Stamp Shops In Tokyo, Kyoto, Or Hiroshima?

I'm planning a trip to Japan later this year, and I'm wondering whether I might be able find some philatelic shops while I'm there. If you know of any such shops, please let me know, and please give instructions on how to find them. Feel free to send me an e-mail, if you prefer.

Thank you!

Paul

Hi; When in Kyoto must go to the flea market on the 21st of each month.Near the Toji Temple not far from the train station.Better to go early around 7am.When I was there a few years ago there were some vendors of old japanese stamps.
Also there is the flea market in Tokyo L'Oedo.This one is on the 1st &
3rd sunday each month.
Below a link to Top of the line material..in Tokyo and around.
http://www.jsda-tokyo.jp/member01-tokyo.htm

The last time I was in Tokyo, I saw a stamp shop in the mini-mall under the Tokyo Expressway (on the boundary between the Shimbashi and Ginza districts). Go north from Shimbashi Station on Sotobori Dori towards Ginza. When you get to the Expressway, you will see a Pronto on your right, as well as the entrance to the mini-mall. The stamp store was between the Pronto and the Donut shop, IIRC.

I thought the main Japanese catalogues had advertisements for stamp stores -- in Japanese only, unfortunately. But you can sort of figure their locations out because of the helpful little maps the Japanese include in so many of their ads. One is the Sakura catalogue, and another is the JSDA (Japan Stamp Dealers' Association) catalogue.

I wonder if there are Japanese stamp magazines that would also have ads?

I'd start with some online searching, of course.

"Kitte" is Japanese for "stamp". But "stamp store" is generally pronounced -- believe it or not -- as "Sutanpu sutoa" which sounds pretty much like "stamp store" with a few extra vowels the Japanese like, and is obviously a borrowed name. Another way to say it might be "kitte ya" since "ya" means "store". Not sure abut that, though.

Asking at a hotel or elsewhere might work when you're in Japan. The language is the big barrier since maps, etc. are a bit tough to decipher. Cab drivers are founts of knowledge as are the local police who are conveniently located in "police boxes" called "koban" (small buildings often near intersections). They might know about such shops in their neighborhood.

I wonder if there's a general listing through some stamp organization?

The few stamp stores I saw in Japan were small shops located near train stations (for some reason) and pretty much focused on recent worldwide stamps and FDC's only. Not much of interest to me. It's a miracle there are any stamp shops left, considering they've virtually disappeared in the U.S.

Hi Paul,

Try: http://www.yushu.or.jp/english/ . It is the website of the Japanese Philatelic Society. Perhaps an email to them might help you find several dealers.

Also, the third level(?) of Tokyo Sky Tree has a nice collection of Japanese stamps starting with the first ones. I don't know whether there are stamps from other countries on display there.

Someone there might also help you with finding a stamp dealer.

Good luck,
AndrewG

In Tokyo, you might want to go to Nakano Broadway, a shopping mall devoted largely to collectibles of all sorts. I've seen one or two shops there that had stamps, though not a lot, if memory serves. Stamps or no stamps, Nakano Broadway is one of my favorite places to shop in the whole world!

I stumbled across a small stamp shop in Tokyo's Asakusa district ten years ago, but I don't remember exactly where it was nor what it was called, and I failed to find it again on subsequent trips.