About Otaku Shopping Guide

Otaku Shopping Guide is written from inside Japan. I’m a collector based in Tokyo who buys figures, cards and doujinshi the way locals do — on Mercari and Suruga-ya in Japanese, at physical stores in Akihabara and Nakano, and through the same proxy services you use, so I can see what overseas buyers actually experience.

Why this site exists

Most English-language advice about buying from Japan comes from one of two places:

1. The proxy companies themselves. Their tutorials are useful, but they will never tell you a competitor is cheaper for your order, that their packaging has a bad reputation, or what their real total cost looks like next to the alternatives.
2. Old blog posts. Fees changed, tariffs changed, Japan Post stopped and restarted US shipping. A guide written in 2023 — or even early 2025 — is now wrong in ways that cost you money.

This site covers the gap: neutral comparisons, real price data from the Japanese market, authenticity guidance, and tariff/shipping updates — the things a company blog structurally can’t or won’t publish.

What we do differently

• Dates on everything. Every guide shows a “Last updated” date, and fee-related articles state when the numbers were verified. If you catch something outdated, tell us and we’ll fix it.
• Real purchases. We regularly buy items through the services we review — small orders, our own money — to photograph the process and check fees against what’s advertised.
• Japanese sources. Price references come from the Japanese market (Suruga-ya, Mercari sold listings, manufacturer announcements), not from what resellers charge on eBay.
• Both sides. Every service we recommend, we also list the complaints about. Nothing is “the best for everyone.”

How this site makes money

Some links on this site are affiliate links, meaning we may earn a commission if you make a purchase — at no extra cost to you. Affiliate relationships never decide what we recommend: the fee math and the use-case verdicts stay the same whether or not a service pays us. See our Editorial Policy for details.

Contact

Questions, corrections, or a topic you want covered: [contact form] or email hello@otakushoppingguide.com.