{"id":1654,"date":"2010-11-07T13:05:24","date_gmt":"2010-11-07T04:05:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2010-11-07\/1654"},"modified":"2010-11-07T13:05:24","modified_gmt":"2010-11-07T04:05:24","slug":"yodobashi-camera-opens-in-kyoto","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2010-11-07\/1654","title":{"rendered":"Yodobashi Camera Opens in Kyoto"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n
\nNOTE<\/b>: Images with an icon next to them have been artificially shrunk to better fit your screen; click the icon to restore them, in place, to their regular size.\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Yodobashi Camera, a small chain of large camera\/electronics stores,\nopened a new<\/span> branch in Kyoto on Friday. They have about 20 branches around\nJapan now, with the main store in Tokyo's Shinjuku said to be the largest\ncamera store in Japan. They have a branch<\/span> in Osaka 45<\/span> minutes away by\ntrain (which I mentioned five years ago<\/a>\nin an early post on my blog), but mentally it feels much further away, so it's wonderful for me that they have a branch<\/span> in\nKyoto<\/a>. It's in the<\/span> building immediately\nnorth of Kyoto Tower<\/a>, which itself is just north of Kyoto Station<\/a>, the heart\nof Kyoto.<\/p>\n\n

The new store is absolutely huge. I went on<\/span> the evening of the grand\nopening last Friday, and was stunned by the breadth and depth of what they\ncarry. Got to play<\/span> with a $13,500 Nikkor 600mm f\/4 monster prime they had\nsitting out mounted to a D700<\/span> on a tripod,<\/span> and a Nikkor<\/span> 300mm f\/2.8 as\nwell. I probably<\/span> won't buy lenses here (even with the dollar so weak,\nthey're somehow much<\/i> cheaper in The States; the same $13.5k lens\nsells in The States for\nmore than $3,000 less<\/a>), but it'll be great for accessories like bags or\nlighting gear.<\/p>\n\n

The nine-story building (seven above ground, two below) has everything\nfrom a supermarket<\/span> in the basement to upscale eating, massage, clothes,\netc. in the upper floors. (Yodobashi Camera, per sa<\/i>, is only four of the\nfloors, but it all feels connected.) There's a huge<\/span> toy section that will certainly be Anthony's\n(want-to-) go-to spot. In the upper<\/span> floors there's also a B\u00f8rneLund<\/span> (store\nwith expensive European toys), though without the fun play zone<\/a> that the\nstore on Kawaramachi used to have.<\/p>\n\n

Oddly, in the camera section there was a long<\/span> cooler full of\nphotographic film, as if it were still the 20th century, and enlargers and\ndeveloper chemicals and stuff. It's difficult<\/span> to believe that there's\nenough market to include this in a new<\/span> store built from scratch, but there\napparently still is. I suppose<\/span> it might seem quaint to some, but just seems\nyucky to me. I have nice<\/span> memories of my time in a darkroom<\/span> doing my own\nfilm, but I have<\/span> no wish whatsoever to repeat it.<\/p>\n\n

Anyway, happy day for Kyoto camera geeks!<\/p>\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Yodobashi Camera, a small chain of large camera\/electronics stores, opened a new branch in Kyoto on Friday. They have about 20 branches around Japan now, with the main store in Tokyo's Shinjuku said to be the largest camera store in Japan. They have a branch in Osaka 45 minutes away by train (which I mentioned five years ago in an early post on my blog), but mentally it feels much further away, so it's wonderful for me that they have a branch in Kyoto. It's in the building immediately north of Kyoto Tower, which itself is just north of Kyoto [...]","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,1,2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1654"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1654"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1654\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1654"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1654"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1654"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}