Japanese tackle stores

[faker]

Hi Guys,

I might be heading overseas and i need some ideas on which Japanese tackle store to go for and what things worth buying for estuary fishing that preferably can be put in a travel case

[lastworm]

No advice but this is top of my list of things to do, very jealous mate.

[jordy]

  My brother in law bought me back some great lures from Japan he purchased them in various vending machines around Tokyo

[faker]

4 hours ago, jordy said:

  My brother in law bought me back some great lures from Japan he purchased them in various vending machines around Tokyo

yea i am trying to figure out some must have lures

[Gengar]

On 8/22/2023 at 9:40 AM, faker said:

Hi Guys,

I might be heading overseas and i need some ideas on which Japanese tackle store to go for and what things worth buying for estuary fishing that preferably can be put in a travel case

Faker you read my mind! I am also going to Tokyo soon and had the same question. I found this article https://www.haurakigulffishing.co.nz/uncategorized/japan-if-you-like-buying-fishing-gear-come-and-visit/ that listed out the below stores. Not sure how old the article is but found that the Tokyo stores are still there. Also not sure what to get but hoping lures in Japan would be cheaper (eg OSP bent minnow).

Shops in Osaka to visit 

Fishing 8 – MASSIVE 

Bun Bun – Very large

Lure 1 Ban 

Seven Seas

Tackle Berry

Shops in Tokyo to visit

Sansui

Joshuya 

Pro Shop Mogi – Yokohama, not to far from Tokyo

[dunc333]

my mate goes there alot as his wife is japanese last trip i asked for a good overhead and he got me a shimmano reel they dont sell in australia and some great squid jigs they dont sell here. as for cheaper maybe a little bit but they have a lot of choice in tackle there cheers dunc333

[Hill373737]

if any Raiders are heading to Singapore, the tackle shops on Beach Rd when I used to frequent them a few years ago were very good with a lot of Japanese only models at good prices.

[Houdini]

JDM (Japanese Domestic Market) tackle in not necessarily higher quality than internationally available gear. Some JDM reels have fewer ball bearings or lesser quality steel bearings. Their lures for estuary fishing will be fantastic. Japanese love anything finesse and shinny. But again not necessarily cheaper and if you need to upgrade hooks and rings maybe even more expensive. I bought heaps of squid jigs but not much else. Do some homework before you go. Do your money conversion equations and currency exchange/credit card/cash card costs. I spent about 2 hours one day in 1 shop and only bought 2 things. Attached is a pic of 1 isle that just had floats, do the math these floats are $13 - $18 each 3 or 4 on each post, 30 or so posts in a line and 9 or 10 posts in each vertical =  between 10k - 20k just worth of floats in this pic.

[faker]

A better question would be do the Japanese have some good cheap crank and surface lures

6 hours ago, Houdini said:

JDM (Japanese Domestic Market) tackle in not necessarily higher quality than internationally available gear. Some JDM reels have fewer ball bearings or lesser quality steel bearings. Their lures for estuary fishing will be fantastic. Japanese love anything finesse and shinny. But again not necessarily cheaper and if you need to upgrade hooks and rings maybe even more expensive. I bought heaps of squid jigs but not much else. Do some homework before you go. Do your money conversion equations and currency exchange/credit card/cash card costs. I spent about 2 hours one day in 1 shop and only bought 2 things. Attached is a pic of 1 isle that just had floats, do the math these floats are $13 - $18 each 3 or 4 on each post, 30 or so posts in a line and 9 or 10 posts in each vertical =  between 10k - 20k just worth of floats in this pic.

 

[Houdini]

On 9/1/2023 at 6:08 PM, faker said:

A better question would be do the Japanese have some good cheap crank and surface lures

 

I would say No. They are pretty much exactly the same as here. The good ones are expensive and the cheap ones are cheap for a reason. Do some research here before you go and then price match when you are there. I don't think you will be coming home with a suitcase full of top quality lures that you snagged for half the price you pay here. 

[lastworm]

I buy my crank baits/jerkbaits from a Japanese site and pay around $12 each instead of $30 locally. Also tend to be more colour options available, as well as models. When you buy 5 or 6 at a time and factor in the $15-$20 postage they are still far cheaper than they are locally, local markups are insane.