How to Run a Japanese Toy Store

 

From a Gakken sales pamphlet circa 1983:

1. Use toys to create dioramas and replicate battle scenes.

2. Arrange large numbers of the toys to attract attention.

3. Use spotlights above the toys to appeal to customers.

4. Remove samples from packaging and allow customers to play with them.

5. Display all of the variations of transforming toys in showcases.

6. Hold Mospeda transforming contests! Time children to see how quickly they can transform the Ride Armor motorbike. Have children compete for the best transformation in the shortest time without looking at the manual!

Comments

[Jeremy Neiman]

It really seems like the Japanese are just living in a fantasy land. Is running a business really as easy as putting toys out and making sure the spotlights are right? But I must say I like the sound of Mospeda transforming contests :P

[Tim Eldred]

7. Set up a TV with relevant anime on a tape-loop.

I'm surprised they didn't add that, unless the resources for it didn't exist then.

[Dave]

I find it funny that when I first went in '98 that so many stores had used these very techniques! I loved being able to play with the toys stores had on display.

[MattAlt]

Ironically, none of the cramped little mom 'n pop shops I ever visited as a kid had anything as display cases, let alone dioramas or contests. If anything they felt more like the homes of shut-ins, with packages stacked to the rafters.

I suspect you saw (and see) more of this kind of thing in higher-end shops like Kiddyland in Harajuku or Hakuhinkan in Ginza.