>In 2 weeks I'm going to Japan for vacation and I'm hitting Osaka for the
>first time... Any tips on shops? I know 4-5 good ones in Akihabara from
>last time I was there, so I'll be hitting those too, but I know Osaka
>has a "similar" area so I'm hoping for good shopping...
>Rob
you'll find that osaka has its own mini-version of akihabara called
nihom-bashi (or something like that). takumi suidu showed it to me a
few years ago and it's pretty impressive. many of the shops are
similar to those in akihabara but they are cheaper (by about 10% or so)
and, jsut as importantly, you'll very likely find things you won't see
in akihabara. i remember seeing Bandai Pippin's, Playdia's,
Colecovision DINA's, FM Towns Marty's,and lots of Japanese 3DO
software, and much more. i don't know why that is exactly but,
fortunately for you, you'll find all of these shops clustered together
akihabara style. enjoy! george