Posted Monday, November 15, 2004; 21:00 HKT
The exterior of this geeks' paradise is as subtle and understated as a Las Vegas casino: a vertical neon sign relentlessly blazes the syllables YO-DO-BA-SHI-KA-ME-RA, followed by a frenzied climax of blinking lights. Once you see it with your own watering eyes, at Shinjuku Station's west exit, you'll fall into complete agreement with what every Tokyoite already knows: this is the electronic jackpot of Asia.

Yodobashi Camera's Shinjuku branch has it all—from digital cameras small enough to fit inside Altoid mint tins to fridges that promise to infuse your food with vitamin C. In other words, if you can't find the gadget you're looking for here, then it probably doesn't exist. At the main entrance, through which more than 40,000 customers pass each day, a young salesperson volunteers that there is another Yodobashi branch at Shinjuku Station's east exit as well. "But I've never been there," he says. "This is enough."

Or is it? There are now 18 Yodobashi Camera stores in Japan, and the empire continues to expand with two more stores opening in 2005. One, in Tokyo's Akihabara district, will be Yodobashi's biggest to date. That's right, gadget hunters: Shinjuku is only a dress rehearsal.

back: Best Bookstore

next: Best Avant-Garde Café

October 11, 2004	July 26 - August 2, 2004	April 26, 2004