Photos of Train Shops in Tokyo

[gmat]

To supplement the Google maps, perhaps this might be useful. I haven't worked up the nerve to ask if I could shoot inside the shop, yet. I'll shoot also try to shoot a route from the nearest station to the shop.

 

I stumbled onto Hobby Shop Kato, the Kato outlet store in Tokyo, as I was cycling home from Ikebukuro Station. Without referring to the Google map, I doubt if I would have been able to retrace my way back to this shop.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the south side of the building.

 

Best wishes,

Grant

[gmat]

This is Hobidas. The sales area is relatively small, and more like a stock room than a hobby store. but the roped off stock room is large.

 

 

 

Map across the street in front of the East exit. You can take two routes to the store. Either way will be about a 10 or 12 minute walk.

 

The East exit. From this orientation, turn left to take the shorter route, or go directly behind, or from the station, directly ahead to take the easier but longer route.

 

Looking South. This is the shorter route, but with lots of small streets, it may be easy to get lost.

Cross the street from the station and look right, or South. Go to the second street on the left. Turn at the restaurant at the corner with the red vertical banner in front.

 

Looking up that street. Go to the fourth street. It's past the rise in the distance.

 

This is at the top of the rise. Keep going straight.

 

You go down to the street with the cigarette store at the right.

 

Turn left. Looking up that street. Go to where it meets the main highway, Kananna Dori. (Route 318).

 

This is at the end of that street.

 

Looking left at the end of the road where it joins Kananna Dori. There is an pedestrian overpass just beyond the store.

 

 

Best wishes,

Grant

[bikkuri bahn]

Yes, Hobidas has a pretty good selection (at least in HO scale, my area of interest), they are mainly an internet operation, but I guess you can shop at this location, if you know what you want.  Neko Publishing of course is the publisher of Rail Magazine and the excellent Kokutetsu Jidai quarterly, among others.

[gmat]

This is the other route to Hobidas.

This route follows the tracks east towards Shibuya. Go down this lane. to the other side of the tall white building in the distance. You will end up at at a large street. It's Meguro Dori, or Route 312. You will turn right at the large street.

 

You are looking right, uphill at the end of the lane. Go uphill until it meets Kanannna Dori, or Rout 318. It is the elevated overpass in the distance.

 

Looking back towards the station.

 

Cross the street and turn right at the Lawsons.

 

Go up the street. It's behind the reddish building and about three minutes from here.

[gmat]

KTM (KaTsuMi) has four stores in the Tokyo area. Ikebukuro, Yurakucho, Meguro and one in Yokohama. This is the one at Meguro. This store had mostly HO trains, including quite a bit of brass models. It was a relatively modest store. It is about a 15 minute walk West and downhill from the station. I shot this on the way to my student's apartment, and started from the hobby shop, so the photos aren't the easiest to understand. Sorry.

 

Looking from the top of the stairs leading towards the store. Meguro Station is left on Meguro Dori. Yamate Dori is under the bridge.

 

Looking at the northeast side of the station. Route 312 spits into two and passes north and south of the JR Meguro station. If you exit the station, take the main street on the left, it is closer.

 

This is the north branch of Route 312. The green pedestrian overpass is where 312 splits. After the overpass, you walk past a river.

 

Looking back towards the station. This before the bridge over the river.

 

The river.

 

Looking west towards the shop. Go down the street to the next main highway, cross it and it is on the right.

 

Best wishes,

Grant

[gmat]

I've recently visited a few shops to see what rail kits they might have. The Hobby store in the Nekko Publishing building closed and the company itself moved to someplace near Nakagomi Station.

 

This is Hobby Mokei near my station. It is near Sakura Shimmachi Station on the Den-en-toshi Line from Shibuya. Get out of the Station and walk back towards Shibuya on the main street for about 150 meters or so. It's on the left side past the large drug store. An old couple run the store. The wife was in when I took these pictures. she was very helpful and graciously allowed me to shot photos of the inside of her shop and gave me a tip on the next too shops. I hadn't known about the next one. Like any mom and pop place the prices aren't comparable to Tam Tam, but some older kits might be hidden away. Sorry, I don't know stuff to save my life.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Best wishes,

Grant

[gmat]

The next one is near Mizonokuchi station. I don't know the name of the hobby shop, but the store is iBox. It's about a 10 minute walk East from the station. The photos start from the Den-en-toshi Line exit. The shop is on the second floor and the whole shop is rather large. The rail section is a smaller section of one aisle. Judging from the selection of plastic kits, older kits that have disappeared from other stores might still be found here. My lens went on the blink the day after these shots so it will be a while waiting for it to be fixed.

 

 

 

 

Go this way up the stairs and down the corridor and turn left and go past the Nambu Line exit.

 

 

 

When you leave the station, look right and head towards the Marui Department store. (OIOI)

 

 

 

 

 

You will be going down this street. The headlights of the furthest car is about where the store is on the right.

 

Come down these stairs.

 

The photos rest of the photos were taken heading towards the station.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Best wishes,

Grant

[bikkuri bahn]

Thanks for the pictures.  Next time you visit a hobby shop, could you take a picture of their HO scale stock?  It should take up no more than one frame (if they even carry anything).

[gmat]

Wild Boar, less than a minute North of  Kaminoge Station on the Oimachi Line. This might be one of the more promising shops that I visited as not many rail fans might visit this store. He wasn't pleased when I asked him if I could shoot the store, but sort of resignedly gave permission. More local fans and kids might come here. So older stuff might still be here. I'm grateful that he allowed me to shoot in his shop and hope that it will be worth his while.

 

 

Head this way, away from the main highway (at your back) that runs parallel to the Oimachi Line.

 

Looking across the street to the other exit.

 

Go this way until the next light.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some older Bandai B-trains that I will try to buy before they are gone. Sorry, no joy on the Kintetsu Limited Express trains, CaptOblivious.

 

Best wishes,

grant

[gmat]

The next one, Mokei Center and the last one, Ryusengatajiken, in Nakano Broadway had HO stuff, if I remember correctly. I don't think that the any of the others had HO stuff. I'll make another trip to Wild Boar, but I don't think that he'll be happy to let me shoot again. I'll let you know what I find, but I don't remember seeing HO stuff there. You must be the reason that I was looking out to see if any shops also had HO stuff.

 

Best wishes,

Grant

[gmat]

Mokei Center, about 5 minutes walk East of Nishi-Ogokubo Station. It used to be two shops but sadly has become one and much of the plastic model kits are second hand. (but those are often cheaper) The rail section might hold some surprises. There are some HO stuff in the back. An older couple and their younger son run the shop. They were happy to let me shoot some photos. I don't think that any of the rail kits would be marked down, though.

 

Go out the NE side of the station.

 

 

 

Go down the small lane across the street.

 

The lane makes a dogleg to the left.

 

The shop is about where the small silver van is in the distance.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

HO stuf here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Best wishes,

Grant

[gmat]

Kiya Hobby, in the department store next to the North exit of Ogikubo Station. Another shop that's a ghost of its former self. The shop used to have two or three floors in the building across the street, but gets smaller and smaller with each visit. The rail section is very small. I used to come here looking for plastic model kits that had sold out in the more popular shops.

 

Go towards the Lumine sign.

 

Go into the Town Seven building and take the elevator to the sixth floor. That's the floor under the green windows.

 

 

 

Is that an HO train? Sorry, I didn't realize it but my lens was working itself to death so the photos aren't very well focused.

 

 

 

 

Kichijoji Station used to have thre hobby shops, but best one turned into a boxing gym and the one in the covered shopping mall and the very small one are long gone.

 

Best wishes,

Grant.

[gmat]

Last one for the time being is Ryusengatajiken on the fourth floor at Nakano Broadway. Go the West exit of Nakano Station and head North to the covered shopping 'mall' or lane. Go to almost the very end of the mall and when you see the escalators, take that to the third floor and then walk up the stairs to the fourth floor. If you look at a floor map, the shop is in the middle of this last building on the corridor that cuts the shopping area in half. Nakano Broadway is also less than it was before, with clothing stores taking many of the lower shops and the fourth floor mostly closed up. 10 years ago it was very busy. Ryusengatajiken said no pictures, but I got the clerk to make an exception. It's a real hole in the wall, where you have to step out to change your mind, but some of the kits might be rare.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I did a quick scan of almost all of the shops at Nakano Broadway and except for antique toys that were trains, there were no other model trains. Not even Bandai B=Train Shorties.

 

That's all until the lens is fixed.

 

Beat Wishes,

Grant

[nightshade]

there is a preatty big one either in shinjuku or shibuya if i remmeber corectly

(paln on visiting end of the month, gonna check it out)

Izawaya also has trains gonna stop by tooo...... :)

[bill937ca]

I'm really enjoying these photos!!   

[gmat]

Thank you for your kind comments, nightshade and bill937ca. The large store near Shinjuku might be Sakuraya, which unfortunately closed early this year or late last year. It didn't move to another location as would have happened in the past. That was kind of a shock as I saw no signs that it might go belly up. The train shop in Tokyo Hands in Shibuya is still there.

 

Best wishes,

Grant

[nightshade]

Thank you for your kind comments, nightshade and bill937ca. The large store near Shinjuku might be Sakuraya, which unfortunately closed early this year or late last year. It didn't move to another location as would have happened in the past. That was kind of a shock as I saw no signs that it might go belly up. The train shop in Tokyo Hands in Shibuya is still there.

 

 

i think it might be in shibuya cuz on yahoo.co.jp auctions they post trains .....

thats how i found out ... intend to go (wish has some more money, wana shinkansen 0)

if not just gonna get a car set for my c-11 (if can) gona try to get a unitram straight track for a custom

project.... will post some pics of few stores when i get there (end of the month, wana go back to japan

miss being there. )

[CaptOblivious]

*sniff* Kyoto has nothing this big, that I've been able to find (been to a few now)! I guess I need to head to Den-Den Town in Osaka to find anything even remotely comparable to these troves!

[bikkuri bahn]

Is that an HO train?

 

Yes, Kato's C56.  

 

guess I need to head to Den-Den Town in Osaka to find anything even remotely comparable to these troves!

 

Indeed.  I've been to Volks Hobby.  They carried some A Class stuff, which marks a hobby shop as being aware that HO scale exists.

[Lawrence]

Fantastic gmat, I could lose myself for hours in there, do you know if ant of them have websites?

[bikkuri bahn]

Nakama Mokei Center and Ryusengatajiken (what a mouthful) don't seem to have websites.  Ryusen fwiw seems to be a subshop of national manga store chain Mandarake.  Kiya Hobby does have a website:

http://kiyahobby.co.jp/k/

 

Ishihara I-box and Wild Boar don't appear to have their own websites either.  They do show up on neighborhood merchant lists, as one page listings.

[alpineaustralia]

What a brilliant post! thanks for this.

[brill27mcb]

Wish I could just get into some of those photos, with a virtual shopping basket!

 

Rich K.

[tantousha]

Makes me wish I still lived in Japan! Le sigh...

[Dani]

Oh my Goodness!!! The day I'll be there and enter in one of those shops my Visa and Mastercard credit will be sucked until last euro.... I'll have to spend at least a full month eating in my parents' house...