Visiting Retro Games Store in Japan (Japan Travel Journal Pt.1)

 

INTRODUCTION

 

So I travelled to Japan around the start of this year — almost completely on a whim. A friend was already going with his siblings, and I decided to tag along.

Why Japan, you may ask?

Well, I’ve been a huge fan of Japanese media ever since I was a kid, mainly through video games and anime. Like many people around my age, I first got introduced to anime through watching Dragon Ball Z on Toonami.

 

 

 

And honestly… I was hooked immediately.

I started taking anime even more seriously during my teenage years, binge-watching Naruto after coming home from school. Those really were the good old days when life felt a bit simpler.

I always knew I wanted to visit the home of anime one day.

While I was never the biggest Nintendo fan, I’ve always loved PlayStation — especially anime games like Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3.

 

Akihabara

Akihabara feels busy and overwhelming at first.

There are anime stores, retro game shops, arcades, figurine stores — pretty much everywhere you look. It’s actually very easy to get lost there… although honestly, that’s part of the fun.

Some of the arcades have up to eight floors, each with different games and themes.

*[Insert arcade photos here]*

 

 

 

It’s the kind of place you could revisit multiple times and still discover something new.

One thing that definitely surprised me was seeing how many girls stood outside promoting maid cafés. (Which I may or may not have visited… but that’s probably a story for another post 😉)

Japan also felt very interesting culturally.

On the surface, people often appear reserved and conservative, but at the same time there are surprisingly raunchy undertones hidden everywhere. At one point we entered a fairly normal-looking building, only to discover several floors dedicated to very “adult” Japanese entertainment.

Interesting is definitely one word for it.

 

Visiting retro games store in Akihabara

I decided to join a walking tour around Akihabara.

 

 

 

The tour focused mainly on anime figurines and retro video games. Thankfully there was no real language barrier because the tour guide spoke excellent English (my Japanese is still beyond basic).

As we walked through the crowded streets learning about Akihabara’s history, we eventually got taken into an underground section of one of the buildings.

The guide described it as one of the best hidden places to buy retro games.

And honestly… she wasn’t wrong.

The second I walked inside, I got hit with an instant wave of nostalgia.

The store had consoles and games from almost every generation imaginable:

* PlayStation 1
* GameCube
* SNES
* PSP
* Game Boy

Pretty much everything.

And almost all of it was in pristine condition, complete with original packaging.

For me personally, the highlight was seeing all the old Dragon Ball Z games again.

So much nostalgia instantly came flooding back.

I started remembering:

* grinding World Tournament mode
* unlocking capsules
* trying to get 100% completion in Budokai 3
* learning character combos
* beam struggle battles with friends

So many good memories.

The only painful part?

The prices.

Yikes.

Retro handhelds like the PSP and Game Boy Color could easily reach £500 or more depending on condition.

I was honestly hoping to buy a handheld console for the flight home, but after seeing some of the prices… that idea disappeared pretty quickly.

Still, just seeing everything in person was worth it.

 

 

 

Final Thoughts

I think one of the strangest things about life is how quickly time moves forward.

But sometimes all it takes is one nostalgic moment to instantly transport you back to childhood.

Video games — especially anime games — hold such a special place in my heart.

There was something magical about watching Dragon Ball Z as a kid, then jumping into a game and fighting as Goku or Frieza afterwards.

Where has the time gone?

Honestly… I don’t know.

But I do know that my inner child is still there somewhere.

“This was probably one of the most nostalgic parts of the trip so far. I’ll share more spots from Tokyo in the next post.”