half OT / half...T (?)

[Kerim Yasar]

Rather than take on the futile task of looking for
Region 2 or PAL DVDs in Tokyo you would probably be
better off buying a PAL/NTSC Region-Free DVD player. 
You can find them at specialty video shops in Japan
for about 25,000 yen, but you can get them even
cheaper from eBay and have them shipped out from the
States--I got mine for $100 including shipping.

As far as building a DVD collection goes, it would
probably be cheaper to buy a ticket to any major city
in China than to buy them in Japan.  You can buy
legitimate DVDs for $5-$7 and bootlegs for $1-$2 each
in Beijing.  The selection is enormous and that
includes classics and arthouse films, not just
Hollywood fare.  If that's not your cup of tea, try
amazon.co.uk for PAL and facetsvideo.com for really
hard-to-find things (NTSC though).  You can also
occasionally find rare films on eBay--that where I
bought my VHS copy of Au Hasard Balthazar, which was
otherwise impossible to find in the States when I was
living there.  DVDs in Japan are generally
exhorbitantly overpriced and (in terms of subtitles,
choice of prints, and extra goodies) not terribly high
quality.

The video store that Markus was referring to is called
Meigaza and it really is excellent (I used to live
across the street from it).  Phone is 03-3232-3326,
but I'm afraid it's rental only.  Tsutaya in Shibuya
is also great for rentals, probably the best in Tokyo.
 If you want to BUY DVDs in Tokyo (again, not
recommended) then Tower Records, HMV, and Tsutaya, all
in Shibuya, are sort of the Holy Trinity.

-Kerim


--- kelly <kelly.davis at notam02.no> wrote:

> anybody know of a place that sells new or used,
> region-free or region-2 
> (PAL) dvds in Tokyo.
> I'm particularly looking for some Truffaut and
> French New Wave.
> 
> In order to bring this somewhat back on topic...
> 
> I would be interested to hear what Japanese films
> made after 1995 
> everyone likes / suggests for viewing?
> 
> 
> ??????????
> 
> ??????
> 
> 
> 
> 


	
		
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