Eden Tantuco
July 4, 2024

Osaka’s camera stores tend to be close to each other. For each store, there’s usually 2 or 3 more that are within walking distance. And they’re relatively close to the tourist spots too, so there’s other things to do in the area. (Tokyo is similar, but the city is bigger and it’s a little harder to walk around sometimes).

I liked walking from my hotel to the subway and then taking it as close to a camera store as possible. Subway fares are cheap – ¥190 to ¥400, depending on distance. It may vary if your hotel is further. Taxis aren’t the worst option either. They’re fixed at ¥600 to ¥660 if it’s less than 2 km away.

Types of Stores

I consider there to be two main types of stores. There’s chains and what I’ll call “boutiques”. The chain stores are bigger, with a few staff that speak decent English. Boutiques are smaller shops, usually ran by only a few people.

Prices for >$800 film cameras were expensive in both types of stores. My hunt for an M2/M3 was dashed by prices that were no cheaper than ¥200,000. (~$1,257 at a $1/ ¥159 rate)

Chains

No chain really stocked large-format. They might have had a few cameras, but to be honest, I wasn’t really looking for them. Mainly just SLRs, with the occasional point-and-shoot or rangefinder.

Side note: New cameras and new lenses will usually be cheaper because of the exchange rate. A $2,000 mirrorless that was priced at a $1/¥140 exchange rate (¥280,000) would effectively be worth $1,750 at a $1/¥160 exchange rate. Just keep in mind that cameras in Japan are region-locked, meaning the interfaces will all be in Japanese.

If new is what you’re looking for, buy lenses, not camera bodies. Do note that lenses purchased here might not be covered by warranty in your home country. You can research that, though.

Anyways, I’ll kick off the list with my personal favorite.

Bic Camera

Bic is a huge, multi-floor establishment that you could honestly spend a whole afternoon in. Contrary to what the name might suggest, it’s more of a department store with a good camera selection. They don’t have film cameras (although they do stock film). Bic has a good selection of new lenses and bodies for you to try out. They also stock some domestic accessory brands like SLIK.

Bic also has a 5% discount if you pay with certain credit cards – I remember Amex, Mastercard, and Visa gave discounts.

I ended up buying a SLIK BE842 tripod here for around $230 USD, which beats its foreign competitors on paper spec-wise. Carbon-fiber, three-way head, twist locks. I used it throughout the trip for my RB67, and I was quite happy with my purchase.

Worth visiting? Yes. Even if you don’t get cameras, there’s lots of other things to check out on the other floors too. Probably the best place to buy lenses because of the tourist discounts. No film cameras here, though.

Kitamura Camera

Depending on which branch you visit, Kitamura Camera is a one or two-story establishment that is actually entirely dedicated to cameras. They stock digital and film cameras, and the prices on the low to mid-range cameras are actually not bad. I saw a Canon AE-1 for ¥18,000 (~$75 at $1/¥159 rate). Not significantly cheaper than American prices, but still enough that it could be worth it.

Higher-end cameras can be hit or miss. I saw a Mamiya RZ67 Pro II for around $730, which is cheaper than the American price of $700 + taxes + shipping. No lens, but it seemed to be in really good condition. Don’t even think about looking for a reasonably priced Leica here… or film. Film is ridiculously expensive here. Buy it anywhere else.

They have cool rare pieces like black-paint Leicas for exorbitant prices (think ¥1.1M). Nice to look at, though.

I didn’t buy anything here.

Worth visiting? Probably, it’s a cool store. Prices on film cameras vary but aren’t always bad.

Camera Ohbayashi

Smaller chain with a similar stock to Kitamura. I think the pricing here in general is a little worse than Kitamura’s, but their lens selection is a little better.

The store I went to had “B-tier” Nikon SPs listed at ¥159,000 (about $1,000), which is a little ridiculous considering that the eBay sold prices sit around $650 to $700.

I also didn’t buy anything here.

Worth visiting? Maybe…? Pricier, but the selection is pretty big.

Boutiques

I’ll talk about these more as a whole. While the chains have pretty organized websites (and sometimes even have English translations!), boutiques often either don’t have a website – or if they do, it’s not easy-to-navigate by any means unless you speak Japanese. I gave up on trying to Google Translate each website and just went in blind most of the time.

Boutique pricing is generally more expensive than the chains. A few notable exceptions (Camera Yagura was my favorite in Osaka). In a way, it makes sense – less volume of cameras sold means that they probably charge more in order to make their monthly rent. I don’t blame them at all. Go support small businesses.

These stores definitely have a lot more unique cameras than the chains. Large format, 1920s pocket bellows cameras, ridiculous accessories. Every shop is different, and that’s why I liked visiting them! I never knew what to expect.

Yes, the prices can be a bit much. I’d still recommend going, at least for the experience of being in a tiny cramped Japanese camera shop that probably violates several fire codes. I enjoyed my time store-hopping, and shop owners are typically very nice. Most shop owners didn’t speak English, but that’s where Google Translate really helps. From my experience, they’re more than happy to let you try out a camera if you ask.

Camera Yagura

It’s in the Shinsaibashi area. Camera Yagura has the highest cameras-per-square-meter of any store I’ve ever visited in my life. Rows and rows of SLRs, rangefinders, point-and-shoots, TLRs, medium format, and everything else. Camera displays are placed around tables of bags and accessories. There’s so much stuff in the room that you have to walk sideways at parts. Prices here aren’t bad on point and shoots. I would’ve bought a few to take home, but I didn’t have batteries to test them. Shop owners don’t speak English.

Worth visiting? Yes. Very cool experience.

Suzuki Camera

Located in the same building as Camera Yagura, Suzuki Camera specializes in Leicas, TLRs, and large-format. Quirky cameras in general. The store owner is friendly. I didn’t buy anything here, because it was too niche for me (and the Leicas which I was hunting were too expensive).

Worth visiting? Yes. Same building as Camera Yagura – you might as well.

CAMERA LAND Yaotomi

I had the HARDEST time finding this store. It’s on Basement 1 of some three-story mall, and it’s not a big store. However, it’s super clean, with nice LED-lighted displays inside. Lots of TLRs and rangefinders. The prices for Leicas were better than other places – I saw an M2 for ¥198,000, which is expensive but better than the ¥220,000 that most places seemed to be charging.

Worth visiting? If you’re looking for a TLR, this place had a good selection. Otherwise, the difficulty of finding this place makes it almost not worth visiting for me. It’s in Umeda and right under the JR Train Station, though.