I have been hinting the past few months that I would start a thread on my journeys exploring Japan for the first time. Many of you seem interested and I do apologize for not starting this sooner as I had some time sensitive things that I had to take care of first. I must give @Mark St Clair credit for his diary of his trips to N-Scale conventions and gatherings. Every time I read his post I feel like I was along for the ride. Hopefully I'm doing the same here. I will posting my experience not only about N-Scale and 1:1 (subways, regional trains and of course the bullet train) but also other aspects of Japan that you may find interesting. But, I'll concentrate on trains to keep things focused. This is Trainboard and not Vacationboard. I am starting my thread here as N-Scale is where I hang on Trainboard. Hopefully the moderators will allow me to keep it here. I just don't know where to begin because even after 2 months of being home, my head is still spinning from the sensory overload of that society. It wasn't just trains but the people, the food, the cleanliness, the politeness, the lack of crime, the inexpensiveness (due to the SUPER strong dollar), the sense of order, the history, the "honor thy elders" mentality, being at Ground Zero of the first atomic bomb dropped by mankind (I've never seen so many people crying in a museum! ), and the list goes on and on and on. As a photographer I took thousands of pictures and just finished putting together a book of my travels. Just photographs and I only used a portion of my photos. 316 pages! So let's start! It was a 15 day trip to Tokyo, Kyoto, Hiroshima and Osaka. We felt so guilty being "bad" parents. Two days after dropping off our son to college we were on a 14 hour United flight from Newark to Narita...in Polaris Class no less. That's where you have your own pod with a lie flat bed. Made a world of a difference but I'm not going to mention the price here. "Now you study hard, pay attention to the professors and don't drink too much beer. Mom and Dad will be off to Japan spending your inheritance...." Because of Polari Class, we were able to get a few hours of sleep so that when we landed we were off and running. Japan is 13 hours ahead of US Eastern. The first day we took in some of the sights and just figuring out Tokyo Station took an afternoon. More about train stations later. The second day, instead of asking, I just told my wife (dangerous move!!!! ) that we are going to Kato. But she didn't mind. We were both in sensory overload mode every since we landed. (BTW, we were in this mode for the entire trip!) Kato is in the Shinjuku neighborhood of Tokyo. Out came Google Maps and we were on our way! We got on the subway and got off at the station as indicated by Google. I knew I was in the right place when one of the advertising billboard in the station had a Kato Hobby Center ad. It was a few blocks away (everything is walking distance in Japan once you get to the right station). After two blocks walking along this tiny street I started to wonder if Google Maps was wrong. I mean, this was what I saw. It's the left street! But as I walked more blocks and trying to be patient about it - where the heck is this place??? And what does it look like? A store front, a building, a basement, what????? Finally, I see it! Whoa! That's a little bit on the big side. An entire building? Nah, probably just a small section on the ground floor and the rest being office space. Shortly I arrived at the entrance to Mecca!!! Hmmm, the entrance seems grand. But how could this be a hobby store? Certainly none like this in the US. Like I said, probably just a small display and the rest office space. BTW, note the cleanliness of the ground. It was like this everywhere. The entire 15 days I was there I did not see a single piece of trash on the ground wherever I went. Not exaggerating! Not even the train stations. And I was purposely looking for trash to see if the myth was true or not. (It's true!)
Thanks for everyone's interest! I wasn't sure if I was wasting my time or not. With your impetus I will continue and post my next episode soon. I see this thread's journey taking a few days/weeks as I find time to post the correct images with narration.
As we entered the building we find ourselves in a very sparse foyer. A few train flyers and models here and there and some nice Japanese flowers. Very Zen if you know what I mean. Unfortunately I didn't take a photo of the foyer as it would have prove the low expectations. But, as soon as I entered the building I was completely frozen. Best way to describe it is a deer caught in headlights. A form of model railroad paralysis took over my body and I thought I had the proverbial "died and gone to heaven". My wife couldn't understand my paralysis. Once I regained my bodily movements the first thing I did was look at my watch and did some quick math to figure out how much time I have in this place before it closes! OMG! I would need hours! Here's what I saw on my left. This is Kato's piece de resistance, their main (and working!) layout, that greets each guest as they enter the building. All DC as DCC is not popular at all in Japan. At this point in my delusional state of mind, I had failed to realized there's a second floor. Once realized I quickly went up and did some helicopter shots. As you can see, lots of straight main lines. Why? Shinkansen! They had multiple ones running at once and it was truly a sight to behold! Lots of tracks to run as a true representation of a Shinkansen trains is 16 cars! And they run them fast on the layout! But wait! That's only to the left of me. Then I turned my head slightly to the right and saw this. My body immediately went back to paralysis. What the heck is this????? I've never seen such a setup at ANY hobby store anywhere! Rows and rows and rows of trains and all Kato???? What???!!! As it turns out, they have EVERY single Kato model that is currently (and on pre-order) available on display and available to purchase in the store. Yes, they take credit cards and remember the Yen is at a HUGE disadvantage. When I was there it was 143 Yen to $1. It's now 150 to 1. They try to maintain a 100 Yen to $1 so you can do the math on how much more you can buy. One slight disadvantage is that everything is MSRP as, well, it's a Kato factory store. Later on I found out that many, if not all, other general LHS in Tokyo discounts at 20% or more off MSRP. I'll discuss pricing and cost in another post. This is TOTALLY unfair to the modeler! How dare Kato tempt us with every model on display under bright lights, all available for sale???!!!!! Bastards! BTW, again, note the cleanliness of the floor! I can have lunch on it!
When I lived in Tokyo I went there about every other month and picked up something, usually accessories and detail parts. When I factored in shipping costs from US hobby shops, it usually made sense. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
MK, your Kato store experience duplicates my good friend and Kato dealer’s from the DC area. He was blown away as you were by the magnitude of their layouts and displays. He was there about three weeks ago and spent two hours, wishes it was longer but he had family commitments. Please continue your reporting and pictures, outstanding!
I shall continue Bill! I went to multiple shops in Tokyo and multiple shops in Osaka. All different experiences and each one blows you away in a different way. Model railroad takes on a different level of interest in Japanese society. Many, many more people are into it and not just old retired guys. Later on I'll tell my interaction with a JR (Japan Rail) employee who I happened to strike up a conversation with about model railroading while we were waiting for our Shinkansen to arrive in Tokyo Station. I even showed him pictures from Altoona N-Scale Weekend. I shall continue my journey as I have time to type. Maybe another posts tonight.
Every other week? If I lived in Tokyo it would be every other DAY! The only thing I didn't find prevalent is US railroading. Yeah, you have Kato USA locomotives but Micro-Trains or any other freight cars were rare and command a premium price. I guess opposite of Japanese models here in the US.
NOTE: so far I've been showing all Kato and it appears that I'm pushing Kato. Not true, it just happens to be the first hobby shop we visited. The rest, after Kato, will be general hobby shops in Tokyo and Osaka. Osaka is the big one. Wait until you see pictures of that place! Also, I'll be throwing in 1:1 scale soon, interspersed between N-Scale. Back to the journey....... And here is a close up shot of a typical display case. Get the idea of a pusher pushing their wares? Every row you see in the previous post's picture you would see display cases like this to the left and right of you. This should be against the law!!!!! Let me slightly switch topics. I know everyone on the forums have been saying they have trouble finding Kato spare parts. Things are out of stock and you have to wait weeks or months for something to be available. And even then you better be quick or else it will sell out again and the cycle repeats itself. Now I know why and have the answer for all of you! All the spare parts we are looking for and waiting for are in Japan! The above is a display for bogies/trucks. Looks like a lot right? They have 2-3 more displays just like this, all trucks!!! Heck, I didn't even know there were that many styles of them. And don't even ask me about coupler parts! So you also need a shell to do some modding or custom painting or perhaps you dropped your model and broke it? Never a problem in Japan. Just run down to the store and get another one! There were more sliding panels behind what you see in the picture. I think they were 3 deep! But, what good is a shell when you can't show the interior or have a matching under carriage? I mean, it's sooo amateurish to have no interior in a model train. No worries! We gotcha' your interiors right here! Oh, but you only need typical spare parts? Not a problem, Aisle 6 and hang a left. This is only a fraction of what my camera can capture! I was SO unprepared for this. I could have prepared and brought my laundry list of Kato spares that I needed or "good to have around". The anxiety was so high as I tried to figure out if I could formulate such a list using the internet right there and then while I was in the store. Alas, it was too much of a mountain to climb. Quite a disappointment not to have taken the opportunity.
So THAT'S where the replacement U30C shell I've been looking for is hidden! Japan sure doesn't do hobbies in half-measures….
One of my big regrets from when I lived there is that I didn’t just buy a bunch of parts and build a model from scratch! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Looks like when I go to Japan, I got to get some parts to fix all of my non-runners! Even maybe get a few locomotives!
They sure don't! Since the Kato Hobby Center was the first shop we visited I thought to myself this extravagance was probably due to the fact this is a factory store and like all companies, want to put on a first impression not to be forgotten. As you will see later on, I learned this is not the case! EVERY hobby store that I went to had this "shock effect" the first time you enter. And I think this is the Japanese culture and society. If you are going to do something, go all in and do it right! (We all know it costs most to redo anything.) Wait until you see the 1:1 scale that we experienced. We had the same experience of "Wow, this can't be real?"
Oh that would be so fun and challenging! I wonder if the "parts is greater than their sum" is true in terms of cost.
And if you do it soon, because of the strong dollar, you will come out way ahead money wise! The items I brought back to the US were either "not available in the US" or 40-60% cheaper that what you would pay for it here.
One picture I forgot to post. They even have Kato USA models! Surprisingly they didn't have any price advantage as their Japanese brethren. My suspicion is A) US freight trains are not that popular (due to cost) and B) Kato USA is probably a whole separate subsidiary of Kato Japan. A) causes a Catch-22 situation and you get into this never ending loop of high cost. After thoroughly exploring the first floor many times over, I decided to head up to the second floor. BTW, they also carry Woodland Scenics stuff but way in the back of the store and at prices higher than what we get here. Many Japanese people live in small apartments and don't really build home layouts so scenicking material is not that much in demand. More in another post. When I got upstairs I saw this lonely elderly gentleman sitting by himself with no one around. That's a bit odd and it piqued my curiosity of what's the story with this guy. So I took out my cell phone and used Google (visual) Translate and figured out what all those signs were. He's the Kato Repair Man!!! He must be a relative to the Maytag Repair Man, he doesn't have much to do. It is Kato after all! They have an onsite repair service! I don't know if it's free as I didn't see any pricing posted. I've heard people bring in locos to fix couplers and they did it free on the spot. What's more they have a handful of cubicles that you can use as workstations to repair your own trains at the store! Right next to the Kato Repair Man should you have any questions or need any help. AND, you can borrow any tools you want from the Kato Repair Man!!! Think about the convenience. Any broken parts you need to fix or you broke in the process of opening up the locomotive/car, you can just run downstairs and buy them! No more multiple trips to the LHS or multiple online orders paying exorbitant shipping charges and waiting for the delivery guy! (^ Again, note how clean the floor is!) BTW, in case you were wondering what's that track at the lower right corner (lonely Kato Repair Man picture). It's their test/running layout. It's about half the size of the main one on the first floor so it's still pretty big and not as extensively scenicked. But if you buy 500 Yen or more of merchandise (about $3+), you can run your trains on the layout! And it doesn't even have to be a Kato train or the one you just fixed. DC only of course. Sorry but I didn't get a photo of that layout. This brings us to the last post on our visit to the Kato Hobby Center. I will be moivng on to my next train shop visit in, of all places, a "department store".
This is fascinating, MK. I’m really enjoying it. It is my understanding that N scale is far more popular than HO in Japan because people live in small homes and don’t have room for a permanent layout. They snap a layout together, run it for a few hours and then take it apart and store it in its boxes until the next time they can set it up. I am impressed with how clean everything is. I like clean.
