Audio Shops in Tokyo
Arnie Shechtman
I would appreciate help with the following questions as I may have
the opportunity to be in Tokyo soon.
1. What are the general hours of the audio shops in the electronic
district on Friday, Saturday and Sunday?
2. Can anyone recommend some places to go for analog phono
cartridges, vinyl records and tango transformers?
3. How do japanese sourced MC cartridges compare pricewise to US
prices.
Thanks for your help.
LIEUTENDGN
MJ and Stereo Sound ( printed in Japanese) is one of the best sources for the
hours and prices available for hi end equipments.
It may be a good idea to order a copy from one of the larger bookstores before
you go. It is like the "Who's Who and Orion Blue Book " put together with
pictures for Japanese high end audio.
Joe Berry
Arnie Shechtman wrote:
> 3. How do japanese sourced MC cartridges compare pricewise to US
> prices.
I did not have much luck bargain-hunting in Japan for locally made
cameras or electronics. I've been told that such items are heavily
marked up to discourage internal consumption. At least, that was
the story in '91 and again in '96.
<jnb>
Washi in Tokyo
Arnie Shechtman <linn...@ibm.net> said,
>1. What are the general hours of the audio shops in the electronic
>district on Friday, Saturday and Sunday?
Typical Akihabara hours are 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. A few shops open a
bit later and some stay open to 8:00 p.m.
>2. Can anyone recommend some places to go for analog phono
>cartridges, vinyl records and tango transformers?
Akihabara is full of these shops (although it is no longer the only
district to have them); part of the fun is sniffing around the small
shops and digging up treasures. One of the Ishimaru Denki shops will
have lots of vinyl records. Phono cartridges are everywhere.
I recently found a page of audio-related links here that will point you
to some Web information, although much of it is in Japanese.
http://www.mako-unet.ocn.ne.jp/menu13.html
>3. How do japanese sourced MC cartridges compare pricewise to US
>prices.
The prices here are still fairly high, but you now have the advantage of
a dollar whose value has gone up sharply versus the yen (from 80 yen per
dollar a couple of years ago to 135 yen today).
--
Washi
See the Real Japan at http://washi.nu
Hans Beijner
Hi
I live in Tokyo so maybe I can be of some help.
1 The general opening hours in Akihabara, (the electronic district)
is 10 - 8 pm monday to friday, 10 to 6 pm on saturday and sunday. Some
store have closed one day a week, different from store to store.
2 If you go out trough the main exit from the train station, Sobu
line and Yamanote line, you will see a building with a NEC sign on the
other side of the street, go to the fourth floor in that building, they
have a lot of small shops selling, Tamura, Tango, tubes, speakers,
components and phono cartridges. This is only one place but it is my
favorite.
3 I have no idea what price you have to pay for a MC cartridge in US
so I can't help you there.
Hans
Arnie Shechtman wrote:
> 1. What are the general hours of the audio shops in the electronic
> district on Friday, Saturday and Sunday?
>
> 2. Can anyone recommend some places to go for analog phono
> cartridges, vinyl records and tango transformers?
>
Hajime Ozaki
Arnie,
Here are some hints for your shopping spree in Tokyo.
> 1. What are the general hours of the audio shops in the electronic
> district on Friday, Saturday and Sunday?
First of all, the main electric district in Tokyo is an area called
AKIHABARA. Most of the shops are open on weekends. Store hours vary,
but in general they are open from 10:00 or 11:00 to 18:00 or 19:00.
> 2. Can anyone recommend some places to go for analog phono
> cartridges, vinyl records and tango transformers?
In AKIHABARA area, I do not think you will find difficulty locating
analog cartridges. One example; in front of the Akihabara railway station,
there is a big (relatively) building called RADIO KAIKAN. This building
alone accomodates more than 10 audio shops on the first to the fourth floor.
You can easily find various cartridges there. But if you are looking for
something very high end in particular, you may need more reserch. Maybe
I can help locating speciality shops.
As to the vinyl, there are several shops in AKIHABARA and neghboring
JINBOCHO area. Actually the record shops scatter all over Tokyo. You
can find some of them in such downtowns as Ginza,Shinjyuku, and Shibuya.
You definately need a map to locate them.
Tango transformers. There are a few speciality shops in AKIHABARA.
At least one of them closes on Sundays. You'd better go on Fridays.
Location is difficult to tell without a map.
> 3. How do japanese sourced MC cartridges compare pricewise to US
> prices.
One of most popular MC cartridges in Japan is DENON DL-103 and its brothers
(and sisters?). Their prices range from about $150 (thanks to weak yen...).
Audio Technica is also popular, its AT33 series are around $350.
Hope it helped a little. For further informations, drop me a line.
Hajime Ozaki
John Murphy
My expreince has been that there are not any bargains in Japan on electronics.
You might find something that was unavailable in the USA - but the best prices
are still obtained in the USA. Singapore and maybe HongKong will offer far
better prices.
Consumer product prices in Japan are very high -- largely due to lack of scale
economies in the distribution and wholesale. This is largely a result of
govermental social policy.
You would be far better off spending your time sightseeing!
John Murphy
John Smith
Arnie Shechtman <linn...@ibm.net> wrote in article
<6k1edi$2...@news01.aud.alcatel.com>...
> I would appreciate help with the following questions as I may have
> the opportunity to be in Tokyo soon.
>
> 1. What are the general hours of the audio shops in the electronic
> district on Friday, Saturday and Sunday?
>
> 2. Can anyone recommend some places to go for analog phono
> cartridges, vinyl records and tango transformers?
>
> 3. How do japanese sourced MC cartridges compare pricewise to US
> prices.
I have been in Japan scouting out audio goodies mainly in 1996, things
shouldn't change much, and given the recent exchange rate of
136Yen/US$, I would expect more bargain. Again, Japanese prices in
US$ terms will definitely be cheaper because of the recent strength in
US$.
1. Pricing. I found the Japanese MSRP pricing of products is loosely
based on 100Yen/US$1. Actual street price are usually 20% to 30%
discount. So, based on the current exchange rate, the actual price
could be 50% off US MSRP! In 1996, I found the cartridge Lyra DC
selling at about US$1100 in Shinjuku, and Audio Technica ART-1 costs
about $500, and I got an AT-OC9 for $180. Recently, I found that the
Sony TVR-9 digital camcorder lists for US$2299 can be purchased in
Akihabara for around US$1200. Of course, this pricing only reflects
Japanese originated products. Imports from US and Europe carry high
premium and not worth buying there. I don't believe Singapore or Hong
Kong can be cheaper, in Singapore, at least when I was there 1 month
ago, the electronics costs same or more than in the US for Japanese
products; however, European imports are cheaper there: Sonus Faber
Concerto is half the US price.
2. The big store like Yamigiwa (sp ?) on the main street of Akihabara
has an impressive high-end display with US, UK and Japanese products.
They also carry Senter cartridge (rebranded as Crown Jewel in the US).
In general, Yamigiawa (a BIG store) discounts 20% off MSRP, and they
will give duty free to foreign passport holder (sales tax 5% since
98). However, most smaller shops without duty-free status have better
pricing.
3. Someone mentioned the RADIO KAIKAN right across the Train station
(not subway). This is a 4 story building. Do go to 3rd and 4th floor.
There are 2-3 stores specializing in cartridges and high-end 6N and 8N
wires from Ortofon (Japan only, not seen in US) SAEC, Acrotec (much
cheaper, 8N interconnect costs about $300). A wide variety of
cartridges including Koetsu, Ikeda, AT (AT is everywhere, anyway) and
Denon. There was a limited 24K gold-coil Denon cartridge I think it
was $450 in 1996. Lot's of familiar brands like AT and Denon put out
limited edition or special products not seen here. Stax had an
ear-bud electrostatic headphone which costs $200 that sounds great
which I have. (Perhaps it sounded too good for too little ?? It was
never imported here.)
4. While you're there, pick up some little gadgets like Ebony feet
(1/5 the price of Shun Mok) cartridge mounting hardware (impressively
machined Allen bolts by Ikeda or someone ?) for $20, pure silver or 8N
copper cartridge-to-tonearm leads for $75 (I used these on my Linn),
Shure's cartridge weighting gauge for $15 (it's available from Audio
Advisor too, but hey, I don't have to pay shipping). Also, bulk
connectors (Canare is everywhere, their excellent RCA connectors is
about $2 each and can be used everywhere, pre-cramped Canare RCA and
BNC cables are excellent for home theater video application for
$10-15), interconnects and speaker cables for handy works. For the US
people, it's the opportunity to pick up some Matrix tools (tried Sears
?) like Allen keys for working on Turntables.
5. Minidiscs, MD blanks, and DAT recorders are much, much cheaper
there, for these mass market manufacturers, it's better to go to LAOS
which has an "Oversea" section that have products with International
voltages power supply and English manual (the International voltages
power supply cannot be purchased anywhere else, and they are typically
light-weight switching power supply, very high quality).
6. Most stores take credit card, but the products like cartridges have
no English manual. In Japan, there's no money-back guarantee, except
for manufacturing defects, so make up your mind carefully.
7. I don't find much goodies in the used record section. Most
classical vinyl are licensed copies made in Japan, and the prices of
vinyl are inflated. However Laserdiscs were bargains, as little as
$15 each when on sale.
8. I highly recommend spending times to fully checked out Akihabara,
it takes time to find true bargains. Although I found the Shinjuku to
have the best price on Lyra cartridges, it is harder to these sporadic
high-end shops there. Beyond Akihabara and Shinjuku, other high-end
shops are in the middle of nowhere, it's very hard for non-Japanese to
be able to find those places. The numbering of buildings in Japan is
not sequential, but by blocks and when the house was build! That's
why most advertisement in the back of Stereo Sound comes with a little
map.
9. Similar bargains can be had for Japanese made cameras and lenses,
as well as high-grade watches, but this is beyond RAHE, so drop me a
line if you're interested.