Guys and galls, firstly and apology. I promised this article last year but life got in the way - wait a minute, guitars are life and life is guitar. Anyway this is my description of the experience of seeking out guitars in Tokyo when I had a week there in May/June 2016.
Here is the link to my Tokai guitars factory tour during the same visit in case you missed it: http://www.tokaiforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=23280&highlight=
Now I probably got to go out on my own 3 times during the trip as we were cramming a lot in to a week, including a day in Kyoto. As you can imagine Tokyo is one of the worlds most populated cities however I never felt 'crowded'. Yes we did the Shubiya crossing and went on the train in rush hour but the Japanese have a culture of respect and I never once worried where my wallet was or felt overwhelmed by the crowd. You felt everyone had your back as a visitor. An alien culture but not alienating.
I recommend that if you are going to do this trip then a lot of google searching on locations and tips and there is lots out there. Get your maps ready as some of these stations are massive and if you go out of the wrong exit you could be miles away walking round to find the shop you want.
You could ask someone and the local Police we very cool too. Another tip, I bought the Michel Thomas learn Japanese CD and played its 8 hours a few times before going - excellent teaching method and a relatively easy language to learn. I wanted to know my please, thank yous and excuse me's as well as how much is that guitar. I didnt need to use it much as many locals we spoke to had perfect english however i felt it was a really good ice breaker to say su mi ma sen (excuse me), bieru ocudasi (please may I have a beer)
OK, that is the introduction, now for the guitars I hear you shout!
Here is the link to my Tokai guitars factory tour during the same visit in case you missed it: http://www.tokaiforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=23280&highlight=
Now I probably got to go out on my own 3 times during the trip as we were cramming a lot in to a week, including a day in Kyoto. As you can imagine Tokyo is one of the worlds most populated cities however I never felt 'crowded'. Yes we did the Shubiya crossing and went on the train in rush hour but the Japanese have a culture of respect and I never once worried where my wallet was or felt overwhelmed by the crowd. You felt everyone had your back as a visitor. An alien culture but not alienating.
I recommend that if you are going to do this trip then a lot of google searching on locations and tips and there is lots out there. Get your maps ready as some of these stations are massive and if you go out of the wrong exit you could be miles away walking round to find the shop you want.
You could ask someone and the local Police we very cool too. Another tip, I bought the Michel Thomas learn Japanese CD and played its 8 hours a few times before going - excellent teaching method and a relatively easy language to learn. I wanted to know my please, thank yous and excuse me's as well as how much is that guitar. I didnt need to use it much as many locals we spoke to had perfect english however i felt it was a really good ice breaker to say su mi ma sen (excuse me), bieru ocudasi (please may I have a beer)
OK, that is the introduction, now for the guitars I hear you shout!