Retro Game Store Reviews: Tachikawa Surugaya and Book Off Super Bazaar

It was bound to happen sooner or later. Just like a double Kaiju event in the movie Pacific Rim, we finally have our first double store review. There are actually quite a few cities in Japan with multiple thrift stores worth checking out, and Tachikawa is one of them. Tachikawa is located in north west Tokyo prefecture and like Machida and Hachioji, it is a bed town that many people commute to downtown Tokyo from. There are a lot of young professionals and families, so it makes sense that it would be a good location for collecting games from thrift stores.

Tachikawa Surugaya

Surugaya stores have quickly become my favorite chain of stores to visit. Whenever I see one I know that they’re going to have some quality stuff. Hard Off and Book Off have some great deals from time to time, but I’ve never been disappointed by Surugaya’s selection.

The Selection

The selection at the Tachikawa store falls in line with other Surgayas I’ve visited, except that it’s smaller in size. It has a lot of variety, is stocked pretty well, and has a lot of boxed items. For collectors Surugaya is a great place to shop. The only draw back to the Tachikawa location is that there isn’t a lot of accessories and consoles there compared to others. If you’re looking for a specific game though, it’s worth it.

The Pricing

I didn’t buy anything from this particular store when I went there, but if you zoom in on some of the pictures I took you can see that the prices are also pretty similar to other Surugaya stores. Sometimes you’re going to find a good deal but for the most part you’re going to find affordable games. They are going to be cheaper than Mandarake and Super Potato, but Hard Off and Book Off might have some better deals than them from time to time. It really all depends on how much you’re willing to pay and how badly you want it at the moment.

Access

This is where this Surugaya really shines. The Tachikawa branch is very close to JR Tachikawa station which can be reached by the Nambu, Ome, Itsukaichi, and Chuo lines. There is also a monorail station, Kita-Tachikawa which is even closer but you’re probably going to be able to reach it on foot in 5-7 minutes so unless you’re coming from one of those stations on the monorail it’s not worth it. The Chuo line leaves from Shinjuku and a number of stations in downtown Tokyo so this store and the surrounding area make for a great day trip out of the city. If you’re coming by the Tokaido bullet train to the area then Shinagawa is probably going to be the closest station to it.

The Verdict

Those gamers who live in Tokyo or visit often know how much of a scam Akihabara is for retro gaming these days (prices have doubled, inventory has halved,etc), but most of those people will also just tell you to check out Book Offs and Hard Offs instead with little other information. For somebody on vacation with a limited amount of time, blindly searching these thrift stores for games you want is a luxury few can afford. Luckily this store has a lot of what people are usually looking for and also very accessible from Tokyo itself!

• Selection 3.5
• Pricing 3.5/5
• Ease of Access 5/5

Book Off Super Bazaar Tachikawa–eki-kitaguchi

Don’t let the name fool you. You can reach this Book Off Super Bazaar from either JR Tachikawa or the Kita-Tachikawa monorail station nearby. It’s pretty much equidistant from both. In case you’ve forgotten what Super Bazaars are from my earlier post, it’s basically a huge Book Off that takes in clothes, brand goods, anime figures, and much more on top of their usual multimedia offerings like books, movies, and games.

The Selection

The Book Off Super Bazaar in Tachikawa didn’t have as many games as the Suragaya, nor the depth of titles, but it was still worth going to I think. They had some really cool grail games like a boxed Metroid 2 Return of Samus on Gameboy and a Metroid Fusion on Gameboy Advance, and they also had a lot of handhelds for sale when I went there earlier in the year. They also had an IMPRESSIVE amount of boxed Playstation Portables (PSP) when I went there, so if you’re in the market for one check this place out (just be sure to check those batteries :D). They also had quite a few Amiibo there if that’s your thing.

The Pricing

During my trip to this store I was still in the middle of collecting games for my Japanese Gamecube so I was able to grab Resident Evil 4 for a steal (to be honest, RE 0, 1, and 4 are usually always on sale for good prices in Japan. It’s 2 and 3 that are crazy hard to find and super expensive). The prices on their Amiibo were also pretty good, so I went with the EMMI from Metroid Dread which kind of started me on my Amiibo journey (I’ve since collected quite a few Metroid ones). I would expect that their prices would be even cheaper on Amiibo after Nintendo re-released a lot of them brand new through their stores. The prices of those PSP I talked about were also pretty good when I went to this store, but most of those prices were without batteries so be sure to check the condition of them before you buy them (they should have notes on the boxes in Japanese if there are problems so be sure to bust out that Google Translate!).

Access

As I said above, this Book off Super Bazaar is very close to JR Tachikawa station and only a few minutes walk from the Surugaya. It’s in a slightly different direction though but if you have a GPS on your phone you should be able to make it there. Just look for the sign on the building as you get close to the dot on the map. I believe the store was on the 5th and 6th floors. It might take you 7-10 minutes if you’re coming from the station but if you’re coming from the Surugaya it should take about 5 minutes. Again, the location is great and one of the selling points for this store.

The Verdict

While this store isn’t the main draw to the area (I’d go to the Surugaya first), this is definitely worth looking into if you’re doing a tour of shops like I did. There are a number of other shops in the area too, but not nearby so I’ll be saving those for a future post. I would keep in mind that their stock has probably changed since I last went there, so you might not find as many of those grail games or PSPs when you visit (but maybe you’ll get lucky!).

• Selection: 3/5
• Pricing: 4/5
• Ease of Access: 5/5

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