Wonderful things about Japan - Episode 4 - Yodobashi

Yodobashi Camera is a chain of (mostly electronics) store, s, with a store in all the major cities. They are most famous for their range of competitively priced cameras, but they sell just about anything. I am really going to miss Yodobashi when we go home. There's one in both Kyoto and Osaka (our two closest cities), both within easy walking distance of the main station. In only 15-20 minutes on a train, I can reach a larger selection of electronics (and many other things) than is available in any one location in Australia, certainly more than is available in all the electronics and electrical stores in Toowoomba put together.

Hunter and I have spent a lot of money at Yodobashi. My laptop, my new big camera and any number of accessories, external hard drives, puzzles, a Thermos and cute food containers, puzzles with frames, a remote control car for Hunty, new fancy headphones for Hunty, and any number of oddments. Want to buy a mouse? There are aisles to choose from. Want a camera bag? The camera bag section is bigger than any camera store I've seen in Australia. There's pretty much a whole floor devoted to cameras and camera accessories, and they're not small floors, either.

Yodobashi-Umeda (Osaka) has 10 floors, plus parking levels. You can get to it from the station without ever going above ground, as you can in Kyoto.

From bottom to top, the floors contain:
B2: Software, PC books, stationery, bicycles, computer bags and luggage
B1: Computers, and peripherals, printers and printing equipment
1: Mobile phones and accessories, beauty care and cosmetics, laptops and an Apple Store
2: Cameras, video cameras and all the peripherals, watches, brand name bags and other expensive brand name goods
3: TVs etc, audio equipment, BluRay/CD/DVD equipment and hobby (puzzles and modelling)
4: Fridges, washing machines, air-conditioner and all the other white-goods, rice cookers, vacuum cleaners and anything else you might need to chew electricity and help with housekeeping, lots and lots of toys.
5-7: Fashion zone, not actually Yodobashi but independent stores leasing space from Yodobashi
8: Yodobashi the Dining. This is not a food court, this is a floor of full on restaurants.
9-13: Parking

Just to re-enforce the size of this place, although I'm sure you're getting the picture, there are two sets of escalators, one at each end of the building. You know how when you walk over to the escalator, it seems you always go to the wrong end? You want to go down, but they only go up, or the other way around? Not so at Yodobashi. There's a bank of four escalators facing each side, so you can go up or down, come down or up, whichever side you happen to go to.

Did I mention that I'm going to miss Yodobashi?