As every Year Tokyo Game Show was held at Makuhari Messe in Chiba, ~30-50 min from Tokyo, this year from September 12th-15th.
There were many big and impressive booths, e.g. CAPCOM, Square Enix and other, but sadly Nintendo again, I always hope to see them.
CAPCOM presented the new Monster Hunter Iceborne, a new MegaMan Collection which includes Mega Man Zero 1-4 and ZX, as well as ZXA, I always enjoyed the MegaMan series, that is called Rockman in Japan althought it's extremely difficult, but ZX/ZXA and the 2018 released MegaMan 11 are a bit more "user friendly". I remember when I was hunting every part of the MegaMan X series during my Working holiday in 2015-2016, especially 4 and 7 were hard to find, there were not always out of stock, but cost 5,000Yen and more very often, you can always find one of those at the BookOff stores.
At the booth there was also an amazing zombie Cosplayer to represent the Bio Hazard (Resident Evil) series and introducing a new team shooter, where you escape from one of those big bio weapons like Mister X or Nemesis.
Square Enix showed a playable version of the upcoming Final Fantasy VII Remake and the collector edition of Seiken Densetsu 3 (Trials of Mana) Remake as well as Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles beside a few others.
SEGA had the new Olympic game for Tokyo 2020 and the Mario & Sonic at Tokyo 2020 for sure, no surprise but good minigame collection based on the discipline as always.
On Saturday and Sunday there are always coming the Cosplayers who I always enjoy to see, so join me reviewing them
Bookoff / Book Off is one the biggest brands for used items in all of Japan. It's famous across the whole country and one can find those shops in every region, from small town shops to big size stores in metropolitan areas.
From used books over to CDs, DVDs, games and other used items like smartphones you will find the perfect preowned product for you, very often in a condition that seems to be new.
Before going to Japan for the first time of my life in 2010 a good friend of mine recommended me to visit a shop called BOOKOFF, he went to Japan several months before me and he loved the shops offering many games and old game guides,I remember he talked about and presented to me a guide book for Fire Emblem 6 Sword of Seals (Fuin no Tsurugi) and I was almost instantly on fire to get my hands on my own copy of the game and this particular guide. And at the end of that vacation in 2010 I had the game for ~3500Yen and owned the guide twise with a third one already being shipped to me from Amazon.co.jp, because I found the book in an average condition at a store in Shinjuku, close to the JR Yoyogi Station (〒151-0053 東京都渋谷区代々木１丁目５８−1) and I wanted to get a better one, which I found on Amazon, purchased it and chose delivery to Germany. Unexpected and maybe karma related I saw a nearly new version of this guide and bought it thinking I could still cancel my Amazon order - pas possible - so I have 3 now.
Whenever I'm in Japan I need to visit those stores beside the big tourist attraction and sightsseeing spots because they always offer a good bargain.
The awesome item condition, the nice prices are the wide variety are just a few reasons to make that stores worth visiting, I've already spent hundred of hours there and found many treasues, mostly games and game guides but also "normal" books, e.g. a few F.R.I.E.N.D.S "encyclopedia" books or a SEINFELD script from the US.
Just to give you an idea, here's my 2010 LOOT:
I'm looking forward to my next visit and the items that I can find. It's hard to decide for a favorite store per region, because the stock always changes and it also depends on your target ignoring everything else, but the one in Tokyo Akiba is a very big one with 6 floors but it got famous abroad and not just throughout Japan so the prices are a bit higher than elsewhere. Ueno and Ikebukuro are pretty good as well, in Ikebukuro I almost everytime found and bought something (more or less) useful, sadly the one with 40.000 foreign books in Tokyo close to the Shirokanedai Metro station is closed.
In Osaka the one in Namba is quite nice. During my working holiday in 2015/2016 while I was in Yufuin I did a Bookoff tour in Oita and Beppu for one day finding treasures like Castlevania Symphony of the Night for 2000Yen and other cool stuff.
Beside the Bookoff shops there are Hardoff, Hobbyoff and other brands that all belong together.
Here are a few pictures of my early years:
Shinjuku
Ikebukuro - Sunshine City
Already closed - Shirokanedai
Gotanda -nice one
Ueno
To round up the BOOKOFF shops and to give a hint about the item variety of the stores and to make you laught I linked the current coomercial campaign, the reactions of the customers in video 3 and 4 are gorgeous
That's all 4 now - See you soon at Tokyo Game Show 2019 or any Bookoff close to you.
義
The first virtue of the samurai code is Gi, its meaning is justice or fairness. It's far beyond the rule of not cheating in battle, it's also about decisions, not judging by personal favor but by quality. The samurai culture is very often still alive in Japan's modern day society especially in old corporate companies that still take care of traditions. This way it's about giving fair chances to everyone in every situation in life. One movie example where you can see this virtue is "Last Samurai" where the lead actor is captured after a battle, making hi a prisoner (Shuujin), but still the lord Katsumoto is giving him a fair chance to get to know each other though they are enemies he is threating him with respect.
Although Gi is part of the Bushido - the way of the warrior - in some cases the samurai had double standards, especially in realtion to other casts or ranks. They sometimes exploited their right to weild a sword in public by killing civillians if they were displeased by them, neither fair nor respectful.
That's it so far about the 1st of 7 virtues of the Samurai.
Be prepared and pack your camera gear for the hundrets of Cosplayer on those 4 days in March from 21st until 24th.
Of course a Book fair is also about the latest books that you definitely should not miss, especially when you are planning on writing and publishng your own material just look for a matching publisher and get in contact with editors, otherwise the section for self-publishing might fit you, because it has never been easier to cast your own work into the world of readers.
If you are just into reading, can just explore all the halls and maybe you can get an autograph of a famous or your most beloved author him-/herself.
I will check the picturebook section like every year hoping to find the right motivation for my own work being able to choose from 40.000 pics about Japan, increasing my portfolio every year ;)
The Cosplayers that you are unable to miss not just in their "own area" Manga-Comic-Con will get most of my attention.
There are a few interesting booths (not the shops, it's way too expensive, import your stuff) for example NINTENDO presenting their latest Games as well as GamesRoom SVVAMP offering tournaments and a nice place to relax and experience some great multiplayer games.
Be prepared for some awesome work next week.
Just compare the amazing Cosplay work from DREAMHACK 2019
