Soapbox: How One Large Vegetable Highlights The Issue With Japan-Only Merch

It is what it is.

I'm totally fine knowing that some of the things I wish the US has is only available in another country because that's how they operate and/or that's what the company wants to market in said country.

If you want it that bad, you'll find a way to get it.

fet·ish·ize
/ˈfedəˌSHīz/

verb
3rd person present: fetishizes

have an excessive and irrational commitment to or obsession with (something).

Better check the structural integrity of that soapbox as it is getting a lot of use at the moment!

tl;dr version: some bull[redacted] about [redacted]ing first world problems.

Sometimes I tell myself "Thank God that is japan only." And my wallet usually agrees.

@JimmySpades Oh, you came to Nintendo Life to read about 3rd world problems?

"emptying our wallets in Akihabara"

You're not alone.. I personally would suggest anyone to learn japanese instead.. there are so many games without localization support.

I think we shouldn't envy japanese for getting so much compared with foreign fanbase.. it is the origin country after all for gaming industry.

It's a lot easier to get unique stuff like that these days with eBay and other boutique sites. But back in the day you'd be lucky to get any item without actually going there.

@Prizm That's the thing. I used to be really jealous of Japan-only merch because you couldn't find anything like it anywhere. Now, between eBay and Amazon, anime shops in every mall and high street and a million Etsy shops selling AC earrings and anime characters' chopstick sets, there's really nothing special about Japanese merch anymore. Between me and my two anime-loving gamer kids, we've got a houseful of Sailor Moon accessories, Story of Seasons plushies and Studio Ghibli chopsticks without ever setting foot in Japan.

I've imported a few things from Amazon Japan & AmiAmi over the years without much issue, so at least it's not as much of an issue as it was in the 90's or early 00's, unless I'm missing something.

I wouldn't say I was ever envious that Japan always seems to get and keep the good stuff. But I have seen merch that I would have love to have. However, at this point in my life, it really has to be something practical and that I will use on a regular basis for me to even think about purchasing.

Its definitely a pain to get merch if you're a fan of a more niche series. I've only imported something once from playasia, and it wasn't the simplest or most enjoyable experience, but it was the only way to get a few amiibo missing from my collection. I've bought some stuff recently from the importer otaku.co.uk, which has allowed me to get some of the Japan exclusive soundtracks for the Xenoblade games. But outside of this, if you want merch from a niche series you gotta shell out hard for the imports, or hope you find what you want on ebay or the like for a decent price.

We have all been victims of japan only merch. Thoughts and prayers to all the fallen heroes who couldn't get their hands on a limited edition japan exclusive apparel.

I noticed something funny about the picture of Nintendo JPN:s web store. It tells you the price in "circle". My guess is it is automatically translated. The Japanese word "en" means both "circle" and "yen". That's probably why.

@Rohanrocks88

Back in the early 2000s when i was in highschool you couldn't find zelda stuff at the mall that easily as you can nowadays

I'm willing to bet your time in highschool was a lot better off because of this though

I miss the good ol' days of Club Nintendo. They used to offer some pretty cool stuff that was actually worth getting.

Japan seems to get some great merch, more so than in the west. I remember seeing the metal babble 3DS they had but the import costs made the price point terrible. I wish they would make similar things in the west, we would buy it! lol

NINJA APPROVED

It's such a blessing this stuff isn't available locally, lol.
Yes, it's ALL awesome.
No, you can't buy it all.

It's not that hard to buy Japan-only merch. Just learn to use package forwarding & proxy buying services as necessary.

Let me cut though this ultra complicated issue for you

America: ULTRA nationalist, highly isolationist country that, while completely dependent on China for basically everything, hates them.

Japan: ULTRA nationalist, highly isolationist country that, while completely dependent on China for basically everything, tolerates them.

US trade policy is just insanely stupid, they just slap tariffs on anyone who isn't playing by their rules. Japan doesn't really care about the US enough to give up anything for a more favourable position, given there are 350 million people in the really far away US and the demand the US always makes is "stop trading with the 1.5 billion people in the really close China and Russia"

So the end result is that if you want to import and sell your toy from Japan that was made in China it's going to have a 300%-400% tariff on it. Add in just normal import fees and a $20 plush from Japan would have to sell for $80 in the US.

Small import chains can get around this and only have to pay the Japan tariff, which is why we have the option of things like playasia, or why your local games store might have a few at a more reasonable mark up.

@Strumpan When I come to a video game website, I expect the problems that I read about to be actual problems. Whether significant social issues like abusive crunch or rampant sexism during online games, or ramifications of the current economic structure of the industry like discoverability or race to the bottom pricing, there are plenty of problems worthy of a writer's focus and a reader's time. Japan-only merch is worthy of neither.

Don’t know about everyone else, but I’m really enjoying this Kate Gray site I’ve stumbled across...

Rare that a writer comes along and completely changes the tone of a site like this. Love it.

You should probebly move to Japan....the West will never be cutsie.....I won a Super Mario Jacket in the Early 90s from a Crunchie wrapper my Girl Friends responce was "who's Mario" and unbeknown to me threw it in the Bin..........After much sulking I did get her Raiders Jacket.....but was never the same....5 days n countin.

The gaming landscape is much more dominated by home-grown releases, like Fortnite, Among Us, Fall Guys, Minecraft, and so on.
In the 80's, 90's and early 2000's gaming in the west was dominated by Japan but I don't remember us getting more merchandise then than we do now.

Here's the thing. I lived in Japan for 5 years. And one of the biggest differences between Japan and the US: (I haven't lived in Europe so I can't speak on those nations fairly)

One of the biggest differences is how they treat nerd culture. Japan embraces it. Otaku in Japan do get mocked and bullied sometimes - but in broad terms, that's still seen as a part of Japanese culture. The nerdy stuff. The anime, the games, the manga, the merchandise.

Prime Minister Abe wore a Mario hat when talking about the Olympics. Manhole covers in Japan feature games and anime references. There's more than one full size Gundam statue in Japan at this point!

It's just no like that. Embracing hobbies in the US that aren't sports or athletics are still looked down upon. It's not socially acceptable to be as big of a fan of games or fictional stories as it is in Japan.

And because of that, the merchandise we get access to in the US is less.

I do think this mentality is changing. That people in the US are, slowly, becoming more accepting of other hobbies. But it's a slow process.

As a kid, I was often frightened to admit to people that I liked playing video games more than sports. Part of growing up was getting over that - but also I don't think people are as harsh on the hobby as they used to be. But there's still not the normalcy or acceptance of the hobby that the mainstream gives sports.

No one bats an eyelash if you paint your face in the colors of the team you support for the super bowl and drive down the street with your car covered in team flags. But I still get funny looks if I wear an anime t-shirt in public in the US. The same t-shirt I would get compliments for in Japan and asked where I bought it cause they wanted one too.

@KillerBOB

My 🪵 has something to tell you

Dang, I want that Zelda boss key keychain.

This is the most Kate Gray thing I have ever read.

Oh that fairy pin is lovely.

But there are ways around not living in a country and wanting to import. Import sites, amazon, ebay, etsy, shipping proxy companies or even a friend in Japan (note to folks living in Japan...If you are looking to start a business one thing to look at is acting as a shipping proxy for a few people you know with buying habits. ) Very few things are blocked off if one really wants them. Just a few more hoops that’s all. (And that’s just game merch. Try having my issue. I’m a traditional Japanese musician...do you have any idea the shipping fees on a taiko?!)

I say this as an American, that I always find it odd when people just expect access to every market at their fingertips. You don’t even get that in one country.

As a southern native now living in the west I have to either stock up on local goods when I go home, pay my folks for shipping (cornmeal is heavy y’all) or scour the internet and the state I live in hoping I can find my favorite foods and products. TSA opens my luggage ALL the time now. Cuz they are like “wtf is up with all these canned goods and frozen food in here?” I have one suitcase set aside to be empty when I leave and full when I come back.

I have to go to 3 grocery stores every month just to get the foods/ingredients I like. So why expect consumer goods that are geared to certain markets to be different?

Yep, and in-game stuff too, like the persona 5 royal stuff that seems really cool.

This is why we invented ebay!

@Strumpan Lol, nailed it. I usually come here after reading the news. It's like a pallet cleanser. I can get angry at something inconsequential. In the case of this article, something very very inconsequential.

Special edition stuff used to be non-existent here. At least we get some things like that now and while I know you're not made of money, the internet makes it POSSIBLE to get these awesome pieces of merchandise rather than in the 80s, 90s and even to a degree, the early 2000s, we often weren't even aware of the kind of stuff we were missing out on.

In some ways, ignorance was bliss.

@Miu video games originated in the west, my friends in 1947. Look up the cathode ray tube amusement device by Thomas Goldsmith Jr

@JeagerTheSun My bad I mean Sony, Nintendo, Konami etc.. since we are talking about them (specifically Nintendo here)

Maybe it's a GOOD thing that this isn't so easily available for us - otherwise we end up knee deep in game-related tat like that recent Animal Crossing article. So it's for our own good (and the good of our wallets).

I do agree that it is frustrating when you see cool stuff, and there just doesn't seem to be a practical, sensible way to get hold of it. Cue trying to work out foreign language auction sites!

Excuse me, but most merch is clutter. Junk. Kindling.

I was all into it in my 20s. Soon as I started approaching 30 I felt like a man child and donated all of it.

Still a man child, but at least I don’t look it 😆

@JimmySpades if I only wrote about all the extremely depressing things that go on in the video game industry, I probably wouldn't enjoy my job very much! While I do care deeply about sexism, wage theft, unions, and various other abuses in the industry, I also care about less dire things, too. I try to write about both.

Light-hearted features don't erase or diminish the serious ones

Bibbity boppity boo, no merch for you! If you're from NA, you're a filthy weeb, and you deserve nothing that you need!

/s