MTG stores in Chiba prefecture – Yellow Submarine and Hobby Station

I traveled to Chiba prefecture a few months back for a PTQ (which I did horribly at), and while I was there I checked out what the city had to offer Magic Players in the area. There are a handful of stores, but I only had the chance to check out two of them while I was up there. The MTG scene has been rather slow as of late here in Nagoya, so I hope you’ll forgive me for the lack of updates on the website. Grand Prix Kyoto is just under 2 weeks away, and I’ve been busy talking with my team and practicing Theros draft and sealed with them. We’ve been reading articles, watching videos, listening to podcasts. Hopefully I can write something up about the whole team experience next week to give those who have always wondered about preparing for a team limited GP. But today, we’re talking about shops.

Yellow Submarine – Chiba City

Entrance to the Hobby Store

After my Pro Tour Qualifier a few minutes down the road, I was pleasantly surprised to find a concentration of Magic Shops near the station. In Nagoya, Yellow Submarine has a small shop, packed full of board games, accessories, and a limited amount of cards. However, in Chiba City, the Yellow Submarine store near the station is absolutely massive. There are actually two stores; One is devoted to hobby materials such as plastic models and anime goods, and the other is full of cards. And when I say full of cards, I mean FULL OF CARDS.

Yellow Sub Card shop entrance

For Magic, this store has a large selection of Legacy, Modern, and standard cards a like. If you’re looking for a staple card, there is a good chance you’ll find it here. The only drawback to this store is that the cards are a little overpriced, but that is true of most Yellow Submarines. You occasionally find some good deals, but usually they are a few yen more than other places. You definitely want to stop here if you’re comparing prices around town though. The gaming area was also kind of small, but I’m willing to overlook that due to the amount of stock they had. The cards were also well organized, which is more than I can say for other Yellow Submarine stores I’ve been too. Sure their rares are always nice and in their cases, but their boxed commons and uncommon cards always seem to just be thrown in.

Directions to Yellow Submarine – Chiba

Path to Yellow Submarine

There are a lot of good landmarks you can use to find your way to the Yellow Submarine store. From JR Chiba station, go out of the east exit. There will be a lot of bus stops, but you’ll want to walk past those and look for the dome past them (see picture to the right). Once past the dome, look for the large Yodobashi Camera store on your left, and go inside. Take the escalator to the 3rd floor and look for the Daiso 100 yen store. It’s close to it. If you can’t find it the first time, just walk around for a few minutes and you’ll come across it. Just remember that there is a hobby Yellow Submarine, as well as a card Yellow Submarine. You can get a lot of shopping done in one place! I definitely recommend it, and I don’t think you’ll be disappointed by the stock they have. This store is also very close to the Hobby Station, which I will be covering next. 

Hobby Station (Chiba Station)

While in Chiba, I also visited the Hobby Station there. 

MTG Cards

They had a decent selection of MTG cards in their cases, both for old and new formats, and if you’re interested in foils, you can ask for them behind the counter. The prices were okay, but I would probably compare them with Yellow Submarine before making your final purchase. Hobby Station has a great website you can use to find all the schedules for their tournaments (but it’s in Japanese – click here). The staff said that turnout is usually pretty good, and one of the really good things about this shop was the size of the tournament space. 

They had a spacious playing space that could handle large tournaments of 40+ people if necessary. Being close to the station, it’s easy for player to travel there and to play during the week. 

Directions to Hobby Station (Chiba)

Sign outside

Hobby Station can be found on the same street as Yellow Submarine I believe, but it is easy to pass up. Make sure that you’re looking for the blue Hobby Station Sign when walking between the buildings past the dome. It will be after the Yodobashi Camera building. Once you find the sign, turn left on the next street and then take another left to go into the same building that the sign was on (but on the other side). You’ll find an elevator inside. Take it to the 7th floor and you’ll find Hobby Station. 

Coming Next week

I’m sorry again for the lack of posts. I’ve been working a lot as well as practicing for Grand Prix Kyoto that is happening in 9 days, and I haven’t had as much free time as I’d like to. I have been learning a lot of things from playing so much, such as which colors are strong, which cards are good etc, but I think what I’ve learned the most about is how to manage your time and to organize things so that you and your team can quickly put together the best decks with the cards you are given. I’ll be talking about it next week leading up to start of the GP. Please be sure to check back after the weekend for the article. Once the GP is done, I’ll be back to posting standard deck articles, metagame updates, and news from around Japan. Until then, good luck gaming!