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Old 11-19-2012, 08:10 PM   #1
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Question I want to buy a Kindle PW in Japan. (Launched 19 Nov)

Hi all:

I started a similar thread for the Kobo Glo in the other section, cos both of these excellent e-readers are newly launched in Japan on Nov 15(Kobo Glo) Nov 19(Kindle PW).

I'm going to osaka from 3-7dec (in about 2 week's time), and I hope to get myself a unit of either the Kindle PW or the Kobo. But for this thread i'd like to focus on the PW.

Today's article has an announcement on the PW in Japan:

"Kindle launches sales in Japan amid heavy local competition

Published November 19, 2012

EFE

U.S. consumer electronics giant Amazon on Monday began selling its digital Kindle Paperwhite reader in the Japanese market, where it is competing with devices such as the Kobo, the e-reader of the e-commerce company Rakuten.

The Kindle will sell in Japan for between 7,980 yen ($98) for its Wi-Fi version to 12,980 yen ($159) for the one with a 3G cell phone connection.

With a six-inch screen, the Kindle Paperwhite has more than 50,000 novels available for its Japanese version, which has been adapted to reproduce the language's ideograms vertically.

Amazon began on Monday shipping units pre-ordered by Japanese customers via its Web page, while starting on Tuesday the device will also be available in certain major department stores.

The price of the Kindle in Japan has been established to compete with other similar devices, such as the Kobo line, which hit the market in early October selling for about 6,980 yen ($85), and the Lideo model by the BookLive group, which costs 8,480 yen ($103).

Experts say that the e-book market is still in its initial phase in Japan, which with 128 million citizens is one of the largest publishing markets in the world, and it is expected that the market here will experience a significant expansion in the next few years. EFE"


My question is, does anyone in Japan know which department store will carry the PW? (see red highlight above) I know it's a far shot for me to hope to get a unit in the store, since it's a hot item, but to hope is better than nothing..

thanks!!
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Old 11-19-2012, 08:47 PM   #2
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Surprised to see the kindle being sold in stores. I will look into it. I wonder if some of the big electronic stores like Bic camera will have it. Anyways, great chance to get an ad-free kindle at a huge discount. Japan wins-for once.
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Old 11-19-2012, 08:49 PM   #3
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Oh and I've seen literally 3 E readers in the wild in Japan. I don't think you need to worry about them being sold out.
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Old 11-19-2012, 09:16 PM   #4
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Oh and I've seen literally 3 E readers in the wild in Japan. I don't think you need to worry about them being sold out.
Really? I am not hopeful, since on the amazon.co.jp website, the PW is backordered till Jan 2013... it seems that there is demand for the PW in Japan.. pent up demand maybe..
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Old 11-19-2012, 09:17 PM   #5
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I have a quote from an article source saying that the PW will be sold in "Japanese retail chains like K’s Holdings and Bic Camera, and in “a variety of TSUTAYA bookstores.”

can anyone check for me? thanks a bundle!
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Old 11-19-2012, 10:58 PM   #6
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Good to see that they are starting to launch the PW worldwide. I can't wait to get my hands on one here in Canada.
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Old 11-20-2012, 12:21 AM   #7
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I have a quote from an article source saying that the PW will be sold in "Japanese retail chains like K’s Holdings and Bic Camera, and in “a variety of TSUTAYA bookstores.”

can anyone check for me? thanks a bundle!
I should be going into Ikebukuro tomorrow so I'll check it out. Don't know of any K's near me and Tsutaya is the a video rental store which means they're everywhere and I seriously doubt they would have Kindle's in all of them or even some of them. Bic Camera would definitely be your best bet. I'll check it out tomorrow.
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Old 11-20-2012, 05:44 AM   #8
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3 Big Japan Electronics Chains Won’t Sell Kindle

Blog » Blog article: 3 Big Japan Electronics Chains Won’t Sell Kindle
3 Big Japan Electronics Chains Won't Sell Kindle
Posted on 11/16/2012 by admin

TOKYO (Nikkei)–Three of the nation’s largest consumer electronics retailers have decided not to offer the Kindle e-reader, fearing an exodus of customers to Amazon.com Inc.’s own virtual mall.

The U.S. online retail giant is gearing up to begin Japanese sales of its Kindle Paperwhite on Monday and its Kindle Fire tablet in mid-December.

Yamada Denki Co. (9831), Edion Corp. (2730) and Yodobashi Camera Co. will not be stocking the Kindle at their stores — a casualty of their brutal price war with Amazon in a wide range of consumer electronics. They are wary that selling the devices may increase “showrooming,” in which consumers visit physical stores to check out products that they ultimately buy online for less.

Low profitability is apparently another reason the three retailers have decided not to bother with the Kindle.

“At around 10%, the Kindle’s gross profit margin makes it less profitable for stores than other products,” says an official at a major consumer electronics retailer.

Bic Camera Inc. (3048) and Joshin Denki Co. (8173), which have online stores in Amazon’s virtual mall, will sell the Kindle at their real-world locations. So will K’s Holdings Corp. (8282).

“We will benefit greatly if Amazon customers use our online store,” a Bic Camera executive says.

In the U.S., many Kindles are bought online from Amazon itself. American retailers are seen strengthening their guard against the firm, as evidenced by industry leader Wal-Mart Stores Inc.’s suspension of Kindle sales.

(The Nikkei, Nov. 17 morning edition)

via 2012/11/17 02:00 – 3 Big Japan Electronics Chains Won’t Sell Kindle.

http://www.capacitorindustry.com/3-b...nt-sell-kindle
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Old 11-20-2012, 06:16 AM   #9
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thanks for the heads up! this is good news for me, as I can visit BIC in Nanba..
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Old 11-20-2012, 07:08 AM   #10
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What's the significance of the cryptic numbers? eg "Bic Camera Inc. (3048)"
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Old 11-20-2012, 07:39 AM   #11
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oooo... guess what.. Joshin Denki has daily updates on PW availability on their website!

http://shop.joshin.co.jp/contents/kindle.html
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Old 11-20-2012, 08:50 PM   #12
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They say the Kindle will be sold at Joshin, Kitamura, K's Denki (all electronic retail chains), and a selection of TSUTAYA locations (a large video rental chain with its own line of ebooks).

I'm not sure that "Department Store" is an accurate translation, since I've never seen much of an electronics selection in any of them. I wouldn't expect much if you go to the actual department stores in Osaka like Hankyu or Hanshin.


Like that very helpful link points out, Joshin is the most useful with its shop-by-shop list of what's in-stock:
http://shop.joshin.co.jp/contents/kindle.html
Joshin locations: http://goo.gl/maps/0jtxg


Kitamura's web site gives a date of 8 December for the Paperwhite, though it's not clear if that's only for their online shop or if it applies to their brick-&-mortar stores too.
http://shops.kitamura.jp/?path=家電&q=...ox=1&sort=rank
Kitamura locations: http://goo.gl/maps/EVCYT


The K's Denki website comes up blank on a search for Kindle. Not the most convenient locations around Osaka either.
K's Denki locations: http://goo.gl/maps/UKV0X


TSUTAYAs are everywhere, but which ones will stock the Kindle?
TSUTAYA locations: http://goo.gl/maps/91lhl
(Note that the little dots can actually be larger stores than the "A B C" labelled shops on Google's result page -- it seems pretty random which ones they call out)


In Umeda (a central area of Osaka that I'm most familiar with) the most obvious place would have been Yodobashi Camera (if they hadn't explicitly distanced themselves from Amazon) and Sofmap (but I can't find anything about them relating to the Kindle). So your best bet is those four options above.

I hope you can hunt one down while you're here! I ordered mine from Amazon Japan and it should be arriving...soon. Like, today? Or next week? I don't really know...
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Old 11-20-2012, 09:02 PM   #13
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What's the significance of the cryptic numbers? eg "Bic Camera Inc. (3048)"
That's the company's stock market code. The quote was taken from Nikkei, a Japanese financial news source. They apparently include the numbers so you can immediately go and check out the company's stock price.

Hmm, looks like Bic Camera is trading for 40,100 right now...
http://stocks.finance.yahoo.co.jp/st...ail/?code=3048
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Old 11-20-2012, 09:17 PM   #14
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They say the Kindle will be sold at Joshin, Kitamura, K's Denki (all electronic retail chains), and a selection of TSUTAYA locations (a large video rental chain with its own line of ebooks).

I'm not sure that "Department Store" is an accurate translation, since I've never seen much of an electronics selection in any of them. I wouldn't expect much if you go to the actual department stores in Osaka like Hankyu or Hanshin.


Like that very helpful link points out, Joshin is the most useful with its shop-by-shop list of what's in-stock:
http://shop.joshin.co.jp/contents/kindle.html
Joshin locations: http://goo.gl/maps/0jtxg


Kitamura's web site gives a date of 8 December for the Paperwhite, though it's not clear if that's only for their online shop or if it applies to their brick-&-mortar stores too.
http://shops.kitamura.jp/?path=家電&q=...ox=1&sort=rank
Kitamura locations: http://goo.gl/maps/EVCYT


The K's Denki website comes up blank on a search for Kindle. Not the most convenient locations around Osaka either.
K's Denki locations: http://goo.gl/maps/UKV0X


TSUTAYAs are everywhere, but which ones will stock the Kindle?
TSUTAYA locations: http://goo.gl/maps/91lhl
(Note that the little dots can actually be larger stores than the "A B C" labelled shops on Google's result page -- it seems pretty random which ones they call out)


In Umeda (a central area of Osaka that I'm most familiar with) the most obvious place would have been Yodobashi Camera (if they hadn't explicitly distanced themselves from Amazon) and Sofmap (but I can't find anything about them relating to the Kindle). So your best bet is those four options above.

I hope you can hunt one down while you're here! I ordered mine from Amazon Japan and it should be arriving...soon. Like, today? Or next week? I don't really know...
Gee.. it looks like a pretty daunting task ahead of me! Thanks for the link to Tsutaya! wow there are so many outlets in osaka! But I wonder if they really will stock , not to mention the 3G PW... which I'm thinking that since I'll be buying a cheaper PW, might as well go for the 3G!
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Old 11-21-2012, 06:54 AM   #15
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Information Alert!!

I just found out while reading casually, that the paperwhite 3G, for the version bought in Japan, has free 3G only in Japan!

There is no worldwide 3G coverage for the japanese PW 3G.

This is unlike the US version that has global 3G coverage.

This means that it is no use to take the PW 3G out of Japan, if we buy the japan version.

See here:
Japanese version: http://www.amazon.co.jp/gp/product/B...f=famstripe_ks
US Version:http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008UB7DU6/ref=fs_clw

Looks like I will be getting the wifi version after all...
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