Some quick Tokyo questions
 

Hi all,

I will be visiting Tokyo at the end of this week and I will be staying there for about a week. All my travel and hotel arrangements have been made.

I have some questions:
- I have an unlocked iPhone 3G. Is there any kind of prepaid SIM cards available in Tokyo that I can buy to make calls and data connections?

- I plan to spend a day to visit Akihabara. I know I should have no problem finding the latest and greatest anime stuff. What if I am looking for something...older? (Think mid-90s) Any good pointers of where may I find them?

- How early are the restaurants/eateries open in the Tsujiki market? I am staying in the Courtyard Ginza so it's within walking distance. Just wondering if I can get all my breakfast done there :)

I've no idea about the other two questions and can only make a stab at this one.

Most of the sushi places at the entrance to Tsukiji market will be open by 5:30am. Some of the more popular places may already have a queue formed in front by then.

You want to check out Nakano Broadway (Nakano Station, North Exit, where the real Otaku go :p)

Place is chalk full of collectors shops etc, and the main stores of Mandarake:
http://www.mandarake.co.jp/en/shop/nkn.html
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-b...0050612x5.html

From my own research, not possible to buy a pre-paid sim unless you have a gaijin card. You can always rent a SIM card though.

Take a look at http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/japan...one-japan.html for some more info about renting phones. I'm renting a SIM card through Softbank right now.

i was there last week with my 3G iphone. Unfortunately, mine is locked but i was glad that it at least worked unlike prior phones from the US.

I think Softbank is one of the larger cellular companies in Japan. They have a counter at Narita. The other option may be to check the narita site to see which companies have a counter there - probably a good indication of those who offer pre-paid SIMs.

at the fish market, there are a lot of stalls. I found that a lot of folks visit in large groups which creates big lines for some of the eateries I just kept searching until i found a place without a huge line...not knowing if there ws a specific one to go to.

I can't point to a specific location for DVDs, but I'm assuming you know that they will be Region 2 encoded, and won't work on standard US DVD players, and the vast majority won't have English subtitles. If you can learn the kanji for English, it is pretty easy to check on the back if they do.

However, if you really, really want to see original Japanese releases of anime, you can buy a region-free DVD player online (or find out if the model you own is hackable) and buy to your heart's content.

Be forewarned, though. DVDs, CDs, and other recorded media (dating back to cassette tapes) are far more expensive in Japan than elsewhere and always have been. Unless it's something that you've just gotta have or that you're sure will never be released outside of Japan, go ahead and buy it. Just be ready to pay much more for it than you're used to paying for a DVD.

Prepaid SIMs are not available from any of the major carriers. SIM rentals are available from Softbank for ¥105/day. Inbound calls are free and local outbound calls are ¥105/minute. Data is very expensive at ¥0.32 per 128 bytes, or roughly $25 per megabyte! Softbank will charge your credit card and provide a detailed invoice 2-3 weeks after completion of the rental. For more info on rentals through Softbank, see: http://www.softbank-rental.jp/en/.

The SIM rental works well for me as my primary need is to receive calls.

I didn't realize you can rent a SIM card in Japan. Thanks for the tip!

Looks like Mandarake has a big shop in Akihabara as well:
http://www.mandarake.co.jp/en/shop/cmp.html

But I will definitely try to visit Nakano. Thanks for the tip :)

I was there at 5am on my visit and there was plenty of activity around the eateries shortly thereafter. I ate at a couple different ones - one "low end" and one "up scale" and the difference was marked, but both were quite good. If you want to see the tuna auction figure that you won't be headed over for breakfast until ~6:30 anyways, and everything should be open at that point.

Second the suggestion of Nakano Broadway and Mandarake. Note that Mandarake has several stores scattered around two floors of this building (2 and 3, I believe), each specializing in a different area!

If you're going to Akiba anyway, try the big AsoBit store on Chuo-dori and the Gamers store (a few steps to the south/right of the Akihabara JR Electric Town exit - left side). AsoBit has most of the mainstream stuff.

Also consider wandering the small streets to the south behind the main Chuo-dori drag. Lots of smaller shops carrying an eclectic collection of dvds, figurines etc. Not much in the way of fancy packaging since most of the stuff is truly "collectible" (out-of-print or discontinued lines/characters). Some things are discounted and others are laughably expensive.

I'd advise not bringing the kiddies off Chuo-dori because you'll likely encounter unexpected surprises related to the local taste for underage fantasies.
<puking emoticon>

I also 2nd the smaller back street shops for older stuff. Most shops on Chuo Dori only carry current merchandise.

If Chuo Dori runs north from JR Akihabara Stn to Ginza Line Suehirocho Stn., that block of small shops will be just to the west.

Just to expand on the expense of anime on DVD- in Japan, many anime releases are 1-2 episodes per volume (even for 30-min shows) and the cost per disc is higher than an American release with 4-5 episodes per volume. In other words, make sure you really like the show first! I got the whole Macross series on DVD in Japan, non subbed, before Harmony Gold settled all the rights issues in the US. It was three boxes, unrestored. Beautiful packaging, but it cost a few hundred dollars overall... just one example for you.

There are some Japanese live action movies on DVD that have English subtitles (though generally not for special features), its worth checking out. You can go to cdjapan.co.jp to get more info.

Tell me about it! I'll be a granny before I can finally afford to complete my collection of "Heidi, girl of the Alps" (still at number 8... :( )

Me cago en the local distributors for not including the original Japanese on the Spanish DVDs :mad::mad::mad: