What it felt like to visit the Yodobashi Akiba store for the first time in 10 years

I went to Tokyo on business for the first time in a while.

I had some time to kill, so I stopped by Yodobashi (electronics store) in Akihabara for the first time in about 10 years.

Here is my report.

Are there fewer people in Tokyo?

I was wandering around Tokyo, Awajicho, and Ochanomizu area, and I felt that the number of people was somehow decreasing, so I checked the population trend for the last 10 years or so.

Looking at the transition from 2010 to 2020, we see a slight decrease.

Tokyo's population is probably not decreasing that much either.

It seems reasonable to assume that this is due to the impact of telework.

That's a bit of a relief.

However, I also felt that the number of advertisements on trains has decreased considerably.

Have the hanging advertisements been replaced by electronic advertisements?

If so, that's good, but it's kind of sad.

Yodobashi Akiba is...

Even though it was a weekday evening, the place was as busy as ever. I was relieved.

I went to the 6th floor to see the upper floors first, and when I looked at the game section, I was astonished.

There was a lot of excitement about the lottery and resale of the PlayStation 5, which even the manager had heard of.

It's just like reality!

I had only had a PlayStation up to 3, not 5, but I fell in love with it at first sight.

The screen is three-dimensional, the sound is three-dimensional, the software looks fun...but the price is amazing.

Looking back, my youth was spent with the PlayStation.

The original PlayStation 1st made a shocking debut.

Playstation was released on December 3, 1994.

This was when I was in high school.

Final Fantasy 7 was also released at the same time, and my classmates competed to buy the hardware and software.

Even back then, it was hard to get one, and the lucky boy who was able to get one was a hero.

The Sega Saturn was the twin of the Prestige.

The Saturn was a big hit with games such as Sakura Wars, and there was a split between the Prestige and Saturn groups.

By the time the PlayStation 2 came out, Sakura Wars, which had only been released on the Saturn, was also available as a PlayStation version, and I remember feeling saddened by Sega's defeat.

Compared to 10 years ago

In fact, about 15 years ago, when I was in Hokkaido, I worked part-time at the Yodobashi Sapporo store.

I was supporting the sales of digital SLR cameras, which were at the height of their popularity at that time.

And it was Pentax, not Canon or Nikon.

My quota was 10% of the market share, which was quite high.

All Yodobashi stores have beautiful sales floors, but I have heard yelling and crying in the backyard.

After leaving Hokkaido, I also worked for Tamron, a major lens manufacturer that Yodobashi also carries.

As someone who has worked at Yodobashi and for a manufacturer who delivers products to Yodobashi, the sales floor is the showroom, the top of the iceberg, the ultimate in refinement.

Employees are at loggerheads with each other, and manufacturers are developing their products with a great deal of effort.

It is noble to want to work in a showroom, but I think that sometimes it is better to let your longing remain just that, a longing.

That's all for now.

Thank you for reading!