As we continue our walk in Super Kids Land, I wonder over to the next aisle and was met with this sight. This was all strange to me as I've never seen these types of packaging and TONS of them too. Looking closely these were all decals and add-on detail parts (think Sunrise Enterprise, now defunct). The decals are on the right with the detail parts on the left. There were just so many that I wonder how do people know and/or find what they are looking for? Here we are always in the dearth for detail parts, especially if you are a rivet counter. Note the sliding panels as one wall is not enough space! Also note the little girl looking for stuff (I think). Remember the Kato Hobby Center back in Tokyo? Not to be left out they have Kato spare parts too but not as many as in the factory store. But their store lighting is fantastic and you pretty much can easily spot what you are looking for quite quickly. Motors? We got ya' motors right here and it ain't just one! Just help yourself! They were cheap too, about $10 each and they were AVAILABLE! I've never see so many phosphorous bronze pick-up strips all in one spot! You can probably use these for other projects beside repairing locos. Pretty cheap at about $7 a package. BTW, look at the traction tires above them. If you have ever bought a new or a well taken care of used Kato locos, they come with a small piece of bubble sheet to protect the lid from the loco. Sadly most of the time used locos don't come with these as they get easily lost. No Problem! You can buy spares! Under $6 for 20 pieces. Share them with your friends. Who would have guessed these are spare parts! And here is the entire Kato spare parts wall. Wandering over to the next aisle, I was attracted to this shelf with tons of similar looking little boxes. I was curious as to what they were. Almost all trains in Japan are electrics which means pantographs. And with so many styles of trains, there are just an many different styles and types of pantographs. Due to their fragility, they are always the ones to broken or lost on a model. No Problem! Greenmax might have some that fits your needs! Just look at them! More wandering around the store I came across this. How cool is that! A fully spec'ed critter. I don't remember the price but I'm thinking $20 or so. As if Kato and Tomix critters weren't enough of a variety, now you have these as alternatives. There were many styles and configurations to fit you needs (look at the blurred items in the background). Talk about tinkerer's heaven! I thought I have seen enough spare parts until I turned a corner to another aisle and saw this. What is THIS??? It looks like the parts assortment trays at the Home Depot Fastener's section. Since they were labeled in Japanese I had no idea what they were. I had nothing to lose so I pulled one open. Holy Cow!!!!! Yes, spare parts for Tomix! And they were just like the Home Depot parts trays. It's like you looking for a pack of 10-32 stainless machine screws, with nuts. As I've said earlier, Tomix is much much more popular in Japan. Looking at the above picture, there is a white/green column of trays on the far left. Those are more Kato parts. I decided to open one up randomly and they were full of pantographs. They were metal, fabricated quite exquisitely. Oh, the craftsmanship!
Wow, too much to take in!!! Talk about your head literally spinning!! I might have had to sit on the floor and let it pass.
The amount of parts available is incredible. It looks like Japanese model railroaders can repair anything.
I would think so. It's fiction imitating life as their 1:1 trains are immaculate with NO signs of disrepair. As a matter of fact, the entire 15 days we were there we did not see a single vehicle, whether it be passenger cars, buses, delivery vehicles or trucks, with any signs of damage or disrepair. I said to myself do collision/body shops not exist in Japan???!!! I've heard (probably true) that they have laws that would prevent vehicles from being back on the road unless FULLY repaired. Duct tape probably doesn't sell well in Japan.
Wow. I have a bunch of Japanese trains that I don't run as often as I'd like because I'm always afraid of breaking something and I can't get a replacement part. I'm hoping to make it to Japan sometime in the next few years, and I see that I should bring along an extra bag so I can pick up a bunch of spare parts. (And more Shinkansen!)
While I was stationed there, the vehicle inspection process to register your vehicle was pretty onerous. Used vehicles that aren’t in great condition, even if they are mechanically sound, often get shipped out of country to other markets. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
You can try and search on Plaza Japan or Hobby Search's websites for parts. They do carry some but of course, it's a LOT more robust in person. Ah, it is true! No wonder all the pristine vehicles. How often do you have to go to inspection?
Now that everyone has returned to college, there's more time for me to get back to trains! Sorry for the AWOL again. Wondering along yet another aisle in the store we come to the What's New section. Surprisingly it's near the cashier. Maybe for the employees to note your excitement and come over to you to push you over the edge to buy them. This is truly IN-YOU-FACE-TEMPTATION and should be banned!!!!! These two pictures did not even capture the entire section! With such small living spaces in apartments I wonder how the Japanese store their trains. Those that come to run trains at shops that have layouts all come with book cases like the Kato ones we are used to seeing here. Super Kids Land gave me the answer. They have TONS of these foam cradles. Pretty much every imaginable cut-out shapes and combinations. Only $5+ per cradle. So you would pick out the foam cradles you need and then select the empty book cases. It appears they are of standard size so you can mix and match to your heart's content. If you remember, I haven't bought a single train yet and this was my last stop. Do or Die time. I walked around and noticed a set that was On Sale. Even better! Although it was Tomix and not DCC friendly (I'll figure it out eventually) I thought this would be nice and I have never seen this available in the US! Score! As standard practice they test your train after you buy it to make sure it works ok before you leave. Customer service! Here's the motor car on a test track that my wife got a shot of with her phone. She was really getting into this. Cost???? $140 OUT-THE-DOOR baby! Damn! When we went back to the hotel that evening I decided to start to do a little packing. I'm always the procrastinator but this time I had an ulterior motive. I found out I had a touch more space...for more trains! So the next day, on the way to Osaka Castle for some sightseeing, we stopped by Super Kids Land again. Oh the torture having to go back and see these trains for a second time! Now I'm walking around with a mission to see what I can fit in the remaining space. Got this Kato set since we rode on it in Japan. Costs???? $71 OUT-THE-DOOR! I have since gotten the expansion set to make it an 8 car train and added decoders for DCC. It runs and looks niiiiiicccce! Funny thing when buying the Kato set. When I walked up to the cashier, I joked that I spent all my cash yesterday (true, since we were about to leave the country) and that I had to use a credit card this time. He smiled. I didn't know if he really understood my humor or what I was saying for that matter. So I reached into my wallet and gave him my Amazon VISA card since it doesn't have foreign transaction fees. He took my card and bows (remember their politeness all around) and in broken English said "Ahhhh!!!! Visa card! More discount!" and starts to laugh. Huh? I don't get it. I said "More discount???" Note, this was after I gave him my US Passport which afforded me a 10% discount already. He points to a sign in Japanese and all I recognized in English were "VISA" and "5%". Apparently if you use a VISA card, you get an additional 5% discount. That's hilarious! In the US, they CHARGE you extra for using a credit card. In Japan they give you a discount???!!! I didn't believe this until I got my receipt and sure enough the extra 5% off was there. So total discount was 15%! I told my wife we should return/refund the Mickey set and buy it back with a credit card! LOL!!! But we had to use up our Japanese Yens anyway. BTW, two weeks later I was at the Altoona N-Scale Weekend show and there were two dealers there selling that exact same Kato Shinkansen set for $150 and $160. I should have bought extra to sell at the show!
That's just absolutely fabulous MK! I get sensory overload just looking at the pictures, can't even imagine how that was in person! Thank you so much for sharing all this.
I was beginning to worry about your coming home without any new trains! The 2 you bought are fabulous, especially the Micky Mouse set. Is your layout Japanese themed or do you run whatever you like, what I call an anything and everything layout?
Thank you for following along for so long! It is great to relive my trip with all you guys. Makes me want to go back NOW, especially with sub-freezing temperatures, snow and leftover for lunch today! Who doesn't like Mickey??? My layout is not Japanese themed. As you say, it's an anything and everything. I have been tempting to build a Japanese themed T-Trak module. Don't see any of that in the US. Now that's an excuse for another Plaza Japan order as I do need the temples and shrines kits (Tomix does have them!). A few more posts to go before we get back to the US. Stay tuned.....
Ooh! A Japanese themed TTrak module, I may try that as I have quite a few of the JR Steam locomotives here. Also, gives me an excuse to watch for a set of their passenger cars to go with the Steam!
MK, Thank you for your great series on Japanese train stores, very well done. It fills me with optimism! The massive interest in N-Scale in Japan will help provide stability, at least for Kato that provides reliable track and US locomotives to meet our needs. This is a strong counter argument to the constant drone on the approaching death of railroad modeling and manufacturers in the US. - Tonkphilip
