{"id":2273,"date":"2025-06-16T11:51:30","date_gmt":"2025-06-16T02:51:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stevethefish.net\/stuff\/?p=2273"},"modified":"2025-06-16T14:59:13","modified_gmt":"2025-06-16T05:59:13","slug":"kuroda-toy-store-in-maebashi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stevethefish.net\/stuff\/index.php\/2025\/06\/16\/kuroda-toy-store-in-maebashi\/","title":{"rendered":"Kuroda Toy Store in Maebashi"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Mayu discovered a store called Kuroda Toy Doll \uff08\u9ed2\u7530\u4eba\u5f62\u5e97\uff09in Maebashi’s Central Shopping Arcade on the internet and on Saturday we went there to check it out. Shoutengai \uff08\u5546\u5e97\u8857\uff09are covered shopping arcades and a tradition of Japan. Unfortunately, sometimes these shopping arcades have grown unsuccessful over the years with empty real estate. In English they call this one Maebashi Rose Avenue<\/a> and this is where Kuroda is located. We’ve only ever been to this shopping arcade once before, when we happened to be in the area during the Tanabata Festival in July several years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kuroda specializes in traditional toys, so basically nothing which involves video screens. The first thing I noticed upon entering was their selection of Tomica cars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Misato’s car from Evangelion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Macross and Gundam Tomica!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Back to the Future Part III and Castle of Cagliostro cars. I bought the BttF III Delorean with the ’50s tires at Village Vanguard<\/a> earlier this year. I hadn’t seen the one with train wheels until now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A nice, modest selection of plastic models was there. Here’s the Gunpla selection. I bought the F91 Gundam kit at this store.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Here are car, ship, castle, and other plastic models.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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An RC Delorean from Back to the Future! I’ve never seen this before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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There were many older anime and game figures. Here’s Kasumi from Dead or Alive and Mai from King of Fighters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Plenty of traditional, wooden toys too. A meow-meow tower and… a toy for Klingons? Oh never mind… that would be “Qapla,” not “Kapla.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There were so many different toys there, such as kendama, plush dolls, and so on. My daughter Ulan wanted the bullet plushy from Super Mario Bros and I got the F91 Gundam model. It’s a neat store.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mayu discovered a store called Kuroda Toy Doll \uff08\u9ed2\u7530\u4eba\u5f62\u5e97\uff09in Maebashi’s Central Shopping Arcade on the internet and on Saturday we went there to check it out. Shoutengai \uff08\u5546\u5e97\u8857\uff09are covered shopping arcades and a tradition of Japan. Unfortunately, sometimes these shopping arcades have grown unsuccessful over the years with empty real estate. In English they call … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Kuroda Toy Store in Maebashi”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"spay_email":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6,5,4,7],"tags":[132,286,56,287,285],"class_list":["post-2273","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-anime-manga","category-life","category-modeling","category-neat-crap","tag-evangelion","tag-gundam","tag-macross","tag-tomica","tag-toys"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2254,"url":"https:\/\/stevethefish.net\/stuff\/index.php\/2025\/06\/04\/taito-game-station-in-lirica-mall-maebashi\/","url_meta":{"origin":2273,"position":0},"title":"Taito Game Station in Lirica Mall, Maebashi","date":"2025-06-04","format":false,"excerpt":"These are pictures I took a few months ago in the Taito Game Station arcade in Lirica Mall. From left to right: the sign in front, a vending machine, and Space Invaders Frenzy.","rel":"","context":"In "video games"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/stevethefish.net\/stuff\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Taito1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1497,"url":"https:\/\/stevethefish.net\/stuff\/index.php\/2024\/05\/19\/172-y-wing-sofubi-kit-by-argonauts\/","url_meta":{"origin":2273,"position":1},"title":"1:72 Y-Wing sofubi kit by Argo Nauts","date":"2024-05-19","format":false,"excerpt":"On my nerd shopping expedition with my friend Lou at the end of April, I was at a Book Off Plus in Maebashi and took a look at this kit. I've seen it at that store for many years now, but they had reduced the price from something like 4000\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "modeling"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/stevethefish.net\/stuff\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Argonauts-Y-Wing.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2658,"url":"https:\/\/stevethefish.net\/stuff\/index.php\/2025\/11\/09\/i-got-to-cuddle-a-meerkat-at-the-pet-shop-in-maebashi\/","url_meta":{"origin":2273,"position":2},"title":"I got to cuddle a meerkat at the pet shop in Maebashi!","date":"2025-11-09","format":false,"excerpt":"There's a pet shop in Maebashi called Wing 21 where Mayu buys crickets to feed to her beloved pet, Kuromaru. There are two meerkats in cages there and every time we go there, I call out to the two meerkats, \"Little guys!\" They get SO EXCITED to see me every\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "life"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/stevethefish.net\/stuff\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/meerkat.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1616,"url":"https:\/\/stevethefish.net\/stuff\/index.php\/2024\/07\/19\/ryokuchi-park-in-maebashi\/","url_meta":{"origin":2273,"position":3},"title":"Ryokuchi Park in Maebashi","date":"2024-07-19","format":false,"excerpt":"The Hirose River runs through central Maebashi, and the Ryokuchi Park here is a tranquil oasis in the urban landscape. Last year, Mayu and I discovered this park in summertime. On Monday morning, we had time to kill after dropping our daughter off for her sports club activity. It had\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Japan"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/stevethefish.net\/stuff\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/KIMG2163-rotated.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2156,"url":"https:\/\/stevethefish.net\/stuff\/index.php\/2025\/05\/09\/its-the-80s-and-you-have-only-one-quarter-which-game-will-you-play\/","url_meta":{"origin":2273,"position":4},"title":"It’s the ’80s, and you have only one quarter. Which game will you play?","date":"2025-05-09","format":false,"excerpt":"Pac-Man is my all-time favorite game. In fact, I'm wearing Pac-Man boxer shorts underwear as I post this. I'm nuts for anything Pac-Man. That said, Star Wars was my #1 go-to game every time, as I mentioned in my post about the old arcade Bag-A-Tel as a kid. I didn't\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Nostalgia"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/stevethefish.net\/stuff\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/which-game.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2342,"url":"https:\/\/stevethefish.net\/stuff\/index.php\/2025\/07\/11\/a-look-at-modeling-magazines-and-books-at-bookmans-academy-in-maebashi\/","url_meta":{"origin":2273,"position":5},"title":"A look at modeling magazines and books at Bookman’s Academy in Maebashi","date":"2025-07-11","format":false,"excerpt":"On the last Friday of June, after dinner in Maebashi we went to Bookman's Academy, a nice two-story bookstore on the road straight south from the sushi restaurant we ate at. This bookstore not only has a great selection of modeling magazines, but upstairs in the \"subculture\" category, there are\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "books"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/stevethefish.net\/stuff\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/KIMG0725-rotated.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevethefish.net\/stuff\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2273","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevethefish.net\/stuff\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevethefish.net\/stuff\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevethefish.net\/stuff\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevethefish.net\/stuff\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2273"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/stevethefish.net\/stuff\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2273\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2289,"href":"https:\/\/stevethefish.net\/stuff\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2273\/revisions\/2289"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevethefish.net\/stuff\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2273"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevethefish.net\/stuff\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2273"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevethefish.net\/stuff\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2273"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}