[rustyhancock]

Much of the "cheap retro games" from Japan are just the games that were more popular there like Paper Mario 64.

It's hard to really properly track these things but over the three trips I've made to Japan over about 12 years. Id say the price rises have been entirely in line with currency and retrogaming inflation.

I.e. I'm not sure it was every as good value as people thought.

I did buy quite a bit over a decade ago but again those were Japan only carts (that wouldn't even run in PAL without a mod chip but would run NTSC-U).

That said it is so much more touristy now I'm sure any arbitrage opertunity would be sweeped away same evening.

Japan is now also making domestic only console versions (at least for switch 2 and I think with PS5 on the cards).

Again this might lead to people thinking consoles are cheap in Japan but these are Japanese only consoles designed to revive the economic doldrum they are in.

[aa-jv]

Japan is certainly the place to go for second-hand synthesizers and other music equipment, though. The gear is well taken care of, and usually a fair bit cheaper than local rates.

[rustyhancock]

Fair point! I did see an extraordinary amount of music gear in akihabara and never really processed that information.

And the love and care they treat possessions with as well as the way they package second hand devices is inspiring.

It's kind of odd in a way in contrast to Kintsugi (where repair is highlighted). Almost aiming to keep things in perfect condition but then in a way celebrating repair?

[aa-jv]

Of for sure, the second hand market in Japan is really very inspirational.

In the 90's I did a trip to Japan for second-hand synth gear and came back with 4x the stuff I'd have had, if I'd only shopped local - and this was in a period where synths (my favourite investment) were lower valued on the market even in the US ..

Japan is a very inspirational nation, I find.