Shopping - Tokyo - page 236

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but it also offers a slew of other leisure-related items such as games and bicycles (some
people fear this monolith will put independent Akiba shop owners out of business).
Other reputable stores, with English-speaking staff and models for export, include Laox,
15-3 Soto-Kanda ( & 03/3255-5301 ), and AKKY International, 1-12-5 Soto-Kanda
( & 03/5207-5027 ), both on Chuo Dori (the latter store also carries Japanese souvenirs
in its basement). If you're serious about buying, check these stores first.
In recent years, Akihabara has also earned a reputation as a center for Japanese pop
culture, including anime, manga (Japanese comics), and cosplay (costume play); see
“Anime & Manga,” earlier.
For more information on Akihabara, go to www.akihabara-tour.com, where at press
time, free 2-hour tours of Akihabara were offered two Saturdays a month at 1pm.
In addition to stores in Akihabara and Shinjuku, there's LABI Shibuya, 2-29-20
Dogenzaka ( & 03/5456-6300; station: Shibuya), offering seven floors of electronics,
including digital cameras, camcorders, cellphones, TVs, computers, software, games and
appliances. It's open daily 10am to 10pm.
Cameras
You can purchase cameras at many duty-free shops, including those in Akihabara, but if
you're serious about photographic equipment, make a trip to a shop dealing specifically
in cameras. If a new camera is too formidable an expense, consider buying a used camera.
New models come out so frequently in Japan that older models can be snapped up for
next to nothing.
Bic Camera This huge, eight-floor store near the Ginza offers not only single-lens
reflex, large and medium format, and digital cameras, but also computers, DVD and
MP3 players, camcorders, watches, toys, and much more. Note, however, that it caters
primarily to Japanese; English-speaking sales clerks are scarce, and export models are
limited. Ask for the English-language brochure and, if you're buying sensitive equipment,
make sure it will work outside Japan and comes with English-language instructions.
Open daily 10am to 10pm. There's a branch in Shibuya at 1-24-12 Shibuya
( & 03/5466-1111; daily 10am-8pm; station: Shibuya, 2 min.). 1-11-1 Yurakucho, Chi-
yoda-ku. & 03/5221-1112. Station: Yurakucho (1 min.).
Q Lemon Its name doesn't inspire confidence, but this company specializes in used
and new cameras and lenses from around the world. On the eighth floor are both new
and used Japanese and foreign cameras, including digital cameras and large-format mod-
els. Leica, Hasselblad, Rolleiflex, Canon, Pentax, and Nikon are just some of the brands
available, along with watches and eyeglasses. A camera buff 's paradise. Open Monday to
Saturday 11am to 8pm, Sunday 11am to 5pm. 4-2-2 Ginza, Chuo-ku. & 03/3567-3131. Sta-
tion: Ginza (1 min.). In a green glazed-brick building also housing the Ginza Methodist Church.
Yodobashi Camera Shinjuku is the photographic equipment center for Tokyo, and
this store, 1 block west of the station, is the biggest in the area. It ranks as one of the
largest discount camera shops in the world (though the new Yodobashi in Akihabara,
above, now surpasses it), with around 30,000 items in stock, and it reputedly sells
approximately 500 to 600 cameras daily. Prices are marked, but you can bargain here. In
addition to cameras, it sells watches, calculators, computers, and other electronic equip-
ment, though if you're interested specifically in watches, clocks, audio/video equipment,
games, and other wares, nearby branches specialize in all of these (ask at the main shop
for a map of shops in the area). Open daily 9:30am to 10pm. 1-11-1 Nishi-Shinjuku,
Shinjuku-ku. & 03/3346-1010. Station: Shinjuku (west exit, 3 min.).

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