Japanese Game Store — Buy Retro Consoles & Games from Japan

You are looking for a shop in Japan that will sell you a Japanese console or game and actually send it to your country. That is what this is. We are in Japan, we ship worldwide, and every console leaves here opened, cleaned and tested by hand.

The shop started in 1986, when the owner's father opened a second-hand game store. It closed. His son reopened it, and now it sends the same machines to people in about forty countries.

What you are actually buying

Most listings for "Japanese retro console" are untested boxes. Ours are not. Before a machine is listed:

  • It is opened. We do not just confirm it powers on — we look inside.
  • Dust is removed from the boards and the shell. Contacts are cleaned with ethanol and a residue-free electronics cleaner.
  • Moving parts get a light silicone grease. Electrical contacts are cleaned only, never greased.
  • Electrolytic capacitors are replaced when there is visible corrosion or leakage. On console families known for capacitor failure, a full recap is standard.
  • It is then run, with a real game, until we are willing to put our name on it.

The steps are written down, with photos, in Console Care 101 and the Restoration Diary. If something in there looks wrong to you, tell us — that is a fair reason not to buy.

Will a Japanese console work where you live?

This is the question that stops most people, so here is the short version.

  • Power. Japan is 100 V. Japanese consoles run fine on 110–120 V. On 220–240 V you need a step-down transformer — a small one, and it is not expensive.
  • Video. Japanese machines are NTSC-J. A modern TV usually needs an upscaler; a CRT usually does not.
  • Region. A Super Famicom is not a SNES, and a Japanese cartridge will not simply drop into a US or EU machine. This matters more than voltage.

The long version, machine by machine: Region & Power (Global) and Video Output & Upscaler.

What it costs to get it to you

Shipping and any import duty or tax are calculated at checkout, before you pay. Nothing further is due when the parcel arrives — no customs invoice at your door. The exact rates are in Payments and Shipping.

Buy by console

Everything below is stock we physically have in Japan. Most consoles are single units — when one sells, that page stays up but the machine is gone.

Nintendo
Famicom · Super Famicom · Twin Famicom · Disk System · Nintendo 64 · GameCube · Game Boy · Game Boy Color · Game Boy Advance · Nintendo DS · Nintendo 3DS · Virtual Boy · Game & Watch

Sega
Mega Drive · Sega Saturn · Dreamcast · Game Gear · SG-1000 II

Sony
PlayStation · PlayStation 2 · PlayStation 3 · PlayStation Vita

NEC · SNK · others
PC Engine · PC-FX · Neo Geo AES · Neo Geo CD · Neo Geo Pocket · WonderSwan · MSX · PC-9801

Or start from what has just arrived: New Arrivals.

Read before you buy

One guide per machine. Each says what to check on a used unit, what we replace before it ships, and what is in stock right now — written so you can use it even if you buy somewhere else.

Nintendo
Family Computer (Famicom) / NES · New Famicom (AV Famicom) · Family Computer Disk System · Super Famicom / SNES · Sharp Twin Famicom · Nintendo 64 · Nintendo GameCube · Game Boy · Game Boy Color · Game Boy Advance · Nintendo 3DS

Sega
Sega Mega Drive / Genesis · Sega Saturn · Dreamcast

Sony
PlayStation · PlayStation 2 · PocketStation

NEC · SNK · others
PC Engine / TurboGrafx-16 · Neo Geo · MSX

Deeper guides: Super Famicom · Famicom · GameCube · PC Engine · PlayStation 2

Power, plugs and customs where you live: United States · Australia · United Kingdom · European Union

Why buy from Japan at all

Because this is where the machines were made, and where they stayed. A Japanese console that never left Japan has usually had one owner, one voltage, and one climate. And the hands that open it here have been opening this exact model for years.

There is a longer answer in our museum, which we run separately and sell nothing on: Enjoy Game Japan Museum.

Ask us before you buy

If you cannot find the machine or the game you want, tell us what you are looking for and which country it is going to — we will tell you honestly whether we can find it, and roughly what it would cost. Send us the model you are after.