Doll point / Hobby Square Akihabara — Local services in Tokyo

I visited many Volks stores across Japan, but this was the only one where I felt welcomed as a foreigner. So I bought some items here to show my support, even though I don't have a doll yet. Everyone in this store was willing to answer my questions and helped me finding the correct items. It was a very nice experience.

They even allow you to take pictures of most items, so I could take a picture of the doll that I want to buy in the future.

However, in other "Volks" stores in Japan, my experience was very different (negative). Because other stores don't allow taking pictures of the items, I was unable to use a translator app (Google Lens) so I could not find the correct items. This makes shopping already very uncomfortable for no reason. The people who worked there didn't want to help me, they seemed busy even though the store was empty. When I asked how I can order a specific doll, they said I need to have a japanese passport / not be a foreigner to be allowed to. This felt very bad. It seems that Volks doesn't allow selling some of the limited dolls to foreigners, but this mentality often affects the whole store negatively because they don't even want to talk with you as a result, since you are not japanese. Regular stores in Japan are not like that though, only Volks stores. I never had any bad experience in any other store in Japan though, especially anime stores are super friendly.

It's especially nice that you can even take a picture of Rin and Miku here. You can't do this anywhere else. I will never understand why they made these nice dolls, put them up for display and then don't allow taking pictures of them, even though they are being displayed as a promotion. Is Volks not proud of their own work? It feels to me like they are trying to hide how the product looks in reality, apart from their own promotional pictures. But not being able to take pictures ruins the whole shopping experience. I saw some nice doll configurations in other stores that I would probably buy later, but for such an expensive item, I need time to think about it at home and consider multiple options. Not having a picture means I will probably forget about that specific configuration and not buy it. It's impossible to make this decision on the spot. In various other shops, I ended up returning a week later to buy the item I had taken a picture of back then. I just needed some time to think about it.

I hope other Volks stores in Japan can learn from this one here and provide the same nice experience to everyone. I am not even sure if "Doll Point" is a classial Volks store though, since the experience is so much better here. I definitely recommend...

Wanted to submit an application to ballot for the limited edition models earlier but wasn't able to do so. In order to ballot for a chance to purchase the limited edition models, I would need a membership number. However, I was told I need an ID to apply for the membership.

Unfortunately I didn't have my ID with me earlier since this requirement wasn't stated anywhere online or on the application form whatsoever. Tried to ask the shop staff what alternative I have and all they told me was "this is our company's rule..." and "as a foreigner you should...", which sounded nothing other than discrimination to me.

Wasted my time and money to make a trip down only to deal with racist shop staff and no chance to submit the application because today is the last day I could do so.

Would have given 0 star if possible.

Doll Point...

Store is on the 8th floor of the Radio Kaikan Building, it is on the other side of the escalators going up (where the descending elevators are). The doll display was very cute and a joy to look at. Staff was extremely helpful and went above and beyond to provide a good experience when making a purchase. There was a small photo space, and saw a few people. Make sure to be careful of what can, and cannot be taken in photos but in most cases it is extremely obvious (usually anything on the sales counter and the central display with the birdcages). A decent selection of items, but a lot are out of stock unfortunately, came twice and could not find what I was...