Buying a camera in Japan

It used to be that it was actually more expensive to buy electronics in Japan than in Canada and the only reason you did it was the experience or to get things you can't get at home. With the recent rise in the Canadian dollar, I found that one could save a decent amount of money and get a unique experience. For photo buffs, there are two unique experiences for equipment hunting: vintage and new.

Japan has an enormous passion for old photo equipment and there are many shops around Tokyo (Shinjuku and Ginza districts for example) with massive selections of vintage gear. For the usual stuff like Leica M series, Rolleiflex, Zeiss Ikon medium format, etc., you'll pay top dollar and possibly significantly higher than on e-bay. I've found that for more recent medium format equipment, the prices are great with lots of more recent medium format cameras from Bronica, Fuji, Rollei, etc. going for about the $500 range possible about a quarter of the price of when new and still in great shape. I bought a Fujica GS645S a few years back for about $400. Even if you are not buying simply window shopping is a great experience ... my friend calls it "Camera Porn". Will try to get actual store names at some point.

Buying new means going to one of the millions of electronics stores that sell everything from photo to stereo to rice cookers. Prices are about the same everywhere. Major chains include BIC and Yodobashi. Decent outlets exist in all major centers including Shijuku, Ginza, Ikebukuro and elsewhere. I went to a BIC in Ginza. I had my sights on a new Fujifilm Finepix S9100. About 2 months from being released in Canada. I got to the store the morning of the day that the model was released. The guy at the store thought I might be the first in Japan (hence the world) to buy one of these models! Being a gadget freak that means something to me ... I bought the camera and the accessory wide angle adapter that brings the 28mm (35 equiv) down to 22mm without noticeable degredation of image quality. I had the option of getting a 5% consumption tax waiver for being a foreigner. I chose instead to enroll in the BIC points plan where a percentage of the purchase price (in my case the camera gave 8%) can be used for a subsequent purchase. I took the 8% and applied it to the accessory lense. Overall, it cost less by not taking the tax waiver. I figured I saved about $200 by buying in Japan and for a precious 2 months, I'll have the only unit in Canada. Most outlets do have some English speaking staff. Most cameras have English menus and manuals.

Kyoto ... the non-Tokyo

My first time in Kyoto. Spent 3 days, a couple of which was work. Some random comments in no particular order:

• a great ride on the Shinkansen bullet train from the Tokyo Station to the Kyoto Station took about 2.5 hours on the Super Express Nozomi line. Price varies from about $100 to $200 depending on the class. Definitely an nice experience for us North Americans starved of rail experiences.
• Kyoto National Museum has a nice collection of Japanese (and a few Korean and Chinese) art and artifact from ancient to 19th century. Very impressive collection of statuary, ceramics, prints, calligraphy, etc. We see samples of this stuff in various Western museums but it's sooooo much more impressive when you catch it on prime time.
• The New Miyako hotel right by the train station has great rooms and a wonderful Japanese breakfast restaurant for about $150.
• Philosopher's road in one of the many temple districts is a wonderful walk that winds through a picturesque part of the city leading to the Ginkokuji (the Silver temple) one of the main tourist attractions.
• Kiyomizu Shrine with a giant statue of Budha and some magnificent buildings nestled into low mountains.
• Kyoto University. One of the great academic instituitions in the world. I was there for work so I only saw a couple of buildings but for those who enjoy academic pilgrimages in general, you shouldn't miss this one. Being a hotspot for foreign visitors, there are also some intresting (and affordable) restaurants that have English menues and senses of humor. I ate at James' Place which is a tribute restaurant to James Brown. They serve Japanese style hamburgers (no bun). Filling lunch for under $10.

Kyoto has over 2000 temples. It has guidelines to restrict height of new buildings. It was not obliterated in WW II, and it's simply smaller than Tokyo. This ancient capital of Japan is, I think, what most of us believed Japan was before our naive expectations are shattered by Shinjuku and the rest of the Tokyo urban juggernaut.