I just found this place which has a little short bookmaking course, fumbled my way through the booking page and booked a slot, looks cool!
https://www.kurauchi.co.jp/kamitowa/english/menu/redsealbook2/
edit : ah Japan, so reliable - turns out there’s an art book fair the weekend im there. I’ll be in Kyoto on the dates but guess I’ll just pop down on the train for the day, Osaka doesn’t seem far
She mentioned Takezasado, a shop that specializes in original woodblock prints.
https://takezasado.com/?mode=f22
The other shop she liked, which made small paper items (notebooks, etc.), has closed.
Just thought I’d mention, jet set in kyoto is 1/3 it’s original size. Amazingly I found Kas Product on vinyl!!!
Art rock new digs is 1/4 the size of it’s previous location, but still chockas full of records as usual.
A new one I haven’t been to before is called Banana record on Shijo Dori above Camera Naniwa store.
And because Kyoto is like a fucking zoo right now I jaunted to Tokyo for the day to visit Five G and stuffed around for an hour or so. Met a few poor souls who expressed their suffering trying to find the damn shop (I mean fuck sake it’s only 35°C outside) so here it is in pictures for you folks…
Thank you. I am heading to Tokyo in a few days and might make the trip.
I remember there being a 2nd hand synth store in nakano broadway too … mixed in with hifi gear on 1st or 2nd floor … but it was years ago . Follow directions from nakano station on the Chou-sobu line from shinjuku I think ( might be ahibuya … it was the yellow line heading west )
And there’s a place near shibuya station near some rehearsal studios too but my brain is too old to remember directions . It was next to an outgoing train track .
I think you may be talking about Echigoya Music! It’s in Shibuya. It’s not the synth Mecca that is Five G, but I got the vibe of it being a place to go if you’re looking for something rare.
That could be the one near the train tracks … up a few flights of stairs .
The store in nakano broadway had Nords and Roland things in it but I wasn’t buying synths at the time … mostly urban vinyl / designer toys and retro video games . I’ve no idea if it still exists … probably replaced due to bookoff/hard off stores
Ah damn, I just saw this haha. Looks wonderful. Hopefully I can check it next time.
In the end I had a fantastic trip, it’s been about 6 weeks or so since I’ve been back and only just feel like I’ve re-integrated out of the Japanese mood.
I brought back some shifts in vibe and creative interest - some of my activities were captured on my blog throughout and post the trip: https://mleaf.studio
It really suits me over there and wish I could somehow live there or spend extended time there, but it will have to be another trip at some stage.
Had a great day taking shots of Osaka Castle, lovely weather:
Room / apartment rentals
Fujiya AVIC - https://www.fujiya-avic.co.jp/shop/default.aspx?srsltid=AfmBOorTaOS7J9j0ADEIw9-ebKA1S2D7jHcPsAPWTezoG7abxe4TgJZC
I bought my OP-1 used there more than a decade ago. They also have a great headphone/DAC shop right across from them there and their camera shop down the road is also a holy shopping site, if you’re into that stuff.
It’s worth it, that’s where I bought my AH+FX.
I vaguely remember that but I don’t think it’s there anymore. I was in Fujiya Avic looking for a decent 2nd hand headphones (of which there’s a shitload and DAC players etc) but no synths spotted as I walked around 3 floors. Just loads of toys and watches.
Fujiya camera is strong as ever and awesomely had the tiny and discontinued tiny flash I’ve been looking for to slap on my GFX100sII.
I have twice walked up to Osaka Castle as you did, but have not gone inside. Part of my reason is that the tenshu is a 1931 reconstruction by the militaristic pre-war government.
I never went in either. I read it wasn’t worth it, lines were huge. Was happy in the gardens
Speaking of Osaka and huge lines…
I had been seriously considering a Kansai trip this year for Expo 2025. That is, until I found the TripAdvisor reviews for it, which are currently like 80% complaints of multi-hour lines for pavilions you already have to enter a lottery to get a ticket for (apparently admission only gets you into the grounds), waiting in high temperatures under bright sun with no shade, overpriced food and drink, and much of the pavilion content (of which you probably won’t be able to see more than 1-2 in a day) being little more than advertising for tourism.
I always thought it would be a once-in-a-lifetime experience to see a world’s fair, but this sounds like I’d be better off staying home. 
I actually had tickets to it and had a day planned out for it while I was there. You stomp around a lot in Japan, by the end of my trip I didn’t have the feet for another 20k step day out there in the sun. I gave it a miss and instead just explored Osaka neighbourhoods by night with a long lens.
Still I think if you really focus in on it and decide that’s what you want to do, you’ll probably want a couple of days out there to try and see it all.
I didn’t win any lottery’s of things I wanted to go to which probably swayed me away, and this was the line to get in on the day (there’s a live stream) and I decided against it:
Here are some Osaka Expo ‘70 pics as a consolation prize. 
The most Boards of Canada looking event of all time I imagine.
Expo 70 was another level wasn’t it
I think maybe the world was on another level.
Agree
