NagoyaHammer.com

It seems like board games are an extremely niche hobby in Japan, and because of that, shipping costs can be pretty ridiculous. Just comparing amazon.com to amazon.co.jp, the new Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion is $50 (about 5,500 yen) on amazon.com, but 12,000 yen on amazon.co.jp (about $112), and the price ratio seems similar across most other games too. Unfortunately you would pay most of the price difference in shipping if you ordered from amazon.com or another U.S. based vendor.

Does anyone know any stores with reasonable prices either in Japan or that deliver to Japan, or have board games been all but forsaken here?
Thanks guys.

I wish I had a solution - I'm finding myself more and more interested in board games, and having the same issues. I think it's more that board games are actually pretty popular here (c.f. like 3 board game cafes in Osu alone), which means that most everything has been licensed by a Japanese company and translated, which means (I think) that you can't get the English version from Japanese vendors. (Which, eh, if I was a Japanese person living in the States I wouldn't necessarily be surprised if I had to pay more for Japanese-language versions of games there.)

UK vendors seem to be a fair alternative, though. Firestorm Games has a pretty big selection of boardgames at UK retail price, and offers free international shipping on everything over 40 pounds (although there is a caveat about heavy / bulky items so who knows). Element games has a better selection but charges international shipping by weight, which would suck for board games.

How about the Japanese version with a print-out of the rules in English? Would that be any cheaper?

That too, although obviously while it'll work great for Euro games with little to no text on the game components, it'd be less good for more American-style games with lots of rules and fluff written on cards and such.

I bought Arcadia quest inferno from Ring Tail here in Japan I think. The base game I got off ebay. Yes, shipping is expensive. I'll need to check out FIrestorm games that ToD suggested, if there's something everyone needs maybe we could order together and get the shipping discount.

@prim: For basic stuff like Catan or something that would be fine, but a lot of the more granular boardgames out there have a ton of cards and dashboards/campaign books e.t.c that would be printed in Japanese also.

I bought Jaws of the Lion on amazon.co.jp but didn't notice anything wrong until Dave let me know it's a *lot* cheaper elsewhere.

I'm not sure if that's because I've been desensitised to wallet pain from Australian prices, GW prices, or both

Honestly at the cheaper price it'd be an insane deal though, the figures aren't much to write home about but that box is just stuffed with cardboard and components. I'm hoping to give it a run this weekend.

We should set up something where people input games they want, and everytime it breaks 300£ or so, someone involved orders from Firestorm games or a similar store and brings the goods to the next monthly game day. That could be annoying logistically when people can't make game days though.

40 pounds is real low, though - not much need to combine I’d think (and it might backfire by getting too heavy / bulky).

Incidentally, my own copy of Jaws of the Lion arrived today. Looks neat! I’m spoiled by GW and FFG component quality though, some of the cardboard chits are a bit dodgy.

The firestorm free shipping doesn't include "heavy items," which I'm guessing a lot of Board Games will be.

Have a look online for Kansai JIGG. They did have a thriving community and an annual event each year in Osaka. They would be able to point you in the right direction. I think there's a Tokyo JIGG as well.
Nagoya Hammer is the best event obviously for tabletop wargames.

Yellow Submarine shops are good for boardgames in both Nagoya, Kyoto and Osaka. Are they still going? I met Lovejoy there many Moons ago at a 40k/fantasy event.