[Danneq]

Yeah, buying second hand in Japan is almost like buying new stuff. While my (Japanese) wife and I lived in Japan during 2010, I bought a lot of stuff off Yahoo auction. Japanese people seldom use Ebay, but Yahoo auction is quite popular.
 
I bought two DAP's from Yahoo auction, a Kenwood HD20GA7 and a JVC/Victor XA-HD500, along with 4 ear-/headphones (ATH M50, ATH ES7, ATH CM700TI & Pioneer SE-EX9). The ATH M50 reeked of smoke and the ATH CM700TI earbuds were a bit dirty, but after changing earpads on the M50 and cleaning the CM700TI, they were like new. Everything was also a lot cheaper than buying new...
 
As have been mentioned here, there are places such as Book Off, which sells used books, manga, CD's, DVD's, toys, video games etc, and Disk Union which is a chain of second hand CD and DVD stores. If you go to Topkyo and Akihabara, there's Super potato which is like heaven if you like retro video games.
 
I found this on Youtube:

 
 
I found this on Youtube as well, from the Yodobashi store in Osaka. I went to Osaka last year, but it was just a day trip and we didn't have time to go into the Yodobashi store. Dang! I want to go to Osaka again!!!

 

[Currawong]

I took these last year at my local Yodobashi Store. Since then, they've expanded their headphone section to take up more than just a wall of the store, but about half-a-dozen glass cases included a comprehensive IEM station including sanitary wipes where you can plug in your DAP to test any of them. The most expensive or rare models require someone to unlock the case, however, though it isn't quite done by price, as the cheaper ER4s are in the case, but the AT CK-10s and 100s aren't.
 

 

[jjmai]

Quote:

The second hand game business is also pretty big, and since the Japanese generally take good care of their stuff, buying something second hand
is usually in very good condition, no reason not to if it doesn't have an online code or something like that.
 
 

So true.  I've bought games and books in Japan that are considered okay condition or with slight scuffs, yet I couldn't find any.
 

 

[jjmai]

Quote:

 
I found this on Youtube as well, from the Yodobashi store in Osaka. I went to Osaka last year, but it was just a day trip and we didn't have time to go into the Yodobashi store. Dang! I want to go to Osaka again!!!

Good find! And the video is pretty new too, from June this year.
She actually didn't get all the areas.  There's a neighboring section with Bose (and I think iphone) stuffs, and another with some TV headphones and miscellaneous Sony and Audio Technica phones.
Usually the ones behind glasses are foreign (American, German, etc) imports.  But they are available to try if you ask the clerks.
 

 

[Marshal Banana]

If you go to Osaka, there is a heaphones/earphones paradise at Nipponbashi (Dendentown). The name of the store is E-Earphone. They have more products than they have in the big stores like Yodobashi Camera or Bic Camera, a second hand section and lower prices. Here is the home page:  http://www.e-earphone.jp/

 

[Danneq]

Quote:

If you go to Osaka, there is a heaphones/earphones paradise at Nipponbashi (Dendentown). The name of the store is E-Earphone. They have more products than they have in the big stores like Yodobashi Camera or Bic Camera, a second hand section and lower prices. Here is the home page:  http://www.e-earphone.jp/

Cool! Didn't know they have a physical store. I bought a bunch of replacement earpads and other stuff from them through their online shop while living in Japan, but I didn't look through their homepage to see if they have real brick and mortars stores...

 

[Currawong]

I was thinking of dropping by there when visiting friends in Osaka. Now I just have to find time to get there....

 

[zammykoo]

Thanks for sharing that. I owned one of the first portable Sony MD player introduced in the states back in 1999 for a brief while because I was still in school and wanted something smaller than a portable CD player. I soon realized that I was the only one that ever heard of an MD player and it was never going to catch on in the states. I figured my investment would not last a long time so I sold it and ended up getting an mp3 player instead.
 
I do miss it from time to time knowing it was a cool device and was definitely very well built. 
 

 
Quote:

Japan had digital distribution for a long time actually - except it's confined to their mobile phones.  It's a wet dream for the content people because their mobile phones are so locked down with DRM that it makes tones of money for them.  Also because PCs aren't popular there weren't incentives for a PC based DD business, it's changed now thanks partly to Apple's iTMS, which prompted heavy competition from Sony to offer a similar service.  
 
CD sales in Japan are aimed at the hardcore fans who wants to make a collection.  Rental is definitely the bigger business, Tsutaya is currently the biggest rental/retail chain for CDs and DVDs and stores are everywhere.  Also the reason MDs were so popular in Japan is also because of rentals - imagine being able to rent CDs and dump them onto high quality palm sized MD players 15 years ago with little loss of quality compared to the lowly cassette tape,  before CD burners, ripping and giant HDDs were common.  That was THE thing for Japanese youth whom were into music.  MD never caught on outside of Japan  because it lacked this angle.  
 

 

 

 

[plastick]

Woah.. I'd kill for a setup like that to test out headphones! 
 
Unfortunately over here in the US, everyone goes to BestBuy and goes "WOW THESE BOSE TRIPORTS ARE WORTH $150!" and that's basically how it goes down.

 

[nfinite]

WOW, i'd love to stay there all day just to try every phones to my heart's content... 

 

[ProcessJunkie]

I just wet my paints. 

Are they connected to a audio source? It would be magical if you could plug then into your ipod or something.

My graphic designer heart just melted with the Etymotic catalog. So beautiful.

 

[Danneq]

Quote:

I just wet my paints. 

Are they connected to a audio source? It would be magical if you could plug then into your ipod or something.

My graphic designer heart just melted with the Etymotic catalog. So beautiful.

 
Usually it is just that magical. I could go to the local Yodobashi and stay for 2 hours just testing the different headphones with my MP3 player. Amazing!
 

 

[keanex]

While Japan does pay some more than US on some things it seems they get paid a bit better on average.
 
On another subject, I really wanted to go to Japan before this, now I REALLY want to go.

 

[jjmai]

I just wet my paints. 

Are they connected to a audio source? It would be magical if you could plug then into your ipod or something.

My graphic designer heart just melted with the Etymotic catalog. So beautiful.

Most are not connected to any source, so you should take a portable player with you.
Also, for foreign visitors, you maybe able to get tax free discount for bigger purchases, stores may ask to see your passport.

 

[RPGWiZaRD]

If they did the same in the US, it wouldn't take long before all those headphones were stolen or broken. Japanese have very low stealing rates and generally have better respect for property belonging to others. Even after the tsunami disaster, people didn't loot stores, they patiently were waiting in the long lines. Looting has always been a big problem after every major natural disaster in the rest of world, but not in Japan. That's the reason, there's quite big cultural differences amongst others. Of course Japan isn't free of problems either but this is one thing I have much respect for and why I like Japan.