American-friendly Japanese electronics shops? (Akihabara, etc.)

[derby378]

Can anyone point me towards the Web site for a Japanese electronics shop that offers shipping to America and is fairly easy to use? I found LAOX, but they currently don't take online orders.

[derby378]

1. kick (n/t)

[tridim]

2. What are you trying to buy?

I would be very surprised if you couldn't get everything domestically at a place like Digikey.

[SKKY]

3. Are you going to Japan soon?

...if so, Akihabara is an absolute orgy of all things electronic. I spent about 16 hours just walking around in a daze. Funny thing though about Japan. In Europe and the rest of the world, sex sells. But in Japan it's cute cartoon characters dancing to repetitive midi music that sells. I had those songs stuck in my head for weeks.

To answer your question, I'm not aware of any that would ship to the US. LAOX would be my fist guess, but if they don't, I don't know who would.

[KurtNYC]

4. The Horror....the horror

cute cartoon characters dancing to repetitive midi music

[GOPisEvil]

5. Daiei has a store in Honolulu. (At least they DID.)

Maybe they ship certain products, but they are a department store.

[Art_from_Ark]

6. I go to Akihabara frequently

I actually pass through Akihabara on my way to work:D

What are you looking for?

At any rate, here is a partial list of big companies in Akihabara:

Sato Musen
Ishimaru Denki
Sofmap (specializing in computers)
Yamagiwa Denki
Mimatsu Onkyo
Mitsuwa Denki Shomei
Nakaura
Tokiwa Musen
Top Japan
Tiger Musen

[derby378]

7. Cool!

I'm looking for Panasonic OxyRide batteries (オキシライド). I think they only come in the Japanese equivalent of AA, which is just fine with me.

If you have PayPal, I could wire you cash to pick up an 8-pack and ship them to Texas. Sound good?

[Art_from_Ark]

8. Are you sure you want these batteries?

I just went to the Matsushita (Panasonic) web site and there was the following disclaimer about oxyride batteries:

1) Sometimes they don't work in strobe lights, and they can become hotter than alkaline batteries
2) They can become quite hot if used in toys that recharge batteries
3) They won't work in some types of voltage-controlled toys and electronic devices
4) They won't show the right battery power level in some types of electronic devices

The disclaimer summarizes that
（1）Sometimes the batteries don't work in devices
（2）Sometimes they don't work properly in devices
（3）Sometimes they make devices hot

More here (in Japanese):
http://panasonic.co.jp/mbi/info/oxyride/index.html

[derby378]

10. Maybe...

I've seen some reports that Oxyrides work just fine with some digital cameras, including Sony Cybershot models.

If it turns out I can't use these Oxyrides, I have an engineer friend who can dream up creative uses for them. Hint: she hooked a trailer hitch to her old three-cylinder Geo and hauled stuff all over North Texas.

So I may still be go for the batteries if you're game...

[Art_from_Ark]

11. Let me look around

In the meantime, I've got to get some sleep! It's almost 5 a.m. here!

[derby378]

12. 5am? Bless your little heart...

Definitely get some sleep, especially if you're a 9-to-5 "sarariman" like me.

[Kellanved]

9. be careful with those

They have a higher voltage than normal AAs.