Heroic's Toy Shop Guide Maps for HK, Osaka, Tokyo & SG

[CHILENO20]

Nope. Den Den Town Mandarake has an English speaker on staff, but every time I've been there Hero Gangu has been all Japanese-only speakers.

Is Mandrake the one futher up? The one on the corner opposite the model kit store? Thanks for the info as well.

[kurdt_the_goat]

Mandarake is about 15 mins walk away from the main street in DenDenTown.. more like Shinsaibashi area. Jungle is another G1 stockist that's one street down from Herogangu.

[GoktimusPrime]

There's 2 Mandarakes (pronounced "Mahn-dah-rah-keh") in Osaka -- Umeda Mandarake and Mandarake Grand Kaos, both within walking distance of each other. I'm not aware of any staff in Den Den Town that speaks English... but if you're able to go there with someone who can speak Japanese (or if you feel like learning Japanese ), Hero Gangu is the one place in Den Den Town where you can haggle (which is uncommon in Japan -- I tried haggling at Mandarake & Jungle... no luck ). I haggled with the manager at Hero Gangu and he gave us 17% off all our purchases on that day (so the United Frenzy/Rumble I found there for about $51 was sold for $42... still freaking expensive for a pair of Scouts, but I haven't been able to find them for any cheaper).

More details about my TF exploits in Osaka here.

[Ode to a Grasshopper]

I'm not aware of any staff in Den Den Town that speaks English...

Bugger, my mistake - kurdt and Goki are quite right and Mandarake GC is in Shinsaibashi. I got the names mixed up - shouldn't have stayed up so late playing Just Cause 2 last night I guess...
Anyway, apparently Jungle has an Italian guy on staff who speaks both English and Japanese. He's not in every day though.

Between Goki's adventures and the ever-so-handy Heroic Decepticon's Osaka TF shop guide you should be set info-wise.
And of course there's me, who lives here, but between my having a full-time teaching job, my contract forbidding me from work on the side, and my Japanese being pretty basic there's only so much I can do.

[CHILENO20]

Thanks everyone, your info has been great! Wish I could go back! Oh well, I can dream. Do any of these other places have websites in english? Doubtful but you never know. I only checked the main street of Den Den town when I was over there.

[theshape]

Hey guys thinking of going to Tokyo in January. Any tips at cheap/nice hotels to stay close to the cool shops? Any tips on saving money (cheap meals etc)?

Any other cool places to visit (ive checked out Heroic's blog)?

Cheers guys!

[liegeprime]

Well, your basically covered once you've read thru heroic d's blog on getting around akihabara. Keep in mind though he covers mostl6 g1 stuff since he's not that much interested in new stuff, so, I say follow the ones he suggested but still have wander on each shop that way you don't miss anything and keep abreast of the conversion rate daily so you know if the item is cheap or not and haggle hehehe - something I'm not good at all.

[SuspectimusPrime]

I found most of the food in Japan quite cheap whilst very high in quality We weren't thinking of saving money, but meals averaged at $20pp or less. After returning from Japan we had dinner at Nobu Melbourne, and sadly just could not get the same quality.

[Shirokaze]

HD's blog covers all the Mandarake stores which is awesome.

While you're in Akiba, be sure to check out Yodobashi Camera for current toy releases, as well as temporary Radio Kaiken 1 and Toys Golden Age on Chuo dori. Chuo Dori is Akiba's main street, but be sure to explore the streets parallel to it too. If you're also an anime or game fan, you'll probably need to spend a day (or more) in Akiba alone, so be careful with your scheduling!

For accommodation, I stayed in a hostel called Khaosan Tokyo Ninja in Asakusabashi. If you're going with one other person, it's great, because you can get private rooms for 2 at a cost of 3000yen per person, per night. The bathroom facilities are shared, but only with the few rooms on your floor. They're cleaned multiple times per day, and are absolutely spotless all the time. Never had to wait for a toilet or shower either!

Meals can be done really cheaply if you don't feel the need to splash out. Convenience store sushi and onigiri is better than most sit down sushi joints in Australia, and the bento they sell are delicious too! Ramen can be had at some places for as little as 300yen, and udon/curry places do sets for 500-600yen!!

Hope that helps some

[GoktimusPrime]

While you're in Akiba, be sure to check out Yodobashi Camera for current toy releases,

Yodobashi Camera is also currently selling their exclusive Transformers Prime Thundercracker toy, if you're interested in getting that, theshape. Maybe if you know any Transformer collectors in Tokyo you can meet up with them.

Meals can be done really cheaply if you don't feel the need to splash out. Convenience store sushi and onigiri is better than most sit down sushi joints in Australia, and the bento they sell are delicious too!

I love Konbini Sushi and Onigiri... but they are loaded with preservatives and aren't as nice/healthy as proper sit-down restaurant sushi. Nothing beats proper home-cooked Japanese food though. *major.droolage*