Retro Game Store Reviews: Surugaya Takatsuki (Osaka)

I figured I might as well finish up talking about the Surugaya’s in the Kansai area since I had already talked about most of the other locations. Today’s article takes us to a Surugaya located between Kyoto and downtown Osaka, while being close to neither. If you are traveling around the area though, it’s a nice stopover.

In terms of looks, it’s not going to win any awards, but the store in Takatsuki, Osaka still has that Surugaya charm. I will let you readers be the judge of if you should visit it or not though.

The Selection

In terms of stock, this branch had even less than the store in Sannomiya, Kobe, but it was still more than what you’d find most Book Offs or Hard Offs. While my pictures above focus on the retro games that this store has, there is actually a good amount of newer games you can find there too. If you add in the Switch, PS4, and PS5 stock, the Takatsuki store is actually pretty big. From a pure retro perspective though, it probably has one of the worst selections I’ve ever seen at a Surugaya. You might have noticed that they only have two glass cases in the pictures above, and that those cases are pretty sparse. I know that most Surugayas don’t usually fill up their cases, but Taktasuki’s cases were kind of sad. Almost no handhelds or consoles in them, and even the shelf with accessories was pretty bare too. The main reason to check out this store would probably be to look through the games on the shelves. They also had a pretty big outlet section.

The Pricing

As with the other Surugayas I’ve talked about on my blog, the pricing is good, but not great. Affordable, but not cheap. They had some rarer games there that I didn’t usually see for sale at bigger stores because this one was out of the way, but the prices on them weren’t bad. Considering your choices are either going to Osaka or Kyoto to buy retro games, you’re probably better off getting the games you want here. As prices continue to go up due to the “tourist” tax, it’s a good idea to keep this store in mind and to see if the prices stay lower because it isn’t in either of those high traffic areas.

Access

The best thing about this store is its location. It’s a short 5 minute walk from both JR Takatsuki station and Takatsuki-shi station on the Hankyu Kyoto Line. Whichever train line you take from Kyoto to Osaka (or Osaka to Kyoto) will bring you right through Takatsuki. The JR line leaves from JR Kyoto station and goes all the way to JR Osaka station, so arriving in either city by the bullet train will you get there. The Hankyu Kyoto line will take you as well from Osaka-Umeda station (which is right next to JR Osaka station) all the way to Kyoto-Kawaramachi station where the popular Kawarachi shopping area and Gion sightseeing area is (and where the Kyoto Surugaya store is located!).

The Verdict

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

In the grand scope of retro game collecting in Japan, the selection of this store is fine (especially when newer games are added in), and you should pretty much know what to expect when you go to a Surugaya. It is definitely one of the lower end branches, but that still puts it above probably 60% of the other retro game shops and thrift stores in Japan when inventory, prices, and location are factored in. What makes this store so appealing to me is that you can spend an entire afternoon taking the slow trains from Kyoto or Osaka and hit a lot of shops on the way to the other city, and this shop is right in the middle of both. Both the Hankyu line and the JR line have a number of stores to check out, just be sure to do web searches for Book Offs, Hard Offs, and other places with retro games (like Furuhon Ichiba). If you plan it right, you could easily spend an entire day checking out shops in the Kansai area without having to walk too far or spend that much money.

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