After arriving in Japan on May 9, within a month I’ve found a place to live, found a job, set up a bank account, set up a cell phone, and visited Yodobashi Camera – Akiba. What is Yodobashi Camera? In North America these words are meaningless, but in Japan Yodobashi Camera is a chain of massive self-contained department stores with a focus on technology (Yodobashi was also a major partner during the PlayStation 3 launch and Wii launch). What is Akiba? Akiba is short for Akihabara which is a series of city blocks in Tokyo dedicated to nothing but tech gadgets and geek paraphernalia.

Thanks to Japan’s high population and economic prosperity, stores such as Yodobashi Camera can exist where the amount of products and services dwarf anything available in a comparable store in North America, such as a Best Buy. Although there are many Yodobashi Cameras all throughout Tokyo and Japan, I chose to visit the store located in Akihabara.

The first thing that becomes apparent is scale Yodobashi Camera – Akiba is nine stories of goods and services plus five floors of underground parking. A typical Best Buy has many similar products all crammed into one floor of one building, but at Yodobashi Camera – Akiba each major product category is given its own floor.

The first floor is computer hardware and cell phones, the second floor is more computer focused goods, and the third floor is camera goods. The fourth floor is stereo sound equipment, televisions and MP3 players, the fifth floor is washer/dryers, fridges, air conditioners and other similar hardware. The sixth floor is dedicated to game software and toys, the seventh floor is a record shop and bookstore. And finally, the eighth floor is nothing but restaurants and the ninth floor golf equipment – something never combined with a North American electronics store.

One aspect of living in Japan that I really like is that customers are treated extremely well. This aspect of Japanese culture will allow you to receive quality service anywhere you go, while in North America quality service is a complete crapshoot. How is this cultural characteristic apparent at Yodobashi Camera – Akiba? Yodobashi Camera – Akiba staffs a virtual army of customer service workers all in their purple and white uniforms ready to help. When dealing with one of these individuals they will be extremely polite and eager to help as much as possible.

The large number of alternative shopping choices the Japanese have may be one factor forcing retailers to compete on service. I also hear Japanese workers in sales are often under a quota based system (for example: sell 10 televisions by next week), though I don't know if this is the case at Yodobashi Camera.

For anyone visiting Japan I definitely recommend a visit to any Yodobashi Camera – it will be a shopping experience like none other.