"Koenji is one of those dense urban zones where every square foot is spoken for. All footpaths lead to Koenji Station (on the JR Chuo line), and from the exit you can go through the street arch announcing 'Koenji Pal' towards Godzilla Ya. Three blocks or so on the right is Godzilla 2. A few years ago I saw a Jumbo Diapolon guarding the steps up to the main shop, Godzilla Ya, which is a kind of toy cave encrusted with a dazzling array of vinyl and diecast treasures. My best Takemi pieces came from here - Pegas and Ganira from Tekkaman, Machine Blaster busts, and others - Galaxy Express by Popy and a Marushin Garuban. This had perennially been a rich toy mine.

"But not today. Being a Red Sox fan you can grow to expect periods of exhilaration followed by periods of disappointment, but I wasn't ready for that today. Maybe I needed a break in the pace, not altogether of course - Not at the SOURCE! When you're in Toyko for just 6 days, even jet lag doesn't slow you down. Instead, it has the reverse effect, honing the appetite, sharpening the senses."

"At the restaurant supply zone in Tokyo is a 10-story Chef, (the Baker from 8-Chan?). Over at the Tokyo Tower, (Garuban's weapon?). The City was alive with Chogokin. Inside the Mitsukoshi department store is a gigantic bronze sculpture which looks like a jeweled billow of smoke 4 stories high. At the top is the toy department, new only, which is a great place to pick up Uni-Five Mekabutons, Marmit Devilmen, Robocon GA-14Rs, and probably now Combattra V. No wholesale prices here, just MIMB. And while I was at it, I stopped at Kiddyland on Omotosando Dori. Less than $200 can jump start a 30 to 40 piece vinyl collection, or fill in missing pieces."

"If you take the Toei-Mita Line to Sugamo Station and take the North Exit (A1) and walk up the main street over the JR tracks to the end of the second block, then go right for another 2 blocks, then left to the middle of the block numbered 24, you'll see a sign leading to Forest Gangu 2 upstairs on the second floor.

"I WAS BEDAZZLED! I stood at the open door for a minute or so, frozen in the headlights. Aisles of glass cases filled the large space, brightly lit, and arranged with the meticulous eye of Mr. Katsunori. I thought, "A place for everything and everything in its place". Masks, store and entertainment displays, vinyl, tin, and diecast, each arranged in its series, were each grouped in sections of glass cases. Jumbos stood watch over the smaller toys. Mirrors reflected the back of boxes and vinyls on display. Masks were pinned in clear plastic envelopes overhead. Over by the window an assistant was sorting through bags filled with random parts of toys, placing them complete with their papers if possible in the boxes which they might have belonged.

"Time stopped as I wandered in front of each locked case. I pointed at my camera - 'May I take a picture?.' Mr. Katsunori nodded. I spent the next half hour trying to stuff the whole of Japanese space legend into my lens. And now I was low on film, and very low on yen. American Express Travelers Checks and Mastercards are not negotiable here, or in most of the other stores I had been to. Prices were neither high nor low here. It depended on the toy. For example: A Diapolon set of Header, Trunker, and Legger in a DX box was less than 100,000 yen. But I was out of cash, time, and my mind. I left with a few prizes, and a great mask. I stumbled down the stairs and back out onto the street dazed with a stupid grin.

"Nearing Sugamo Station I stopped at the last shrine of my visit. Sitting in mystical solitude on a lotus leaf with a wreath of incense curling about its head was a wonderful Buddah wearing an enormous headpiece which completely sheltered its gaze. It was a kind of 'Etarnal Hero' ... you think? - the kind I was taking home."

-- Warren