Sorry for the late introduction, but living in a foreign country can be very time consuming!

My name is David and I'm a toy-aholic. I run a little website called It Came From Japan (www.itcamefromjapan.com) and I've been fortunate enough to live in and experience Japan over the past several years.

Over the last few months I've gotten to know the man behind TFormers, and we've chatted quite a bit about life and collecting over here. He started this forum so we can all share our experiences and answer questions from those who are interested in this mysterious country.

I've only recently relocated to the Tokyo area, so I'm still getting to know my way around. I definitely have my favorite places, and in the future we'll talk about good places to shop for those of you headed this way.

In my spare time I try to sell a few toys on the site, and I'd love to help people find anything they're looking for, but there's only so much time in the day. I am working two jobs (this place ain't cheap, maybe you've heard...), but I'll try to check the forum at least once a day.

Thanks again to TFormers and TFans for this opportunity! Talk to you soon!

Itcamefromjapan

Welcome to TFans

and yes indeed, Jack is a very cool and upstanding guy. Possibly the sole reason I am involved in the fan community to this day.

Ohaiyo Gozaimos! (good morning)

Ohayou to you too! It's the start of another beautiful day in dirty Kawasaki! Too bad I have to work

Tomorrow's a national holiday, can't remember which, but I'll have the day off! I plan on sitting around all day to work on my website and add some stories to the forum here. Maybe I'll go to Toys R Us if I have time; lots of good TF stuff there. I had a busy weekend and couldn't get much done!

Jya ne!
Itcamefromjapan

Hey can you take some pictures of the TRU? I and others I am sure are dying to see what a Japanese one looks like.

Usually Japanese stores don't allow photos, but I'll try to sneak my camera in!

KonBonwa(if I spelled that right) , I have a slightly off topic question, why is it considered rude to eat in public in japan? I've always wondered that since I first heard that it was

Konbanwa!

(good evening for those who don't know)


Is it rude? They do have restaurants, so why would it be rude?

Great question! You are correct, it is considered extremely rude to eat in public places, like walking down the street with a burger or even a canned soda in hand. It's also rude to do the same on any train (except the bullet train; they actually serve snacks and drinks).

I know people who have gotten in trouble because their boss saw them walking down the street with a coke. They were told "don't walk and drink!"

This is one of the great mysteries to foreigners; I don't know why this is the way it is. To the naked eye, it would seem perfectly okay for anyone to piss, spit, or vomit on the street, so why is it so rude to eat? Also, Japanese people smoke like it's going out of style (and I think it IS going out of style in the States, right?). Many restaurants don't even have non-smoking sections. The constant presence of smoke is definitely going to bother non-smokers in Japan (like me!) unfortunately.

Freaky!

Thanks Dave I am looking for a Sunstorm and Hauler set if they still have them over there, but that's all for now....I would love to go to Japan some time that's for sure

That's a very interesting thing. At my college here in Texas, there are a lot of Japanese exchange students(most likely trying to escape the harsh colleges of Japan), and they smoke like there's no tomorrow. I swear, you'd think that they were just giving them away.

Yoroshiko debito-san!

I'm a japanese resident too! Ive had a chance to converse with Jack about Japan life (he seems awfully interested in the cute Japanese ladies!)
I live about 2 hours from Kita-senju station. Isesaki is my home (might be moving next year, as Im looking fro a new Job now that my JET contract is coming to a close!) and its on the Tobu-Isesaki line (starts at asakusa and ends at Isesaki station). email me if you want to meet up some time!
Ive just made a "Let's learn Transformers English" "purinto" for two budding Transfans at my Juniour High school. They LOVe "Conboi" and chums but have hardly ANY idea about the G1 stuff. poor buggers are the only ones flying the flag for Cybertron against all the Gundam clones out here in Japan.

ja ne!

Kuraigu

Hey Craig,

We probably have a lot in common, I'm an ex-Jet currently in Kawasaki. I'm way on the other side of Tokyo from Kita-Senju, so I'm pretty far away from you. You have any trips planned to Tokyo in the near future?

I saw some of your other posts, is that you in the picture?

デイビッド

To Grimlock: I can probably find a Sunstorm/Hauler set, but it'll probably run $100 + shipping. Let me know!

Lemme guess: UTSA?

Thanks Dave. I just sent you a PM

The info on eating in public is most interesting ... especially considering how the US is very much an eat-on-the-go society.

I'm a 1st year JET living in Japan now near Kobe and Kyoto.

Japanese Toys R Us look a lot like American Toy R Us. They're about the same size. Many of them are in malls, so those are a bit smaller than the ones in a States. They also sell some American candy that can't be found anywhere else in Japan.

Toys R us here is helping me relive my childhood again. The G1 reissues seem to be cheaper here than in the States. I've also started collecting a few Macross planes as well. Good stuff.

I don't like Gundum though. I just don't get it. Just futuristic samurai battles. The models are pretty cool though. I think the models help Japanese boys and men to express themselves and take pride in a hobby.

Japan is definitely the land of giant fighting robots. Good times!

They are cheaper than in the states. Here, they're $30 each. In Japan, they're 3000 yen, which is about $28.50.

My best guess is because the US ones are TRU exclusives, and exlusives are almost always more expensive than general releases.

Hi! How popular is TF in comparison to Gundam in JP? I know about the current market trends for anime, but TF is a separate animal entirely. Also do you do special orders for non-TF items like anime cels? PM me, thanks!

デイビッド : Im off to the Japan Toy fest on Sunday in Odaiba at the BiG Sight! Wann join me? Im on a budget but ill be pickin up a few odds and sods there! maybe we could half the number of pics we will take to show this orrible lot here how cool japan is?!

To reply to the quote:

transformers are NOT as popular in japan as Gundam. Tfs are seen as the "foriegn" toy or just "for kids". There are some hard core japanese Otaku (nerds/collectors), but Gundam is the hero. Almost EVERY convienience store, highway petrol station, etc will feature at least 1.6 million Gundam merchandise items, from candy to toilet apper!

transformer toys are easy to get, but stauff like Cds, DVds and other meadi are hard, unless you live in Tokyo. the major stuff on DVD etc is Masked Rider, Power rangers, ultra Man and hamataro.

Mind you, takara DOES do a HELL of a lot of foreign imports and special ed at their site www.e-hobby.co.jp!

Go figure!

David...your thoughts?

Primal Convoy is right, Gundam is the big cheese in Japan.

Should any Western fan make that spiritual journey or mecca to the holy land of Japan, they might lose control of all bodily functions. After all, Gundam has had a twenty-something year stronghold on this media-fueled society.

And media-fueled it is! Maybe media-fooled is a better phrase. Take 125 million people and stuff them into a sardine can and see what happens! The capsule toys, the anime, the telephone book-sized comics, the porn; it's all just escapism from the crowded conditions and unfriendly faces. (The idea of holding a door for someone is just as foreign here as I am!) It would be so easy to lose yourself here, get lost in this artificial world and never look back. In fact, anyone who goes to the toy shows this weekend in Tokyo will see it! If you thought American fanboys were bad (myself included), you ain't seen nothin'!

Oops, got a little side-tracked, that's a story for another time! Back to Gundam vs. Transformers!

Japan IS (dare I say it?) GUNDAMANIA! From athletic shoes to Zippo lighters, Gundam is omnipresent. Folks, you almost can't look in a direction without seeing something Gundam-related, it's that bad. For those of you who saw my TRU Japan artice, you might have noticed the, um, two feet of shelf space (and an endcap) reserved for TF's? Well whoopty-doo, Gundam had an entire aisle, both sides, if you count all the model kits and action figures.

Most stores do however have a few Transformers lying around, and like Primal Convoy said it's viewed as kids stuff. In fact I had a nice conversation about Transformers with a first-grader here just the other day. This Micron crud is after all just a TF version of Pokemon (at least that's my theory, some of you may have thought it too!). Let's see, Transformers collect these little Micron buggers and use their powers! Gotta catch 'em all!

If you go to ANY convenience store, you'll see Gundam by the truckloads. Gundam Chesspiece Series 37, Gundam Vehicle Ultimate Pose Collection Zeta, Gundam: War Over My Butt Tactics Series Umpteen Crap.

Remember the Kabaya TF Bottle Cap collection released several months ago? I must have gone to 8,000 stores looking for those, and guess how many times I saw them? Once. ONCE!!!!

Fortunately classic TF does still have a following, and you can find some great shops around Tokyo filled with G1 vintage goodness. IF you can pay the bill!

yeah. My local beisia store had the bottle caps, but that was it! Im very lucky to live near a HUGE second-hand collocteors warehouse style shop. they have a mint "Overlord" powermaster for only 20,000 (100 Uk pounds) and god knows what else. Im also near Hobby Link Japan and j-list.com. I have a TRU and a local shop should I not beable to find what Im after in the other 5!!!!

Still, some stuff is hard to get, like CDs, DVDs, etc.

The media circus that Dave was on about is very real. Japan is a place were "YOU WILL BE ASSIMILATED" and conformation MUST be adheared tio. Many Japanese just WILL NOT accept individulism. many need an escape route. In our cultures, like the Uk, we turn to satire and political debate, plus movies, soap operas, etc.

in Japan, where the press's acytivities are ruthlessly controlled by the corrupt governments and companies and Yakuza, investigative journalism, political satire (or even just satire, in the "this famous person is crap" that the "Late show" and "Have I got news for you" employ) are basically outlawed. this means that Japanese people are "brainwashed" with a lot more fickle, shallow news reports, and lots of chat shows and anime.

the "fantastical" worlds portrayed in japanese manga, anime, games etc could be said to be inversely proportionate to the mundane life enjoyed by 99% of the Jpaanese workforce.

ironically, manga and other mediums are normally made by quiet, shy individualistic Japanese, who themselves have been shunned by mainstream society as "different".

Looking back at the Gundam thing, and the stuff above, the sheer amount of spending power in japan dictates that Gundam, hello kitty, ultra man, etc will dominate the shelves. However, Ive been told by some peeps that the very same toys are NOT actually doing well. Like many things in japan, they are artificially kept in a top position by the cartel-like structure of japanese business policies. The toy company (bandai) rubs the shops back with a little cash and the toy shop lets them run the show.

heres a good site bowt japan:

http://www3.tky.3web.ne.jp/~edjacob/

why are japanese companies the way they are? - http://www.geocities.com/japanfaq/FAQ-Prices.html.

Enjoy!

G'day, I'm Joel from Australia. You don't have any of those rare Takara reissues like Thundercracker, Skywarp, Scourge, Cyclonus, Galvatron or any of the combiner giftsets do you?

Hey PC,

Do HLJ and J-List have storefronts, so you can actually walk in and shop? That would be sweet!

David
PS--Did you buy that Overlord? I want it!

HLJ is located in the US, with a warehouse-type system set up in Japan. The owner, Scott T. Hards, told me himself.

lol...Lots of ex-JETs here. I was a JET too. In fact, I believe it was partly Transformers (and all the other robot toys my half-Japanese primary school buddy had) that got me into Japan in the first place!

I was a JET over near Kyoto, but am in Tokyo now. Fairly, central, but don't get out much...lol...always in the office or at home watching EPL (English Premier League) on Skappa...

About the eating in public - there is a thin line drawn, coz you can stand in a noodle bar, in a station for example, and basically eat on the platform, but as long as you are the 'correct' side of the head height curtain and/or facing the counter, you are considered in the restaurant, so it is different.

One place it is rude NOT to eat in public is a Japanese festival. Basically stall after stall of food which must be consumed whilst visiting the local temple and/or partaking in violent traditions involving large tree trucks and wooden floats...

yaki tomorokoshi! (Grilled corn cobs)
okonomiyaki (Japanese 'pizza')
yaki ika (grilled squid)
tako yaki (octopus balls)
jaga bata (Baked Hokkaido potatoes with lashings of butter and salt)
jaianto furanku (Giant Frankfurters on sticks - no bun)
etc.

Love those festivals....

HLJ can be walked in, but you have to be care ful. Scotts dog is psycho! She bit a truck driver once!

I wouldnt reccomend just walking into the warehouse uninvited. I have a Jpaanese friend who can, so I go there with him. We were running around the place with pellet guns last time! wahoo!

If you live nearby, then email and ask first.

Buying DIRECTLY from the place isnt allowed, I think. I think you still have to "order" from them even if you are ther. Bit like Argos!

I have been to Japan this past summer with my g/f to visit her parents in Tokyo. Stayed for 1 month. Been to 2 or 3 Japanese TRUs. Looks almost the same, except that they had book styled reissues like Megatron on the shelf. I almost crapped myself. I did take pics! I will post when I'm not so lazy....

One interesting thing, they had Air attack Optimus Primal, the gigantic gorrila that was a TRU exclusive retailing for $29.99? It was 8,000 yen there at the TRU, which is like $85!!! U.S.

Air attach OP Prime Is still there. If it was in America, he would have been discounted by now. this is a Japanese problem. things rarely get discounted unless they are damaged....

Your GF Japanese? I hope shes japanese American. my Last Japanese GF was too quiete. Never told me what was wrong, so I dumped her.

You are correct. She is Japanese Japanese. She is quite. I didn't know if it was a Japanese thing or it was only her. Like she wouldn't talk to me and then 1 week later explode, then I'd be like why didn't you tell me? Its like its too polite to tell me shes mad b/c I farted.

I mess the individuality of american girls but then I don't think that they would cook and clean for me....

Yeah, my GF, Mika, is far too quiet as well. Won't ever tell me what her problem is. Just nandemonai's.


And with that. Hello.

Im Pooka, been in Japan for a year come april. I live in Aobadai on the Denetoshi line and work at a NOVA school (GAHKKK!!!!).
Usual toy haunts are Shibuya (Mandarake and Comix), Akihabara, the occasional trips to Nakano and the Center-Minami TRU (best one I've found so far).

I totally agree with what Primal and ICFJ said about the state of TF's in Japan. Any students I talk to don't know TF's, even the geeky otaku ones and the gundam geek.

Japan is and isn't the Mecca for Transfans at the same time. I was desperately disappointed the first time I saw a TF display in Japan. It was a bad endcap with damaged boxes.


Oh BTW AAOP are now 2000yen at Center Minami TRU!