by canofhumdingers » Sun Sep 20, 2015 8:34 pm
It's been 7 years since I went, but these should still be good places to shop for kaiju stuff.
Akihabara (nicknamed "Akiba" sometimes I think) is one of the districts of Tokyo and is the nerd capital of the city. I can't name specific stores but we just walked around and went in anywhere that looked interesting. Found a cool model shop where I bought some Japanese scale model buildings to build dioramas for my Godzilla models. Found plenty of stores with Godzilla toys and books and things, though you often had to hunt. But it was just a fun area of town with all kinds of fun nerdery.
Then there's also the Nakano Broadway mall. It's a condensed geek mall full of Japanese toys, manga, etc. The big draw for Godzilla lovers there is the Mandarake store, but I found it worthwhile to stop in pretty much every kiosk/shop as you never knew what you might find. I also found some awesome Japanese Star Wars stuff and a wicked 1/6 Rocketeer figure for dirt cheap compared to what he was selling for in the states. Just google search it and you'll find all the info you need to get there.
Lastly, as I always do when the question comes up here, I have to plug Monster's Labo. I think it was in Akihabara but it was an amazing store and the owner was a ton of fun to talk to. Here's his . And here's (paste it into google maps). It's not an easy store to find. It was off the Main Street down an alley and the sign was quite small over the door. And the actual store was in the basement in a very cramped area. But I don't think I've ever seen so many marmits, gigabrains, marusans, etc. in one place. It was nerdvana. And the fact that it was hard to find made it feel like a treasure hunt and only added to the magical experience. I loved it so much that in the two weeks I spent in Japan, it was the one place I made an concerted effort to revisit again before leaving. I spent way too much money there...
Missed the forums, so much going on. Back and ready to contribute again. I could use some help. One of my life long dreams is being fulfilled next month and I'm going to Tokyo Japan for the first time ever. First time in Japan actually and I'm soooooo excited. Anyone who has ever been before or knows the city well, where can I find Godzilla collectibles in Tokyo. I need some suggestions of kaiju related sites to see to. I hope I can go see Toho studios too. 
