About 20 years ago I was wandering through the stores in akihabara, I was most interested in the industrial and electronic new and used surplus. I also bought several vessel screwdrivers, they are s-tier drivers. You could see them hanging to the left of you in the last shop.
I sure wish we had shops like that in St Louis Missouri USA. To find what those stores have, in one location, I would need to shop three or four stores, scattered all over town, spend most of my day in heavy traffic and, maybe, go home with Nothing. Another issue, here in the USA, is the fact the stores are taxed, year after year, on the inventory they have. So, if any individual item is on their shelf for four years (example) they pay tax on it four times.
that tax seems odd, there is nothing like it at all in Europe, the only reason behind it could be an effort to increase competitiveness, so expensive stuff doesn't sit on shelves for 5 years, but that also is a bit contradictory especially considering free market rules
Yep. We just have a Hobby Lobby and it's mostly mass produced - live laugh love - crap for ladies to put on the wall. Almost no hobby supplies at all and what they do have is the most basic generic junk. Oh and our city is almost 300,000 population so you'd think a decent shop could be supported.
My family and friends are gonna be so mad that for 15 years they couldn’t convince me to visit Japan, but this random Latvian man did it in 15 minutes just sharing tours of DIY shops he found 😂 10/10 bro, I am officially jealous of the DIY shops there!
These small shops selling small quantities must help to reduce waste greatly. Here in the US, we have no choice to buy huge quantities just to store the unused portion and eventually trash it
I prefer to overbuy, but then, I have lots of space to keep scrap pieces around forever until I find a use. I always go to my scrap first before looking to buy any new material. It would definitely be nice if smaller quantities were an option but I think in the US market they would mark up the smaller pieces by way too much. Which happens already too often.
Great video! Love visiting DIY stores in Asia, especially like the first one. Tools everywhere, so many different tape (I have a huge tape collection lol), thank you for this video. Edit: OMG the 2nd last store with all the materials!! So good!! The first and last stores by far are my favorite type.
Saw some Tamiya stuff while you were walking through the final store on the first day. I've bought the tank treads and a transmission for a DC motor to run them for a robot I built. Really high quality stuff. Cool to see it there. Have been to Japan twice. Could definitely see myself retiring there and just building little projects here and there. I'd probably spend too much money doing it too =)
I'd get happily lost in that place... a month later, and they'd find me in a corner drooling, mumbling but with a mental state still wondering in gadget heaven.
I really appreciate the tour you've given as I have similar interests. Whenever I'm in a shop like that or a small, family run fishing tackle shop, I feel obligated to make some kind of purchase to show my support for not giving in to impersonal, corporate big box stores.
The thing I notice is that it's hardware stores with thousands of pounds of product but Japan is such a high trust society it's all on the shelves to pick up...with my local decent hardware store they're great because they're used to the way I shop now but these hardware shops are beyond anything...beautiful.
Of course, the bicycles are locked. They usually have a small, inconspicuous lock that is permanently in place at the top or the rear wheel. Turning the key causes a metal bar to slip between the spokes so that the wheel cannot rotate, and the bike cannot be ridden, or wheeled, away.
I only got to visit Akihabara Tokyo Hands, and it is amazing indeed. I cannot think of any other place in the world where you can buy a large chunk of brass for turning, dyneema rope or specialized glue - right in the middle of a main shopping district in the capital. There are also some fun non-tool-related sections, such as a whole sizable department of leather care supplies.
Neat video. I enjoy this sort of content. Cool to see how other DIY'er around the work get their material and parts. Our channels are a bit similar. New subscriber! Cheers
Everyone of those bikes has a lock on the front tire. It's built into them, (Source) my wife is from Hiroshima. They use the front tire lock for short term like a 7-11 run, and a cable lock for anything that's going to leave the bike unattended for significant amount of time. Good content, first time viewer.
I wish we had such variety in a German hardware store..its noticeable though that the goods are packed tight and in small sizes, I bet that most are made in Japan not in PRC!
I'm surprised you didn't go to Akihabara first. When I was in Japan in 1987 I went there to see if it was practical to buy a DAT recorder. Lots of electronics shops, arcades with small shops selling components, tools, you name it. Shinjuku is an entertainment area. The train stations (or subway as you call it) are nicer looking now and not as many bikes outside.
I've been to Tokyo once, and made a point of visiting Akihabara. Sadly, it seems to be taken over by anime and gaming. There are still great electronics and PC stores there, but you have to really look for them.
interesting to see lot of the store signs have english & the english print is much larger than the Japanese print. Usually its the other way in most countries. That said. in the US Amazon has become the DIY store & it gets delivered to your door. Probably the only items not available are large pieces of material ie 4x8 sheets of plywood, 2x16x16' boards, which just isn't piratical to ship via UPS/FedEx/USPS. For Asia its Alibaba, aliexpress, etc.
Heehee, my kinds of places. (As for 'Gorilla Glue,' their special stuff anyway, it can perform fine for odd things, though it really wants the right amount of moisture to activate it, so it's often not so worth the trouble. ) Also don't sleep on Japanese wood tools, even if not especially old ones from used places. There's treasure there that I think deserves to be cared for and used. (Also I am always pleased with the Estwing brand, whatever they may be called in Japan or elsewhere, but they are usually made there and always just seem to be nicely-made and designed in ways you might not notice at first.)
I am ADDICTED to hardware stores… which I’m drawn to wherever I’ve traveled… … & these Japanese ones just feed my addiction ! Here in San Francisco, one of my favorite hardware stores is Japanese, in the ‘Japantown’ district… no surprise.
I love contradictory information :D Today a japanese man in a video: hey, we don't do DIY, we hire professionals (like: don't fix flat bicycle tire 🤨) You: Hey, DIY storeS in japan. As far as I remember from other videos: In Tokyo don't be attached to your umbrella or bicycle, because you may not find it where you left. You, and the impression from walking videos: bicycles are safe to left anywhere where it is allowed.
Most of the bikes are locked -- mamacharis tend to have a frame lock or u could see a very simple cable lock on others. But yeah they aren't generally secured to anything
Japanese produces excellent tools and gadgets, I’m slowly building up my Japanese tools inventory with German made tools not just for the quality but for the prices as well.
Was recently in Japan for a few weeks, and much to my wifes displeasure, spent way too much time and money in these kind of places. Funniest was in Nagoya, where we took a taxi to an outer suburb to a toolshop I'd discovered. With a loaded heavy backpack, we discovered we were a long way from any return transport. No cabs or trains. We walked for nearly 3 hours in the midday heat before we found a taxi. The things we do for hobbies 😮😮😮😮
Word to the wise, don't ever use Gorilla glue on your wood projects, if you can find Titebond use that, it comes in 3 different formulas which have to do with setting/cure time. Buy the smallest bottle you can find and buy Type II, gives you the happy medium between setup times. If you buy the large bottle it will dry out before you get to use all of it. Unless of course you have an enormous project.
Hey sorry I completely lost the name of the 3rd shop and totally forgot to mention it in the video.. I will try to find it and will write it in the comments if I find it
Actually, Ace Hardware only covers a small part of what is in those stores and are overpriced. I am in St. Louis and to find what you need, for a small project or gadget idea, you need to shop three or four stores, scattered all over town, spending most of your day in heavy traffic. Shops like he just showed us just don't exist in St Louis. 😁✌🖖
I’m so surprised to see DIY shops in Japan, but why not?! They have everything else, it would seem. I’m totally envious. There is nothing, NOTHING, like this in my experience, in the US.
U nas brakuje takich sklepów DIY gdzie można kupić wszystko, formatki aluminiiowe, plastikowe itd. We lack DIY stores where you can buy everything, aluminum, plastic, etc.
How did a country like the USA manage to eliminate variety and choices and end up with only a tiny fraction of the product choices that they have in Japan and other countries like Malaysia and Singapore and Taiwan? Something is terribly wrong with this. Allowing a few corporations to eliminate all the competition seems very un-American. Who has caused or allowed this travesty?
@@lipinskirl How can you watch this video and see all the incredible variety available in Japan and not realize that we have far less variety to choose from in the USA?
@@tralfazyDude, where do you live in the US that there aren’t 5 different large hardware stores and an additional 15 different specialty shops in a 25mile radius? I think you live in a fantasy world… The shops he went to in the video look like every other Ace Hardware, Taylor’s Do it center, Wood Craft, and Michael’s….
Hey bros! I totally forgot to mention the name of the last store in the video but its : sengoku densho (akihabara main store)
Nice video, that place is DIY patrons heaven on earth! I liked your effort.
Would be good if you put the goole map links in the summary of the video…I think I would travel to Tokyo just to browse the last couple!
About 20 years ago I was wandering through the stores in akihabara, I was most interested in the industrial and electronic new and used surplus. I also bought several vessel screwdrivers, they are s-tier drivers. You could see them hanging to the left of you in the last shop.
This is the type of vlog I'm Looking, No script, No direction. Just random walk and talk about anything you think or see, Keep it up!
To heck with tourist sightseeing, id be spending my time and money in those shops.
100%
Whow i am just blown away. I tought we have good shops in Germany but that`s not the case. Thank you for the video.
Glad you liked it!
these sort of shops are gone forever I fear when Chinas cheap imports flooded the markets, Japan is holding out simply because of culture
to try are also the second hand tool shops, give old tools to have a second life....super kind and helpful people.
i wish we still had stores like this. Japan is becoming more and more of a dream to me. id be in love with all those stores.
This store is my type of playground, I could spend an obscene amount of money there!
Yes, indeed.
I sure wish we had shops like that in St Louis Missouri USA.
To find what those stores have, in one location, I would need
to shop three or four stores, scattered all over town, spend
most of my day in heavy traffic and, maybe, go home with Nothing.
Another issue, here in the USA, is the fact the stores are taxed, year
after year, on the inventory they have. So, if any individual item is
on their shelf for four years (example) they pay tax on it four times.
Now you know why Jeff Bezos is rich.
We used to have several electronics stores in town plus Radio Shack.......now nothing
that tax seems odd, there is nothing like it at all in Europe, the only reason behind it could be an effort to increase competitiveness, so expensive stuff doesn't sit on shelves for 5 years, but that also is a bit contradictory especially considering free market rules
I would go broke in stores like those. Neat to see the variety!
Shops like this are my heaven
agree
These stores crush anything I've been to.
Same!
Yep. We just have a Hobby Lobby and it's mostly mass produced - live laugh love - crap for ladies to put on the wall. Almost no hobby supplies at all and what they do have is the most basic generic junk. Oh and our city is almost 300,000 population so you'd think a decent shop could be supported.
Sadly Radio Shack got sacked by Wall Street.
I can never EVER visit Tokyo because I would bankrupt myself in these shops and get stranded there with no money to get home.
My family and friends are gonna be so mad that for 15 years they couldn’t convince me to visit Japan, but this random Latvian man did it in 15 minutes just sharing tours of DIY shops he found 😂 10/10 bro, I am officially jealous of the DIY shops there!
Those are my favorite shops in Tokyo! Also the storekeepers are always super helpful even when they don't speak English super well
These small shops selling small quantities must help to reduce waste greatly. Here in the US, we have no choice to buy huge quantities just to store the unused portion and eventually trash it
I prefer to overbuy, but then, I have lots of space to keep scrap pieces around forever until I find a use. I always go to my scrap first before looking to buy any new material.
It would definitely be nice if smaller quantities were an option but I think in the US market they would mark up the smaller pieces by way too much. Which happens already too often.
Great video! Love visiting DIY stores in Asia, especially like the first one. Tools everywhere, so many different tape (I have a huge tape collection lol), thank you for this video. Edit: OMG the 2nd last store with all the materials!! So good!! The first and last stores by far are my favorite type.
8:45 got a chuckle as the "no photographs" sign practically fills the screen.
Saw some Tamiya stuff while you were walking through the final store on the first day. I've bought the tank treads and a transmission for a DC motor to run them for a robot I built. Really high quality stuff. Cool to see it there.
Have been to Japan twice. Could definitely see myself retiring there and just building little projects here and there. I'd probably spend too much money doing it too =)
It's amazing seeing a retail shop with Grove and Seeed project PCB's in stock 😮👍
I'd get happily lost in that place... a month later, and they'd find me in a corner drooling, mumbling but with a mental state still wondering in gadget heaven.
I really appreciate the tour you've given as I have similar interests. Whenever I'm in a shop like that or a small, family run fishing tackle shop, I feel obligated to make some kind of purchase to show my support for not giving in to impersonal, corporate big box stores.
Tokyu Hands may not have personality, but they have EVERYTHING!
@@peraltarockets you can’t beat it!
The thing I notice is that it's hardware stores with thousands of pounds of product but Japan is such a high trust society it's all on the shelves to pick up...with my local decent hardware store they're great because they're used to the way I shop now but these hardware shops are beyond anything...beautiful.
This is really cool. Looks like nice holiday.
Wow! What amazing stores!
The best!
Of course, the bicycles are locked. They usually have a small, inconspicuous lock that is permanently in place at the top or the rear wheel. Turning the key causes a metal bar to slip between the spokes so that the wheel cannot rotate, and the bike cannot be ridden, or wheeled, away.
I only got to visit Akihabara Tokyo Hands, and it is amazing indeed. I cannot think of any other place in the world where you can buy a large chunk of brass for turning, dyneema rope or specialized glue - right in the middle of a main shopping district in the capital. There are also some fun non-tool-related sections, such as a whole sizable department of leather care supplies.
Lovely video! Nice shots, editing and music, keep it going :)
Thank you!
Subscribed. Greetings from Finland!
Thank you for sharing this journey, for an older person in the U.S. its like a different world...🙂✌️
The scissors you said you liked are the kind typically used for trimming bonsai trees.
We used to have these stores in the USA. They were called Sears, mom and pop hardware stores and Radio Shack.😥
I have several Japanese tools, and treasure them all. Some of the best in the world.
Neat video. I enjoy this sort of content. Cool to see how other DIY'er around the work get their material and parts. Our channels are a bit similar. New subscriber! Cheers
This is a great vlog, simple and friendly.
Thank you! 😊
Everyone of those bikes has a lock on the front tire. It's built into them, (Source) my wife is from Hiroshima. They use the front tire lock for short term like a 7-11 run, and a cable lock for anything that's going to leave the bike unattended for significant amount of time. Good content, first time viewer.
I wish we had such variety in a German hardware store..its noticeable though that the goods are packed tight and in small sizes, I bet that most are made in Japan not in PRC!
I can’t imagine doing inventory in these shops!
I'm surprised you didn't go to Akihabara first. When I was in Japan in 1987 I went there to see if it was practical to buy a DAT recorder. Lots of electronics shops, arcades with small shops selling components, tools, you name it. Shinjuku is an entertainment area. The train stations (or subway as you call it) are nicer looking now and not as many bikes outside.
I've been to Tokyo once, and made a point of visiting Akihabara. Sadly, it seems to be taken over by anime and gaming. There are still great electronics and PC stores there, but you have to really look for them.
DAT recorder? 😕
@@Chevroletcelebrity Google it if you don't know.
interesting to see lot of the store signs have english & the english print is much larger than the Japanese print. Usually its the other way in most countries.
That said. in the US Amazon has become the DIY store & it gets delivered to your door. Probably the only items not available are large pieces of material ie 4x8 sheets of plywood, 2x16x16' boards, which just isn't piratical to ship via UPS/FedEx/USPS. For Asia its Alibaba, aliexpress, etc.
Heehee, my kinds of places. (As for 'Gorilla Glue,' their special stuff anyway, it can perform fine for odd things, though it really wants the right amount of moisture to activate it, so it's often not so worth the trouble. )
Also don't sleep on Japanese wood tools, even if not especially old ones from used places. There's treasure there that I think deserves to be cared for and used. (Also I am always pleased with the Estwing brand, whatever they may be called in Japan or elsewhere, but they are usually made there and always just seem to be nicely-made and designed in ways you might not notice at first.)
I think I'm getting a headache. I think I would buy half the store. Some tools I couldn't even find on the internet. It is one of the greatest videos!
Thank you so much!
I am ADDICTED to hardware stores… which I’m drawn to wherever I’ve traveled…
… & these Japanese ones just feed my addiction !
Here in San Francisco, one of my favorite hardware stores is Japanese, in the ‘Japantown’ district… no surprise.
Lived in Yokohama for awhile loved the hardware and toy stores
Amazing stores.. you cant find stores in the USA like this anymore.
What is the name of the last place you visited ? I am going to Japan next week, I would love to visit those shops.
I was just about to ask the same!
I like looking around DIY stores. The one that sold the blocks of aluminium and steel was amazing. What are people making with stuff like that?
The beauty of it is that you can literally make whatever comes to your mind and just by visiting a single store to get all the supplies
First place was called DIY時代 (jidai) or "age/era"
Awesome
Tokyo + DIY shops? I'm in!
I love contradictory information :D
Today a japanese man in a video: hey, we don't do DIY, we hire professionals (like: don't fix flat bicycle tire 🤨) You: Hey, DIY storeS in japan.
As far as I remember from other videos: In Tokyo don't be attached to your umbrella or bicycle, because you may not find it where you left. You, and the impression from walking videos: bicycles are safe to left anywhere where it is allowed.
Most of the bikes are locked -- mamacharis tend to have a frame lock or u could see a very simple cable lock on others. But yeah they aren't generally secured to anything
nice tour, thanks
Japanese produces excellent tools and gadgets, I’m slowly building up my Japanese tools inventory with German made tools not just for the quality but for the prices as well.
Microcenter has a decent section for electronics prototyping
Hi from India 🇮🇳❤
If you want to see a shop with traditional Japanese woodworking tools, Sagami Daiku Dougu Kan is an hour from Tokyo.
next time I will! Our time in Japan was very limited but we are already planning a next trip!
Was recently in Japan for a few weeks, and much to my wifes displeasure, spent way too much time and money in these kind of places.
Funniest was in Nagoya, where we took a taxi to an outer suburb to a toolshop I'd discovered. With a loaded heavy backpack, we discovered we were a long way from any return transport. No cabs or trains. We walked for nearly 3 hours in the midday heat before we found a taxi.
The things we do for hobbies 😮😮😮😮
hahah, thats awesome! I think my wife would kill me if I did this :D
@iljanster
She nearly did kill me 😆
Store was Hodaka Pro Shop.
Thanks for taking us along! This is the right kind of sightseeing (siteseeing?)
Hi Pavs!
Why not to open the perfect diy store at home!?
Become the best distributor, by the viewpoint of yours {:
Would be awesome but for now I’m just a lot more interested in making stuff .. but maybe someday?¿
Hardware Store ❤is what we call it in the USA🇺🇲
11:00 this shop is amazing!
Word to the wise, don't ever use Gorilla glue on your wood projects, if you can find Titebond use that, it comes in 3 different formulas which have to do with setting/cure time. Buy the smallest bottle you can find and buy Type II, gives you the happy medium between setup times. If you buy the large bottle it will dry out before you get to use all of it. Unless of course you have an enormous project.
Hey nice video, i know the Shinjuku Store and the Tokyu Hands at Shibuya, very cool indeed.
What was the name of the third store?
Hey sorry I completely lost the name of the 3rd shop and totally forgot to mention it in the video.. I will try to find it and will write it in the comments if I find it
仙石電商 sengoku denshiyoと階段上がり口のドアの貼ってあると思う。
@@RigoHoward sengoku densho (akihabara main store)
Awsome video
I call those tiny mallets "Tune -up" hammers.
i wish i could get an exact replica store where i am lmao
Now take us to a portable radio and camera shoppe!
Thats an idea for the next time!
I need to take my wife and son to Riga. Haven't been there in 15 years, since my family all immigrated out of the country.
Nice one keep it up!
Thanks 🔥
Hi, Thanks for the video. What is the name of the last shop you visited?
sengoku densho (akihabara main store)
this is awesome.
In the US, that first store (DIY) would be an Ace Hardware.
Actually, Ace Hardware only covers a small part
of what is in those stores and are overpriced.
I am in St. Louis and to find what you need, for
a small project or gadget idea, you need to shop
three or four stores, scattered all over town, spending
most of your day in heavy traffic. Shops like he just
showed us just don't exist in St Louis. 😁✌🖖
the DIY store is like a Hardware Store in USA
Wow Japan.
That Hands shop is better than anything we have in the U.S.
Olfa invented the snap-off blades in the fifties.
No sabia lo de Olfa
Very cool video!
@@ruvensivyer7047 🙏🏼
wait, you didnt get the penguin?!
What camera are you using? Phone with Gimbal?
@@ludwigrx dji action 5
I’m so surprised to see DIY shops in Japan, but why not?! They have everything else, it would seem. I’m totally envious. There is nothing, NOTHING, like this in my experience, in the US.
We have big box stores.
You should do a Thrift shops tho next time you make a Video.
@@judelagcao2090 thats a great idea
That first store is DIY Jidai. Jidai means “era”.
This completely blows away anything in the United States! There are no stores here like that!
Amazing! Really wanna go to Japan now! And i might be able to get you some gorilla glue 🤓
yeees brother! I need to go to Sweden to shop some vintage goods!
U nas brakuje takich sklepów DIY gdzie można kupić wszystko, formatki aluminiiowe, plastikowe itd.
We lack DIY stores where you can buy everything, aluminum, plastic, etc.
We used to have real stores and shops...now we have Amazon and Walmart...smart.....😮
🥲
At 5:59 this is the boards many of the machines at my arcade use to mount their games !
I'M SO JEALOUS RIGHT NOW.
I love how plywood is cheaper in a random little tokyo store than in Australia... wtf
What a dream!
How did a country like the USA manage to eliminate variety and choices and end up with only a tiny fraction of the product choices that they have in Japan and other countries like Malaysia and Singapore and Taiwan? Something is terribly wrong with this. Allowing a few corporations to eliminate all the competition seems very un-American. Who has caused or allowed this travesty?
you did
What are you talking about? Take the first product he looked at, we have literally 16 different brands of superglue to choose from at Walmart alone…
@@lipinskirl How can you watch this video and see all the incredible variety available in Japan and not realize that we have far less variety to choose from in the USA?
@@tralfazyDude, where do you live in the US that there aren’t 5 different large hardware stores and an additional 15 different specialty shops in a 25mile radius? I think you live in a fantasy world… The shops he went to in the video look like every other Ace Hardware, Taylor’s Do it center, Wood Craft, and Michael’s….
If I ever go to US these stores will be my first destination :D
Hello from Texas
🫡
Hey, what was the name and location of the last store you visited?
Oh yes, I did check it out, it’s Sengoku Densyo (Akihabara Main Store)
no true latvian would have visited that DIY shop and seen that beautiful copper hammer without stealing it
@@dedsert9653 😂
I usually buy everything online because i cant find what i want in stores.
you should definitely let Adam Savage know you found heaven!
It truly is 😆
The first store had, in my view, the most wabi sabi.
I loved it too
14:07 are Slot Car motors :)
Not me spending my time on toolbox’s website trying to translate around to find that XXXX pendant light at 6:16
yes that one was a freaking awesome light
2:25 3500 Yen = 22.25 USD