Japan Game Junk

Joy be upon us as I visit the recently-opened first Surugaya store in Yamanashi prefecture! In the capital of Kofu, there are pricy rarities and cheap game soundtracks. And pricy game soundtracks. Maybe not the best Surugaya but you're hours away from any other so might as well go in!

Not Nintendo 64 but episode 64 as I talk about one of my favorite Hard Off stores, being the Satoyoshi store in Kofu, Yamanashi, as visited on July 6, 2024. A must-visit if looking for MSX or Laserdisc stuff, and maybe you can get some action in an elevator.

A visit to a Hard Off on a hill, with the Futaba store located in Kai, Yamanashi. On July 6, 2024 I unfortunately left empty handed, but it may be a worthwhile visit for fun with Harry Potter or tiny PC CD-ROMs.

There is no one true mecca of game stores in Japan for collectors looking to buy, and even if there was one it would certainly not be in Akihabara! However, there are a few must-visit stores, and this is one of them. Here I describe the original and best Mandai Shoten store in Kai city (very close to the border of Kofu city), Yamanashi. It may be a long drive from Tokyo or Nagoya but it may be worth it if you take time to visit other shops in the area especially!

If nothing else this is THE place to go for Famicom Disk System consoles and games if you want guarantees of usability even at surprisingly low prices.

What a day as a new region of the country is breached, as after Kanto and Tohoku, this is the first episode describing a visit to a store in Chubu! Even if the store was not great! This is the Book Off store in Iwasa Hirose in Yamanashi visited on July 6!

On July 1 of 2024 I visited a store to which you have not been before! Unless you live in the area or are a driver trying to visit the far reaches of used gaming in rural Japan! It's the Ibaraki Kanteidan store in Kamisu, Ibaraki! Get yourself an instant Famicom collection or a bottle of liquor if that is your thing!

A Hard Off visited on July 1 of 2024, this one gets some good stuff as it's the only one to be found in almost an hour in any direction! It is the store in Kamisu, Ibaraki! This is the best character ever made, Kamisu-Koko-kun:

https://www.city.kamisu.ibaraki.jp/kanko_sports/coco/index.html

Way back when on June 30, 2024, I visited the Oizumi Gakuen branch of Hard Off store in Nerima ward of Tokyo! It had a number of games at 2000 yen that were good buys! It had untested junk consoles! It had a huge Pikachu!