Yodobashi Camera is a popular electronics store in probably the “geekiest” district in Tokyo, Japan. Yodobashi is located in Akihabara where you can visit Maid Cafes, anime and manga shops, video game arcades, and various electronic stores. There are even Manga Cafes (Manga Kissa) where you can read/watch manga and use the Internet. Akihabara is the center of otaku culture (diehard fan) so it may be a dream come true if you grew up with Japanese anime/manga. I’m not into anime/manga nor am I really an electronics geek but it was fun watching people dress up in cosplay and maid costumes to get tourists into their restaurants/shops. There are also anime porn shops so be aware if you have little ones on your trip. I was able to find a nice, surprising beauty section full of products and tools in the Yodobashi Camera (also written out as Yodobashi – Akiba with Akiba referring to a local shrine in the neighborhood). This stop isn’t a necessity if you’re already planning to go to LOFT, Ainz & Tulpe or any of the Matsu-Kyo/DonQi stores as it pretty much carries the same assortment of drugstore beauty but it’s a nice option if you’re pressed for time and cannot travel outside of Akihabara.
Getting There/Location
Yodobashi – Akiba
Japan, 〒101-0028 Tokyo, Chiyoda, Kanda Hanaokacho, 1−1
Train: JR Yamonote line to Akihabara, Showa-dori Exit OR take the Hibya line to the Akihabara stop
http://www.yodobashi-akiba.com/index.html (Not really helpful if you don’t know Japanese and it doesn’t Google Translate well)
Yodobashi – Akiba is right off the train stop’s entrance/exit and you can’t miss its massive 9 floors of grey building. It’s located on the East side of the train station while the other popular destinations like Super Potato, Mandarake, AKB48 Cafe and Gundam Cafe are located on the West side where the Chuo Dori, the main walking street is located. The beauty section is located on the 3rd floor and the only other floor that matters to me is the 8th floor where there’s a food court and the 9th floor has a batting cage! I actually didn’t know about the top floor awesomeness because we were already exhausted going from floor to floor so we missed out.
Most popular shopping destination for tech
Photo Tour
1st Floor: Phone cases are organized by phone model. I own an Android and it’s annoying how I mostly see cases made for iPhone because there are too many Android phone models that most retailers don’t bother carrying cases for Android at all. There are also cell phones, computers, tablet accessories, memory/SIM cards, battery packs and Apple section for anything iPhone/iMac related. I bought my SIM card for my phone here.
2nd Floor: PC parts, PC software, PC accessories, PC books, printers, fax machines (Japan is still very old-school in a lot of ways), phones, suitcases
3rd Floor: Cameras (digital, film and video), watches, film, camera accessories, cosmetics/beauty tools, watch repair, souvenir/tourist corner (think lanterns, swords, silk scarves, knick knacks)
4th Floor: Audio Visual Goods (headphones of all types)
5th Floor: Heating and Cooling, Kitchen Appliances, Appliances, Emergency Lighting/Goods, Hearing Aids. If you’re looking for a water bottle, Japan is obsessed with reusable water bottles for some reason. One for cold and hot liquids.
6th Floor: Games, Toys, Instruments, Bicycles, Music, Adult Software
7th Floor: Various Shops are split into two levels, Bookstore, Music Store, Glasses, Formal Wear, Handbags, Dentist, Foreign Exchange, Bank of Tokyo and Rasona Bank
8th Floor: Food Court and Game Corner
9th Floor: Golf Store, Driving Range, Batting Café
Eyes on the Hello Kitty and Gudetama phone cases!
Cute phone cases with straps and credit card holders
Japanese onsen bath salts that supposedly heat up in the water. These can be found in any Matsu-kyo/DonQi store however.
My friend had wanted me to get this particular BB Cream for her but I thought I would be able to pick it up at a Matsu-kyo drugstore, turns out I couldn’t! I think this is an older BB cream it started to get discontinued in other outlets.
This is also a hard-to-find Fairy Drops kit that once had it’s heyday as the go-to BB cream to buy. Comes with setting powder and mascara – couldn’t find this anywhere but at Yodobashi.
Single packaged Fairy Drops BB Cream that I didn’t come across anywhere else but at Yodobashi.
Typical assortment of Japanese mascaras but I’m not sure if there are any special variations that Yodobashi might have like the BB creams I’ve spotted.
You need to research on all the different types of Majorca Majolica mascaras before going to Japan.
I found this guide on Majorca Majolica mascaras helpful when I was making my list of things to buy from Tokyo.
Typical Macquillage makeup.
Chained Anessa sample because this shit is expensive. About $27 a bottle.
Looking at this again, I wish I bought an aerosol can of SPF for my body.
Pretty normal drugstore selection
There was also a beauty tools section with tons of hot curlers, straighteners, blow dryers, facial massagers, and wacky tools. I wasn’t too interested in this because I wasn’t sure if the voltage and plug outlets would match with my American outlets. Sorry I didn’t take any pictures of this section!
Other Non-Beauty Floors
I’ll admit that I didn’t take a lot of pictures because I wasn’t planning on making a full out guide of all the stops I went to in Japan. The ones below are because I genuinely thought it was cool and I had a laugh.
In the toy aisle. Those are dope Storm Trooper costumes.
I guess Tomagotchis are still a thing in Japan!
Digital pet corner. These were the hottest things in the late 1990’s lol. I was too poor to own a real one and we got similar toy in Chinatown for half the price
The arcade floor was pretty cool.
Comments
Did you find anything worth buying at Yodobashi? How did you like your experience here? Did you get to check out the food court?! Let me know because I went to this diner that sold a salad, egg and toast for breakfast before going here (ᗒᗣᗕ)՞
