Paul Kramer Posted February 1 Share Posted February 1 Hi I will be in Tokyo next March and of course I'm going to Kato Store but I want to evaluate in advance HO models, tracks available in the store with prices, but I don't found out any e-mail to contact KATO in Tokyo. I appreciate if somebody can help me with this two questions. Thanks in advance Link to comment
Kingmeow Posted February 2 Share Posted February 2 (edited) Your best bet is to look at websites like Plaza Japan and Hobby Search and search for your products. They will show the List Price along with their discount price. The Kato Store in Tokyo sells by MSRP or List Price. The only discount (waive 10% VAT) you will get is if you show them your passport and buy more than ¥5000. They are a Duty Free merchant. In terms of availability, they pretty much have everything in stock. When I was there a few times, their shelves look full and they had parts that other train stores did not have. If your shopping list has only popular things, I would try Yodobashi first as they discount off MSRP and are Duty Free. The one in Akihabara seem to have lots of tracks in stock at a glance though when I was there in October I was not buying tracks. Get a Tokyo Metro 72-hour pass (max - they have 24 hours and 48 hours) so you can traveling around visiting train stores. 😁 I would not bother e-mailing them as I'm sure you have more questions than they are willing to answer. Edited February 2 by Kingmeow 2 Link to comment
bill937ca Posted February 2 Share Posted February 2 There is a comments form on the Katomodels.com website. This the Japanese language website. There is a box for Oversea contact (English/Chinese). https://www.katomodels.com/mail 1 Link to comment
Paul Kramer Posted February 2 Author Share Posted February 2 Thanks you Kingmeow and bill937ca Link to comment
cteno4 Posted February 2 Share Posted February 2 Paul, Be aware (you may already be) that, in general, most Japanese train stuff is not kept in stock all the time. Things like track tend to be around and in stock most all the time (and I expect Kato store the best), but each train set is done in a run and then may not be rerun for a long time. Some train sell out on release day (you usually can preorder), while others may be around in retail channels for a few years. A few trains are sort of kept in production to keep in stock in retail channels, but not consistently. Parts seem to be a mixed bag, with some just being some extra being made at manufacturing time and others produced more often as they are the more breakable and needed things. HO is also going to be a bit more of a rarer beast as it’s a very small fraction of the Japanese market. I don’t know how fast the HO trains and parts sell out usually, but maybe someone here can address that. jeff 1 Link to comment
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