Now watch the prices increase with the bigger market available!
I’ve been to Japan 6 times since 2008 and probably visited Super Potato each time. I bought a Super Famicom and some boxed Jap versions of some favourite games like Wave Race, F-Zero and Star Fox on N64, and F-Zero and Mario Kart on SNES. I also bought a portable SNES player. In 2017, I was tempted to get a cartridge of Demon’s Crest for 60,000 yen before deciding against it. I’m more into the boxes anyway, and now having played Demon’s Crest on Switch Online, it was definitely money worth saved.
I’ve actually found Bookoff better for games, especially more popular ones, and Surugaya as good as Super Potato for rarer games. Bookoff used to be much cheaper, too, until they got a bit wise. It’s still well priced and there’s always a large selection and with stores everywhere. I bought the two Jap Elite Beat Agents games on my first visit at a Bookoff across from my hostel in Iidabashi, and a GBA Winning Eleven at a different store.
Mandarake is a popular option, if not expensive, for games and game music CDs. Also in Akihabara, Trader 2 is also good for games and CDs. There’s about five Trader stores in the area, with Trader 2 specifically the game one. For new stuff, especially accessories and Amiibo, don’t ignore big chain stores like Bic Camera. I bought my Famicom Mini there in 2019.
My holy grail was finding Fighting Eleven (ISS Deluxe) boxed at a retro store in Osaka’s Den Den Town, I think on my second visit in 2011. I’d previously found a cartridge only and Winning Eleven boxed in 2008. Another one was F-Zero Climax. No one had it and then a friend at home saw it available online and ordered a copy each.
An important tip: If you’re after a particular game, show a photo of it to the shop keeper. They’ll check on computer or go to the right shelf area to quickly search. Games are typically stored with only the spines visible, so there’s very few identifiers if you can’t read Japanese. On my last trip in 2019, I found Contra DS this way. Mandarake had it on the shelf, I took a photo of the spine, so was able to easily search in smaller shops. Curiously, a western guy thought I knew Japanese and ask me to find a game. I told him I didn’t know and then resumed my scan. He looked puzzled, then I twigged and explained. Alas, I ended up buying it at Mandarake on the way home and then promptly forgot to claim my sales tax back at the dedicated counter on the ground level. Stores like Bic Camera exclude it at the counter if you show your passport.
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