Tokyo in 2019.

In addition to the impressive layout in the downstairs lobby, they have a number of smaller layouts on display upstairs that also look very good.

They had plenty of stock on display in the shop, it was all at full retail price from memory but if you are desperate to find an item that is out of production there is a good chance they will have it.

[katoftw]

Upstairs has changed since I was last there. Was just a largely empty conference room.

[bill937ca]

A couple of videos from 2019.

 

 

 

[bikkuri bahn]

I don't know if this has been posted elsewhere, but Kato (Sekisui Kinzoku), is building a model railroad park/outdoor garden line in Saitama Pref. projected completion FY2024.  It's in conjunction with the building of a new factory building.  Kudos to Kato for committing to manufacturing domestically, rather than going the easy way out.

https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20220222/p2a/00m/0bu/021000c

[katoftw]

Yeah that has been posted before. Looks exciting. I may push my 2023 trip back to 2024, pending the actual opening date.