Japan

[Jasonbot]

My mom's going to Japan very soon, like in 2 weeks, what awesome electronics and stuff can you get there thats cheap and awesome that you cant get anywhere else? I know it should all be based on what i want/need but I don't quite know for sure. Some pointers woul be nice so I can get her a list. also: is it true that you can get free wireless internet in certain (most) places in Japan?

 

[Counterfit]

Most of the things I can think of, you wouldn't want your mom buying for you.


Well, there's always the sushi-shaped USB drives, the USB hub shaped like a plate of spaghetti, stuff like that. If you were a big Subaru fan, I'd tell you to go here, but you didn't ask about that.

 

[Doctor Q]

Some people like to bring home Japanese versions of videogames or videogame systems. Often they are looking for something that hasn't come out elsewhere yet, rather than trying to save money.

 

[skubish]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU like Mac OS X; en) AppleWebKit/420.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.0 Mobile/3A109a Safari/419.3)

My mom's going to Japan very soon, like in 2 weeks, what awesome electronics and stuff can you get there thats cheap and awesome that you cant get anywhere else? I know it should all be based on what i want/need but I don't quite know for sure. Some pointers woul be nice so I can get her a list. also: is it true that you can get free wireless internet in certain (most) places in Japan?

I just got back from Japan. No free wifi in japan
except maybe some coffee shops. You won't find any cheap electronics in Japan either.

 

[Jasonbot]

You won't find any cheap electronics in Japan either.

Really?

 

[bailey35mm]

If you know where to look, you will find great deals. I live near Nagoya, and if you go to an area called Osu, you will find a giant semi outdoors area of little electronics shops selling cheap. I think in Tokyo you can go to Akihibara.

 

[philbeeney]

I think in Tokyo you can go to Akihibara.

Bailey35mm is right about Akihabara in Tokyo. They don't call it electric city for nothing, and it's pretty spectacular at night. There are a lot of consumer electronic stores that cater for ordinary consumers and tourists, as well as specialist stores that cater for the geeks among us. Japanese is a must though for the specialist stores.

You could always try Yodabashi Camera in Shinjuku or Bic Camera in Ginza as alternatives to Akihabara. They don't just sell cameras.

You will also find electronic goods that are not available anywhere else in the world, as some Japanese companies tend to release certain products in their home market first before releasing it worldwide.

Don't forget to check out the Apple store in Ginza and Shibuya.

 

[bailey35mm]

Bailey35mm is right about Akihabara in Tokyo. They don't call it electric city for nothing, and it's pretty spectacular at night. There are a lot of consumer electronic stores that cater for ordinary consumers and tourists, as well as specialist stores that cater for the geeks among us. Japanese is a must though for the specialist stores.

You could always try Yodabashi Camera in Shinjuku or Bic Camera in Ginza as alternatives to Akihabara. They don't just sell cameras.

You will also find electronic goods that are not available anywhere else in the world, as some Japanese companies tend to release certain products in their home market first before releasing it worldwide.

Don't forget to check out the Apple store in Ginza and Shibuya.

Great recommendation. I buy a lot of my electronics from Bic Camera. The one near Nagoya station is very big, and if you are only visiting, and not living here you can buy certain items duty free.

 

[Doctor Q]

If you know where to look, you will find great deals. I live near Nagoya, and if you go to an area called Osu, you will find a giant semi outdoors area of little electronics shops selling cheap. I think in Tokyo you can go to Akihibara.

I bought a rather odd toy for myself in Akihibara: a paper shredder! It was fun to wander from store to store just to see what was there.

I had the feeling that the street level stores had higher prices and more tourist-oriented items for sale, while the stores up in back were packed with everything under the sun. That's where the locals seemed to be doing their electronics shopping.

 

[DukeofAnkh]

iPods in Japan?

I'm going to Japan soon too and I was thinking of getting myself a new ipod while I was there since it turns out to be about $70 (Australian) cheaper in Japan, thanks to the exchange rate. (This is for an 80 gig Classic.)

Does anyone know if I'll have any problems when I first try to use it? That is, will the interface automatically be in Japanese or will it see that my computer is in English when I plug it in and set itself to English?

Thanks in advance

 

[bailey35mm]

I'm going to Japan soon too and I was thinking of getting myself a new ipod while I was there since it turns out to be about $70 (Australian) cheaper in Japan, thanks to the exchange rate. (This is for an 80 gig Classic.)

Does anyone know if I'll have any problems when I first try to use it? That is, will the interface automatically be in Japanese or will it see that my computer is in English when I plug it in and set itself to English?

Thanks in advance

It will ask you to choose a language when you first power it up. One thing to note is that Apple charges slightly more for hardware in Japan. Strangely I saved @$7 on my copy of Leopard.

 

[DukeofAnkh]

It will ask you to choose a language when you first power it up. One thing to note is that Apple charges slightly more for hardware in Japan. Strangely I saved @$7 on my copy of Leopard.

Thanks!

The way the Aussie dollar is at the moment, Apple products are a lot cheaper to buy in Japan (or America). Shortly after having ordered my new MacBookPro, I found out that I would have saved roughly AU$900 if I had bought it in the US. Not that I <i>could</i> have bought it in the US, but it's still a depressing fact.

Hmm, maybe I'll get iWork in Japan too...

 

[Jasonbot]

Are the prices on the japanese apple store accurate or must i add some sort of tax to the total?

So Akihibara is the place to get electronics in Tokyo then right?

 

[DukeofAnkh]

Are the prices on the japanese apple store accurate or must i add some sort of tax to the total?

If your mum shows her passport and her return ticket, it should be duty free (which means no tax). That might depend on the specific store she goes to though.

 

[Creibold]

Oh how I wish i could go there, the great Anime homeland.

Well, I could but I decided to buy a Macbook pro instead. I'm sure anime looks great on that LED screen.... *nods head*

 

[pepto]

Akihabara is all fun and games but I think that the quality (and number) of the electronic stores has decreased a lot since I first came to Japan about 5 years ago. Now it seems to be more focused on cosplay, anime and maid cafes (which are actually worth visiting as a tourist just to say that you have been).

The cheapest place to find electronics in Japan is on the web.
If your mom can speak Japanese or can get someone to help her there are some great deals to be found on kakaku.com.

Mac laptops here-
http://kakaku.com/itemlist/I0029000000N101/

Mac Desktops-
http://kakaku.com/itemlist/I0019000000P101/

Cameras-
http://kakaku.com/itemlist/I0050000000P101/

Most of the shops that sell on there are in Tokyo but seeing the prices online definitely saves a bit of walking around

If you can find something that you want and print the page with the stores contact details I'm sure that someone at her hotel will be able to help her find it or at least get in touch with the shop for her.