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i am trying to acquire some hobby paint and other items and i dont seem to be having any luck. i dont know of many hobby shops nearby and the internet isnt really showing many options. most of the ones shown are in the heart of Tokyo which would be an average of a 75 minute train ride, each way. i know there is a few GW shops floating around however i am looking for more of a selection than just GW products with different brands like milliput, green stuff, vallejo or army painter. i know the internet is possibly the easiest way to buy things but i want to look at stuff in person and be able to browse the selection and not wait a few days for shipping. does anyone have any store recommendations or had any luck finding stuff outside of central Tokyo?

You'll probably have to be a bit more specific about where to get any useful info, as "outside of central Tokyo" covers a pretty wide area. Volks has all sorts of hobby stuff, so if there's one near you I'd check it out.

Yeah, really depends where you are, unfortunately. In a bigger city, eg, Nagoya, Osaka, Kyoto? Literally no problems at all.

Usually Joshin is an okay bet. They usually carry Tamiya stuff, and imo, Tamiya brushes, putty and tools are usually excellent quality, and the prices are really REALLY good value for money, too.
Pretty much any toy store selling Gundam models will have at least a few things, but if you want specific stuff like Vallejo, you're probably better looking online.
Some Trading Card shops like Yellow Submarine sometimes carry paints, and even minis and rule books, but it's pretty unreliable, and tbh there's not a whole lot of local interest in wargaming stuff here.
Mercari is also worth an occasional look - people flog a lot of 2nd hand minis there, sometimes even for a pretty decent price, and paints come up once in a while, too. I'll second Volks, and they usually have a really good range of other oddities.
Lastly, I'll throw in 100円 shops, too. Though they are SUPER unpredictable, they're also a really interesting resource. My local regularly carries UV resin, acrylic nail/craft gubbins (really good for customizing stuff), PVA glue, super glue (be careful with this, Tamiya is probably a better shout for anything fine detail) and weird stuff like little plastic shipping crates, which make for excellent, cheap terrain.

thanks for the suggestions. im in Ome, so western Tokyo. ive had a bit of luck with some things from the 100 yen shops (files, pin vices, blades), but its the more dedicated items im struggling with. ive been in a couple gundam shops, but havent seen much outside of the tamiya line of paints and items. i had volks show up in a search its just pretty far away, though there is a volks restaurant not too far away. im just really trying to avoid spending 1000 yen on train fares just to buy 1000 yen of paint.

Dude, you're in Western Tokyo? Haha, just go into Central Tokyo then my guy - I can't speak too much for the dude in Fukushima (though I've been there, and it's mostly 田舎?) But out here in podunk Ishikawa, I'd LOVE an excuse to get into Tokyo for a bit. Like, make a day of it or something, and go do a few other things, like 1000 yen is 1000 yen.

There is a toy shop chain (at least, I think it's a chain) called Bambi. The one I went to stocked Tamiya, Gaia, Mr Color & Citadel paints. I don't know how widespread they are, but maybe worth a look?

Yodobashi camera also stocks citadel paints, alongside the usual Tamiya and Mr. Color.

 Turaxa wrote:
There is a toy shop chain (at least, I think it's a chain) called Bambi. The one I went to stocked Tamiya, Gaia, Mr Color & Citadel paints. I don't know how widespread they are, but maybe worth a look?

Ooh, is that おもちゃのバンビ? There might be one not super far from me...

Up here in Iwate, there isn't a lot of wargaming-specific stuff available, so I do a lot of Mail Order. Ringtail, Hobby Metal Iconoclasm, and Full Metal Planet have all been good for me over the years, and the turnaround is usually pretty quick.

 posermcbogus wrote:

 Turaxa wrote:
There is a toy shop chain (at least, I think it's a chain) called Bambi. The one I went to stocked Tamiya, Gaia, Mr Color & Citadel paints. I don't know how widespread they are, but maybe worth a look?

Ooh, is that おもちゃのバンビ? There might be one not super far from me...

Yes it is! It's this place: https://toy-bambi.com/. It's got a good selection of hobby stuff, though from that website it looks like it might just be a single shop, not a chain.

Oh, cool. Looks like posermcbogus is going to Toyama!

thank you again for the suggestions. from the mention of a friend i visited a pharmacy that also was a hobby shop (or maybe it was a hobby shop that had a pharmacy?) that was nearby and was able to find a few things. they seemed to be mostly a model shop, but as such they had a lot of the hobby tools and varieties of them. they even had a small shop of GW products. even though it was only about a dozen or so paints and a few random boxed sets it was still the most i have seen locally.