# Shops in Tokyo



## DAgua (Sep 21, 2010)

Those are some great tanks, thank you for sharing

I love the Tree one


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## chad320 (Mar 7, 2010)

Really, thanks for sharin!


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## volatile (Feb 13, 2007)

Those are some really nice scapes. Did they mind you taking pictures? I wonder if ADA products are cheaper there than they are in USA.


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## Darkblade48 (Jan 4, 2008)

I recognize all the stores that you posted 

I immediately recognized the store in your first picture just from the outside facade of the building.



volatile said:


> I wonder if ADA products are cheaper there than they are in USA.


Yes, they are. Much cheaper


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## rasbora (Sep 1, 2006)

I always asked for permission before I took any pictures. They were all happy to let me.

Basically all ADA stuff was cheaper in Tokyo, but not cheap. A lot of the shops, as you can see, really, really love ADA- although it was cool, it was to the point that I found it refreshing to find a nice set up that didn't have all the same ADA stuff in it. 

There were a lot of great shops in addition to these, but I never took any pictures of them. If you want to find the ones that sell ADA, get the Japanese ADA catalog and look in the back.


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## Eden Marel (Jan 28, 2010)

Awesome, I want to visit Japan one day, but I'm a poor person that can't bleeping get a job. Darn me. One day one day, hopefully in this life time. So cool! AND NO I'M NO WEEABOO!


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## pandjpudge (Dec 7, 2008)

whoa these tanks are amazing! I like the one with the tree...its so different


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## problemman (Aug 19, 2005)

How much does a trip cost to go to tokyo

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk


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## bsmith (Jan 8, 2007)

Air fare for me in April of this year alone was $1300. Round trip. But that was from STL to Tokyo then to Osaka. 

I wish the local fish shops would invest the money into the equipment it would take to grow some nice plants. All we get is the crap with the lead weights holding the bunches together.


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## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

Beautiful. I've noticed a theme with the ADA tanks. Moss, crypts, grass, glosso, hc and java ferns seem to be staples. Thank you for taking the time to post the pictures.


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## mistergreen (Dec 9, 2006)

There are lots of flight deals to Europe instead of Asia. Have anybody checked out the European shops?

Thanks for sharing rasbora. I can't see that tree living too long


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## Jeff5614 (Dec 29, 2005)

sewingalot said:


> Beautiful. I've noticed a theme with the ADA tanks. Moss, crypts, grass, glosso, hc and java ferns seem to be staples. Thank you for taking the time to post the pictures.


Yep, usually plants that we consider easy and low to medium light. From what I've read, and someone please correct me if I'm wrong, most of Amano's tanks are low light with a noon burst of high light. All things that I'm trying to work into my own tank in pursuit of a lower maintenance set up.


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## connordude27 (Jun 14, 2008)

pics not showing?


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## BradH (May 15, 2008)

Cool pics. Thanks for sharing. Man I wish I could pack up and move to Japan, Europe, or Australia, but everything I've researched seems like it's really hard to get allowed to live there. Kind of sucks that all the countries of the world have to be so picky about letting people move there.


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## rasbora (Sep 1, 2006)

BradH, have you considered going as a student? Sometimes you can get your foot in the door that way.


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## BradH (May 15, 2008)

I doubt that would work for me. I'm 33 and I've been out of school for a long time.


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## Eden Marel (Jan 28, 2010)

Doesn't hurt to try to live there, you'll just be a second rate citizen if you manage.


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## deleted_user_7 (Jul 7, 2003)

How is that Japanese Maple growing like that? How can is survive with the roots and trunk emersed? 

Also I think it's interesting how English is used... I always assumed ADA products in Japan would use Japanese symbols... A lot of English is seen in those pics. Interesting. 

That steel canister filter was cool under the Ginsui Special Edition stand (I think that was the name.)


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## Darkblade48 (Jan 4, 2008)

justlikeapill said:


> Also I think it's interesting how English is used... I always assumed ADA products in Japan would use Japanese symbols... A lot of English is seen in those pics. Interesting.


Really? I never really noticed this. Now that I think about it, ADA products do have more English on their packaging than other brands. This may be because Japanese people think of English as a foreign language, and thus, there is a sort of "exotic" feel to the ADA products.


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## Eden Marel (Jan 28, 2010)

I dunno either, I see a lot of Japanese stuff at the Asian market in both Japanese and (broken) English. Maybe it lets them practice their English, cuz don't they start learning Japanese like in middle school?


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## Darkblade48 (Jan 4, 2008)

In general, since English is foreign, I think Japanese people use it for the "exotic" factor.

In terms of English education, yes, students start learning English in Junior High school, but there has been a change in the curriculum to introduce more English during elementary school.


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## deleted_user_7 (Jul 7, 2003)

I've never thought of the West as being exotic... But I guess if you're from Asia then English looks cool, the way various Asian languages have characters that look cool to us.

I wonder if Japanese people get words like "Love" or "Peace" tattooed on them in English the way Americans get Chinese/Japanese words tattooed on them.


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## rasbora (Sep 1, 2006)

justlikeapill said:


> How is that Japanese Maple growing like that? How can is survive with the roots and trunk emersed?


He hadn't had it in there very long, and said that it was just an experiment.


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## rasbora (Sep 1, 2006)

justlikeapill said:


> I've never thought of the West as being exotic... But I guess if you're from Asia then English looks cool, the way various Asian languages have characters that look cool to us.
> 
> I wonder if Japanese people get words like "Love" or "Peace" tattooed on them in English the way Americans get Chinese/Japanese words tattooed on them.


Well some of them certainly wear clothes with some interesting English on them. I've seem some great T-shirts such as "I love your round eyed" and "You know you love this fabulous"

And in Korea: "Nobody puts baby in a corner"


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## mordalphus (Jun 23, 2010)

> Also I think it's interesting how English is used... I always assumed ADA products in Japan would use Japanese symbols... A lot of English is seen in those pics. Interesting.


ADA is an international corporation, it makes sense to standardize packaging into one language. Not to mention, the japanese don't even have a proper word for CRS... They use the romaji equivalent which is "Reddo/bi/surimpu", which is "*red*do*bisurimp*u and of course that means "red bee shrimp".

My wife says it's quite popular for international Japanese companies to publish their product labels in english, since it's easier to sell products in all countries if it's printed in english.


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## Bunbuku (Sep 19, 2010)

I just saw this thread. Really great! I have an upcoming trip there in the fall. Do you know what area in Tokyo these would be in? So far I managed to find the location of only one (Aquaforest) in Shinjuku.


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## rasbora (Sep 1, 2006)

Visit aquaforest and pick up a copy of the ADA mag, its free. Then, in the back, you can see all the shops in Japan that sell ADA by location. If you can't read Japanese then get someone to help you Identify which shops are under the section for Tokyo. Many of them will have their website url listed so you can get their address and then use google maps to give you transit directions- again you'll need to read the directions in Japanese.

here are the ones I posted pics from
www.suikeikobo.com
www.ginsui.co.jp
www.h2-l.jp

I would also recomend this guy's shop (I bought some otos from him)
www.an-aquarium.com
He doesn't open until 3pm and is closed on Tuesday.

The shops are very spread out across Tokyo, I went to around 15 shops some good others not so good. For equipment I would recomend Pau Pau in Ginza- the whole upper floor is equipment, and their prices are the lowest that I found.


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## Darkblade48 (Jan 4, 2008)

You can also visit the ADA website (Japanese only) for more information regarding all the stores that carry ADA products:

http://www.adana.co.jp/shop/p.cgi?p=13

More information regarding the stores (location, store hours, contact information, website (if available), etc) are also on the website.


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## rasbora (Sep 1, 2006)

Also try http://www.aqua-mart.jp/tokyo/

It has shops listed by area.


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## sapphoqueen (Feb 9, 2010)

yeah that is my country!!!!

Long live Japan....


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## beedee (Jul 1, 2010)

thanks for sharing!


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## problemman (Aug 19, 2005)

As cool as it would be to go to tokyo I rather much just order my fish online to save on my personal air fair lol


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## Eden Marel (Jan 28, 2010)

But you can go sight seeing and buy other cool souvenirs and go to Akihabara! That's one of the places I wanna go if I should find myself in Japan!


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## bugmenot (Oct 28, 2005)

How much does ADA gear cost over there? I'm heading over to Japan in November.


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## rasbora (Sep 1, 2006)

It usually costs exactly what it says in the Japanese catalog. I was a little surprised by the uniformity of the price at every shop.

I did pick up a diffuser for less than the catalog price however, but not much.


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## bsmith (Jan 8, 2007)

It just seems nicer because it's all yen not dollars and cents like here. 285 yen instead of two dollars and eighty five cents.


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## Darkblade48 (Jan 4, 2008)

rasbora said:


> It usually costs exactly what it says in the Japanese catalog. I was a little surprised by the uniformity of the price at every shop.
> 
> I did pick up a diffuser for less than the catalog price however, but not much.


You just need to know where to go; there are some stores that offer significant discounts on some products (i.e. up to 1000+ yen)...


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## rasbora (Sep 1, 2006)

I visited a lot of shops (15 or more, I can't remember), and I found some that were either good for plants, fish, or equipment. I found one that was selling lots of used equipment, it was awesome. I didn't find anything that was all around great (being price sensitive). I would tell my wife after we visited a place "This is where I'd come for plants if we lived here". You would have to live there however, to figure out the best haunts. So if you can find a hobbiest from Tokyo to ask, that'd be best.


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## rasbora (Sep 1, 2006)

bsmith said:


> It just seems nicer because it's all yen not dollars and cents like here. 285 yen instead of two dollars and eighty five cents.


It wasn't actually nicer while I was there because in the middle of my trip, it was 82 Yen to the dollar. Two years ago when I visited it was 104/1.


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## bugmenot (Oct 28, 2005)

I'll only probably be able to visit a couple, something like say a couple at the top of this list? - http://www.adana.co.jp/shop/p.cgi?p=13

Highest priority will be purchasing equipment, so if you guys could recommend the best and cheapest place that would be excellent. I see you suggested "pau pau" rasbora, guess i'll put that at the top.

Is this what you mean by the catalog? - http://www.adana.co.jp/_products/index.php

cheers.


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## rasbora (Sep 1, 2006)

Yes that is the catalog. You can also pick up the magazine form at any of the shops for free.

Make sure it's Pau Pau in Ginza because there are one or two more. The upper floor is equipment. Just remember that all of the electronics are made for 100v power supply rather than 110v.

If you go there, then you'll be a short walk to this place as well:
www.aquagallery-ginza.com


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## Darkblade48 (Jan 4, 2008)

Note that the shop list is sorted by "alphabetical" order, and some of them are quite far from the Tokyo city centre.


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## Bunbuku (Sep 19, 2010)

Thanks for all the links! I am really looking forward to checking out those places out. Too bad we can't bring back fish or plants. I will be looking for hardscape and equipment - maybe they are further along that we are with LED lighting:icon_cool


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## Darkblade48 (Jan 4, 2008)

Again, as mentioned, be aware that most of the electrical equipment is rated for 100-110V, and not 110-120V like North America is.


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## bugmenot (Oct 28, 2005)

Darkblade48 said:


> You just need to know where to go; there are some stores that offer significant discounts on some products (i.e. up to 1000+ yen)...





Darkblade48 said:


> Note that the shop list is sorted by "alphabetical" order, and some of them are quite far from the Tokyo city centre.


Care to recommend any? and yeh I'm not going to bother with electronic items thanks for the tips.


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## Bunbuku (Sep 19, 2010)

Darkblade48 said:


> Again, as mentioned, be aware that most of the electrical equipment is rated for 100-110V, and not 110-120V like North America is.


OK then maybe just glassware, tools and hardscape....


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## pacpac2 (Apr 4, 2010)

I feel so inadequate after seeing those tanks. They are beautiful.


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## Duir (Jan 21, 2009)

*Any good crs shop please!!!*

Well I´m visiting tokyo in a few days and I would like information about breeders who sell nice CRS ans shop with good quality CRS.

Please help me to find good breders or shops!!!



Many thanks in advance.


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## inthepacific (Oct 21, 2012)

wow sorry to dig up such an old thread but i just recently saw the ADA video on the shop in one of your pictures and wanted to see more. its got so much charm for such a tiny little shop and they use their space so efficiently, doesn't look cluttered at all. definitely want to visit that one one day


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## Saxtonhill (Dec 28, 2012)

Yeah a very old thread...but I'm glad you spotted it. What beautiful planted tanks...very inspiring! And yes, such an efficient use of space in the sop


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## AdamC13 (Mar 28, 2013)

Normally I'm not a fan of thread resurrections but I'm glad I got to see this one. Wow, just wow is all I can say wish we had stores like that here.


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## IWANNAGOFAST (Jan 14, 2008)

The maple tree growing out of the tank is really crazy


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## inthepacific (Oct 21, 2012)

yea here's the video of the ada store suikei kobo. i basically fell in love with the store just from the video. its so unique and has its own little charm. definitely unlike any fish store i've seen in the states or anywhere for that matter. 
http://youtu.be/9IFZeWRWn6Q


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## rasbora (Sep 1, 2006)

new thread: http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=423121


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