Tomica, the die-cast metal toy cars made by Japan’s Tomy Co., lead a parallel life to their American counterpart, Mattel Co.’s Hot Wheels. Hot Wheels exploded into the toy market in the late 1960’s and Tomica followed in Japan in 1970. Small and relatively inexpensive, Tomica are collected and traded by boys of all ages…
Tag: collectables
Mandarake
Any respectable otaku knows about Mandarake, the largest reseller of used manga and anime related products in the Tokyo area. Nakano Broadway, just outside of Nakano station, is home to no less than a dozen Mandarake shops, each catering to a different type of collector. From models to manga, to collectable Disney, you’d have a…
Zakka
The word Zakka 雑貨 can be translated into English as “a variety of goods” but the exact meaning isn’t so easy to pin down. Zakka originally referred to items you could buy at a Zakka-ya, a general store and perhaps precursor to today’s convenience stores. Though zakka can be used to describe items used in everyday life…
365 JAPAN 