A Wargamer’s Guide to Visiting Tokyo
I’ve just returned from Japan. I’ve been a few times before but this is my first time in a number of years and it’s great to be back. I wanted to write up a list post/guide on what someone who is involved in minis games or Warhammer might want to check out in Tokyo. I’ll start this off by saying that Tokyo is amazing for plastic model kits and anime figures, but it’s not a wargaming hotbed. You can find plenty of Warhammer but it will be expensive and there isn’t much reason to buy it there unless you’re a local. So this will be more focused on what you might want to visit, and some non-gaming shopping to consider. Also I’ll note that prices will be in yen, but price comparisons will be in US dollars as that’s what I know. So prices may be better or worse than what I discuss here based on your local currency and local hobby market/markup.
I’ll also note that I’m sure I’ve missed things, this is a guide for tourists, not anyone living in Tokyo. If you have advice on other things to add please reach out via email or social media.
You can find a map of these locations here or at the bottom of this article. The map includes some other sites that I know less about or don’t think are worth going out of your way for, but you can stop by if you’re in the area.
Gundam Front Tokyo
I don’t care how much you hate Tau, the Unicorn Gundam on Odiba is worth seeing. GW’s 1:1 scale models, eat your heart out, this thing is 65 feet tall. I recommend visiting Gundam Front Tokyo in the late afternoon or early evening, depending on the time of year. It’s best if you can see the Gundam in the day but also lit up at night. There are set times where there will be light shows after dark (depending on time of year) and at 11:00, 13:00, 15:00, and 17:00 it will activate it’s transformation mechanism (panels moving, not like turning into a plane). Getting there in the late afternoon you can check it out, go inside, come back for more pictures at night.
When you head inside at Gundam Front Tokyo you’ll find a large Bandai-run Gundam store with plenty of exclusive models and some interesting displays. If you’re luck enough to be going around the end/start of the year you may see Gunpla Builder’s World Cup models which are truly stunning. This store also has a lot of Gundam clothing, often collaborations with other brands. When you’re shopping here get the merch and exclusive models, this isn’t the place to pick up your next HG or MG kit, these are full retail price.
Note: Some days entry are restricted so please check their website for access, current schedule is here.
Cost: Free
Hours: 11:00-20:00
How long will I spend here?: 30-90 minutes
Address: Japan, 〒135-0064 Tokyo, Koto City, Aomi, 1 Chome−1−10 ダイバーシティ東京 プラザ７F
Small Worlds Miniature Museum
Small Worlds Miniature Museum is a fairly new museum that displays a number of models. The focus is on large scale dioramas and while nothing is directly related to wargaming there is infinite inspiration to take from it. They have some exhibits that change, but it’s mostly permanent exhibits. It starts with a large space exploration model that has some great little scenes in it, but overall it lacks the cohesion of the better exhibits. There is a large airport model and full scale airport lounge, which sounds kind of strange but I enjoyed sitting down and having a coffee while watching model planes take off and land.
The highlight for me is the Evangelion section. This is a large part of the museum and there is a lot to see. There is a model of the Eva launch cages from the series in something like 1:48 scale. There is then a partial 1:1 scale Eva Unit 0-1 model and a 12 or so foot tall Lance of Longinus. Now, all of that may sound like gibberish if you’ve not watched the series, or it’s been a long time. But trust me, it’s cool but those are the two weakest parts. The highlight of the Eva section is without a doubt the scale model of Tokyo-3 where Eva takes place. I’m bad with trains but I think this might have been in N scale which is ~1:160 or about 10mm scale for our toy soldiers. And it’s huge, they’ve created a number of areas of the city, with a backdrop using forced perspective to show the transformation of the city when the skyscrapers descend into the Geofront. Again, some of that probably sounds like gibberish, but I think it’s worth seeing because there are a lot of clever things going on. There are hidden (well, small) scenes with characters from the show scattered about. The forced perspective trick is used in Tokyo-3 and the airport lounge and I think under-utilized by modelers. So you’ll just see a lot of Neat Stuff and I hope it inspires you.
The last bit of the Eva section to talk about is less applicable to scale modelers but is super cool. There are models there that look unfinished, on first seeing them I recognized them as the city from the 1.0+3.0 rebuild movie, and I thought maybe they were building them in place. That isn’t the case. These miniatures (which are quite large) were built for the filming process, they were not used for filming but to establish shots, locations, and provide a physicality to the digitally animated movie. For anyone who has seen the movie you can agree it pays off, Village 3 feels like a real place with physicality and a sense of place.
Okay, that’s enough weebing out about Eva. I think the other thing that will really appeal to miniature hobbyists is the workshop. I wish they had a little more here, but you’re able to walk through their workshop and see their models in progress, their 3d printers, their laser cutters, it’s really cool and I’d love to know more about the process. You can get a 3d scan of your body and a colored 3d print out of it sent to you,
The other good news here is that it’s pretty close to the giant robot above so you can do both of them in the same day. What I’d recommend is starting off with Teamlab Planets in the morning, a fantastic immersive art museum, then hit Small Worlds and see the Gundam as it gets close to sunset. I will say as a word of warning, that I loved it and got a lot out of this, but reviews online are a bit mixed. I think any wargamer will enjoy seeing this but your family may be less excited at the experience.
Cost: ¥3,200
Hours: 09:00-19:00
How long will I spend here?: 1-3 hours
Address: Japan, 〒135-0063 Tokyo, Koto City, Ariake, 1 Chome−3−33 有明物流センター
VALKYRIE VF-25F - Chiba Institute of Technology
The Valkyrie fighter below the Tokyo Skytree
So next up is a much smaller, much more niche sight but one I recommend if not too far out of your way. This is a 1:1 scale model of a Macross Valkyrie, which readers of a certain age may recognize from Robotech, or even as a Land Air Mech in Battletech. This particular one is from a newer series, Macross Frontier (the best Macross show, now streaming in most non-US countries on Hulu) and it’s not a complete model. You can only see part of the fighter/mech but what you can see really resembles a scale model. It’s staged as in a repair bay and there are tons of lovely details, check out all those warning notes.
The Valkyrie is a little hard to find but in a convenient location. Tokyo Skytree is the tallest tower in the world and the third tallest structure in the world. Paying for a ticket is well worth it for the the best views of Tokyo of any observation deck. The Skytree is build on top of a 4 story mall, and at one end of that mall there is an office tower. And in that office tower on the 8th floor Chiba University has a display space. This isn’t worth a long trip but they have some pretty cool stuff, beyond the Macross fighter you can see a sword forged from meteoric iron, touch a meteor, see a scale model of a satellite, and see the robots being used to observe the site of the Fukushima nuclear disaster. And it’s all free. The Skytree and this exhibition space are some of Tokyo’s most famous shrines and also the Kappabashi area known for knife stores and other kitchen shopping.
Cost: Free
Hours: 10:30-18:00
How long will I spend here?": 15-45 minutes
Address: Japan, 〒131-0045 Tokyo, Sumida City, Oshiage, 1 Chome−1−2 ソラマチ8F
Warhammer Cafe Tokyo
Very much worth a visit is the Warhammer Cafe in Tokyo. The cafe is in Akihabara, the center of anime and nerd fandom in the city and probably won’t be out of your way for that reason. This is the only Warhammer Cafe I’ve been to and they did a good job. Not a ton of playing space but a ton of painted models are on display, they stock a wide range of online or Forgeworld exclusives and some GW Exclusives such as the Realm of Chaos books.
I didn’t try the food or drinks, I’m sure they’re edible if not the best option in the area. The staff is friendly and if they have something you want feel free to buy it, but keep in mind for most visitors you’ll be paying a small premium on your local prices. The exclusives of course make the most sense to buy.
At this point I’ll mention the other Warhammer stores in Tokyo, they’re fine, in the context of what one-person Warhammer shops are, they kinda suck. I didn’t stop by any but the last time I went I checked them out and if you’re near by stop in but don’t expect much. No slight to the staff, it’s just a bad format for a store and too small to have anything interesting.
Cost: Free
Hours: 12:00-20:00 weekdays, 10:00-21:00 weekends
How long will I spend here?": 15-30 minutes
Address: Japan, 〒101-0021 Tokyo, Chiyoda City, Sotokanda, 1 Chome−7−5 Front Place Akihabara
Model Shopping
Let me start off by trying to lower your expectations. Tokyo isn’t a great place to buy wargaming models. It’s an amazing place to buy plastic scale models, and I’ll probably do a follow-up article with some recommendations and notes about that. If you’re unfamiliar with Gunpla and similar models I recommend watching Rogue Hobby’s video on the subject and keep an eye out here for some more info in the future. You can also find countless historical scale models, though note that popular sizes do not line up with common wargame scales.
But let’s talk about ~wargaming models, as mentioned there isn’t a ton of reason to buy Warhammer models in Japan and they’re by far the most common wargaming models. Space Marine Heroes used to be exclusive but can now be found elsewhere. The Space Marine board game is sold in Japan if you’re from a country where it wasn’t released, but that’s about as exclusive as things get these days. If you want to buy Warhammer models you’ll find a discount at non-GW stores but also pretty limited selection. Keep in mind that for anything coming with rules those will typically be in Japanese.
As far as what you might want to buy. My first and biggest recommendation is Volks Hobby in Akihabara, a short walk from the Warhammer Cafe. This store spans a number of floors but of most interest will be the 4th floor where you’ll find a few interesting things. First up they have a pretty wide selection of busts and 54-75mm scale display models. If you’ve never painted in a larger scale than “28mm” I really do recommend pushing yourself and painting a display model, you don’t need to enter a competition, it doesn’t need to be the best model you’ve ever painted, it can just be a fun change of pace, they paint up very differently. And the selection here is quite good with most of the “big” European names represented. I bought a Neko Galaxy model that was a bit cheaper in Yen than Euros, and I didn’t need to worry about shipping.
In addition to the display models Volks (as of November 2024) carries two lines of resin and metal, Japanese-made minis for RPGs. NSMiniatures are charming little models that are quite grimdark and would fit in well in games like Mordheim or kitbashed for Trench Crusade. Also on the shelves are Aurora Miniatures, the bulk of these are a line of Chibi-adjacent teddy bear themed adventurers, but they also have a line of RPG adventurers that look right out of a JRPG. They also carry Zealot Miniatures, a brand I’d not seen in store before.
Hunting for models things will be slim pickings but there are some neat things if you know where to look. If anyone knows of other shops in Tokyo carrying interesting minis lines please reach out so I can check them out next time.
Hours: weekdays 11:00-20:00, weekend 10:00-20:00
Address: 4 Chome-2-10 Sotokanda, Chiyoda City, Tokyo 101-0021, Japan
Nanako Broadway
I’m cheating a bit here, this isn’t a great wargaming destination. But it’s the best nerd shopping destination in Japan. Nanako Broadway is a smallish indoor mall with dozens of specialty stores. These are split between hobby shops and high end watches. I don’t really get it.
Anyway, the hobby shops are quite varied, most are branches of Mandarake which has a number of other locations in Japan and track their inventory online. You also have at least a dozen independent shops, most specializing in one thing or another. Be sure to check out the animation cell shop on the 3rd or 4th floor. Anyway, you can probably find something related to your interests here be it a model kit, movie poster, or many other things.
Hours: Depends on the shop but most are 12:00-20:00
Address: 5 Chome-52-15 Nakano, Nakano City, Tokyo 164-0001, Japan
Hobby Supplies
Okay, so now on to the good news, Tokyo is amazing for buying hobby supplies. This is a big category so I’ll try and break things down. You can get these in a lot of stores, Volks mentioned above has a great selection but electronics stores, hobby stores, and plenty of other places will have these things.
Knives, Drills, Cutters, and other Sharp Things
You’ll find a wide range of cutting devices at any Japanese hobby store. My favorite hobby knife is the Olfa Art Knife. Strangely the knife is only about 5% cheaper in Japan, but the blades are almost half the price, and with how expensive blades are for this knife that’s a great deal. I bought no less than 10 packs of replacement blades (they only come with 5). In addition you can find all manner of pin vices and hobby drills.
Cutters or nippers as they’re more often called in Japan are another thing to look for. The God Hand Ultimate Nipper have developed a cult following and while I own a pair I can’t really recommend them to wargamers, they’re overkill for our model kits. However a good set of sharp, single side cutters from Tamiya or another brand is well worth picking up and will be 20-30% cheaper than buying it in the States.
You’ll also find a wide range of scribing tools and chisels. Scribing tools are designed to add lines to panels, this is a common practice in the scale modeling community and would probably look great on a lot of more mechanical wargaming models. Chisels are more multi-purpose and I have a few that I like to use to add physical battle damage to models. They’re good for things like scoring a jagged line in armor like it was raked with fire.
One thing I would advise some caution on is shopping for electric tools. You can find a wide variety of drills, dremels and similar tools, but I’d be careful before buying on. You’re often paying more than on AliExpress and I noticed a lot of them used USB Micro rather than USB 3 for charging and no one wants that.
Airbrushes and Compressors
Iwata is one of the top names in airbrushses, and with good reason. I didn’t think to do comparison shopping as I’m not currently in the market for anything, but I own two Iwata brushes and an Iwata compressor, all fantastic tools. I’d check prices in your home country before going, but if you need an airbrush or compressor (seriously, the Iwata ones are so good) it’d be a good thing to consider picking up.
Kit-bashing and Scratch Building Bits
Japan is a great place to pick up things like pla-plate (polystyrene sheets) as well as things like plastic I-breams or pipes for modeling. You’ll find these pretty easily and the prices are quite good.
In addition there are a huge range of plastic kits made for kitbashing Gunpla and other scale models. Most of these will be a bit out of scale for for wargaming figures, but if you’re looking for something like a custom melee weapon for a 40k knight, keep your eyes out.
You can also find a lot of tools designed to support scratch building like punches to make specific shapes form pla-plate.
Paint, Glue, and Other Liquid Supplies
I’m lumping these together for a reason. And that reason is that unfortunately Japan is not the place to buy these. The core issue is that most sold in Japan are flammable. There are a number of paint lines that are rare in the west but common in Japan that seem great, but are enamel based and therefore flammable. You should not include flamable items in your carry on or stowed luggage so stocking up on paint from Mr Color or GaiaNotes only makes sense if you want to send them home via ship. I’ve not explored this, and I’m sure you could do it from a post office but it seems complicated.
Likewise many glues are flammable. The good news that like with paint this will be clearly marked on the bottle with the international symbol for “fire hot” 🔥. Like with paint and glue there are a lot of good liquid weathering products, but again, they’re flammable.
I did notice that Vallejo paints were a lot cheaper than in the US, and those are not flammable, but also not what I wanted to spend my luggage space on.
Files, Sandpaper, and other Consumables
Again thanks to scale modeling Japan and Tokyo are great for things like files, sandpaper, and miscellaneous things like modeling q-tips. Sandpaper is sold by the sheet, in sets, or as flexible sanding sticks, all good products and cheap. You can also get some very fine files which use glass. These not seen in traditional wargaming spaces, I don’t experience with them but if you like them or are interested in trying them out you’ll find a ton of options in Tokyo. For more on this style of file see this video.
Train Stuff
I don’t have a great shot train modeling stuff, so have this train simulator shot.
I decided to include this as its own heading because there is so much of it in Japan. You can find rails, trains, and most importantly, scenery. I’m going to focus on that last section, there is a huge range of scenery available, much of it would look just fine on a wargame table. There are two issues here, first the most common scale is N scale which is about 1:150 which puts it pretty close to 10mm, which isn’t a super popular scale among big wargaming brands. Legions Imperialis is 8mm so you could get away with this though theming is an issue, Flames of War and other Battlefront games are 15mm so I don’t really think think you should mix them but YMMV. The best fit in terms of both scale and theme is Dropzone Commander, a 10mm game set in the future but one where earth buildings often have a sort of art deco vibe. I think you could build an amazing DZC board with train scenery, though it would add up to a pretty penny. For something like Legions Imperialis I would recommend looking at industrial models, some of these are on plastic sprues and look great.
The other thing of note is that train scenery means lots supplies for making terrain. From kits for making model trees to rock molds to flock, you can find plenty of this type of supply in train sections of stores. These can be used for basing, dioramas, or your own terrain.
