SURUGA-YA Akihabara Main Building — Attraction in Tokyo

INCREDIBLY rude staff!

I've been in Japan for years, and never have I been treated so badly or actually SCREAMED at by a staff member.

I bought a junk console, and right from the get go the clerk was snarky. He says to me "Junk OK?! No refund!" super bluntly. I answer politely, saying that it's OK, and I say thank you after the transaction.

OK, fair enough. He's having a bad day, maybe the heat's getting to him, maybe he's cranky because it was almost his lunch time, I don't know honestly. People have bad days. If that was the end of the story, I wouldn't be typing this review.

Anyway, on the way out I notice there's a stack of cardboard boxes next to the register, and on top of the boxes is a Dreamcast in a basket. It's in the to-be-sorted pile that junk stores have.

I walk up to the basket to have a peek at the Dreamcast's condition (and if it's any good, ask about it). Before I can do anything, the clerk snatches the basket and SCREAMS "DON'T TOUCH!!".

He's CURSING at me, grumbling, growling (yeah, seriously) and then he slams the basket back down on the cardboard boxes. He slams it with such force that the cardboard box crumples and the boxes and all of the basket's contents fall to the floor.

He starts picking up the stuff that he's knocked over (yeah, good job buddy!) and he's still grizzling and throwing his hands up in anger. All the customers in the store see this go down, I leave the store in shock.

Good job making a big mess and embarrassing yourself! I can't speak for any other staff working in the building, but for the tough guy on the junk floor, you would be better suited working with farm animals and steering clear of any kind of human interaction.

Zero...

visited 23/08/25

i have been to tokyo over 15 times, always went to shop for anime merch. this is my first review on google. i have shopped at surugaya many times in many of its branches too

today i encountered a rude male staff working the cashier on the 2nd floor. i was trying to view a scale figure on the shelf so i took it down and the anti theft device started ringing so i brought it over to the cashier so they can handle it i stood there trying to get their attention for 3-4 mins so they can stop the beeping and i could carryon with my browsing however the staff just stood there and didnt do anything about it. that was fine maybe he was busy. i decided i was gna purchase that figure ( around 40k yen) so i brought it down and placed it on an empty area near the cashier since the box was huge i was walking over to grab another figure that i was going to buy and the same cashier person walked over to me and said in a rude and loud tone (i dont speak japanese but he said something like you can’t use this area as ur table) i told him i was going to buy this so could he hold onto it for me and he replied with something that i dont understand but the tone wasn’t nice at all (i dont speak the language but i know to some extent what was polite and not) and so i decided i wasnt going to spend any of my money here and just left the store

the bad review isnt at surugaya itself, i love this shop but today was just a bad experience for me so i wont be...

I visited this store in 25th July 2025 and had a very disappointing experience on the 4th floor.

When I politely asked a female staff(She's Japanese, but she's brunette colored hair and fat.) if I could take an item to another floor before deciding to purchase, she responded in an unnecessarily harsh tone, mixing polite and casual speech. It was confusing and uncomfortable, especially for someone who speaks Japanese and is familiar with Japanese culture.

Later, during the tax exemption process, the same staff member suddenly raised her voice at me, without confirming the situation properly. It was shocking and embarrassing, and I was never offered an apology.

As a foreigner who studied and worked in Japan, I felt that her behavior was not only unprofessional but possibly discriminatory and racism. I sincerely hope the store reconsiders how they train their staff to interact with international customers.

This incident left a lasting negative impression during my trip, and I hope no one else has to go through a...