Yellow Submarine

Quick Facts

What it is

Yellow Submarine (イエローサブマリン), run by Hobby Base Yellow Submarine, is Japan's specialist chain for analog hobby: plastic models, trading card games, board games and tabletop RPGs. Where a general toy shop sells you a finished product, Yellow Submarine sells you the process — runners, paints, tools, dice, sleeves and single cards. Its flagship, the Akihabara Honten ★Mint, fills the 6th floor of Akihabara Radio Kaikan, the hobby building directly in front of JR Akihabara Station, and is famous among modelers for its "bara-uri" loose-parts sales: individual Gunpla and character-model parts — weapon sets, hand parts, joint pieces — sold runner by runner and piece by piece, so custom builders can buy exactly the one part their project needs. The chain splits into general stores (models + games), game-specialty stores (TCG, board games, TRPG) and a hobby-specialty store, and almost every location runs a duel room where players sit down and actually play the cards they just bought.

How to shop

1. Pick Your Store Format (General vs. Game-Specialty):
   • Akihabara Honten ★Mint (Radio Kaikan 6F): The flagship and the best single stop — character plastic models, figures, a huge TCG floor (packs and singles for Magic: The Gathering, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Pokémon Card Game, One Piece Card Game, Duel Masters, Vanguard and dozens more), board games, TRPG, dice, tools and materials.
   • Game-specialty stores (e.g. Ikebukuro GAME SHOP, Akihabara RPG Shop): Cards, board games and TRPG only — deeper game stock and dedicated play space; board game and TRPG buyback is handled at the Akihabara RPG Shop, not at ★Mint.
   • Scale model note: Scale and military models are handled at the separate Akihabara Scale Shop, per the official ★Mint store page.
2. Shopping the Floors:
   • Model kits, paints, tools and supplies sit on open shelves — pick them up and take them to the register.
   • Loose parts (bara-uri): Browse the parts cases and pick the individual runners/parts you need — the signature Yellow Submarine experience for Gunpla customizers.
   • TCG singles: Valuable single cards live in glass showcase cabinets with price tags. Note the card's position/number, ask staff at the counter, and inspect the card's condition before you pay — used singles are graded by eye and condition is everything.
3. Checkout (Standard or Tax-Free):
   • Pay at the register of the store you are in. Ask whether it offers tax-free processing before paying; availability was not confirmed from current official information. If offered, the minimum is ¥5,000 before tax at the same store on the same day for an eligible purchaser.
4. Play Space (Duel Rooms):
   • Most stores mark a duel room on their official store page. At Akihabara ★Mint the 16-seat duel room is reserved for tournament/event use (no general free-play seats there), while many other stores offer open play seats — check your store's page before planning a game session.

Services & options

1. Loose Gunpla & Character-Model Parts （バラ売りパーツ）: Individual runners, weapon sets and hand parts sold piece by piece — parts you simply cannot buy this way outside Japan.
2. TCG Single Cards （シングルカード): Japanese-edition Magic: The Gathering, Yu-Gi-Oh! and Pokémon singles from the showcase cabinets, from ¥100 commons to showcase rares.
3. Japanese Board Games: Domestic editions and Japanese-original analog games that rarely leave the country, plus imported titles in Japanese editions.
4. Model Tools & Materials: Japanese hobby staples — nippers, files, paints, panel-lining markers and modeling supplies, new and used.
5. Dice & TRPG Supplies: Polyhedral dice sets, Japanese TRPG rulebooks and tabletop accessories from the game floors.

Payment & practical info

Prices and details checked: November 2026.

• Payment Accepted: Cash, major credit cards, Suica/PASMO and other transit IC, e-money and QR payments (PayPay etc.) — the accepted mix varies by store, so keep cash as a backup in smaller locations.
• Hours: Akihabara Honten ★Mint is open 10:00–20:00 daily; buyback reception there runs 12:00–19:00. Hours differ by store — check the official shop list.
• Tax-free — refund method (checked 2026-11-11): Tax-free availability, including at Akihabara Honten ★Mint, was not confirmed from the current official information available here. Ask the specific store before you pay; the following procedure applies only if it registers an eligible tax-free purchase. Since 1 November 2026 it follows Japan's refund system: you pay the tax-included price and register the purchase with your original physical passport on the day of purchase, on a same-day total of ¥5,000 or more before tax at one store. At departure, complete customs export confirmation at a tax-free procedure terminal within 90 days of purchase and before checking in your baggage (you show the goods only if the terminal flags your purchase); the store or its designated refund operator then refunds the consumption tax by the method registered at purchase — customs confirms the export and never pays the refund itself. Cash collection at a designated airport refund terminal may be available only for eligible purchases from participating stores, so never count on it. Confirmation is per tax-free purchase record: consumables must not be consumed in Japan or that record loses its refund, while non-consumables such as model kits and cards may be used during your trip as long as they are exported and confirmed. There is no sealed-packaging rule and no ¥500,000 cap. Yellow Submarine has not published a specific refund operator or fee, so confirm the refund method at the register. Source: Yellow Submarine Official Website.
• Tax-Free Status: Not confirmed from current official information; ask the individual store before paying.
• Buyback (Selling Your Items): Buyback categories vary by store. The official procedure requires identification and lists passports among its examples. The published page does not establish whether a short-stay visitor's foreign passport and overseas address are accepted. Ask the specific store before bringing goods to sell; do not assume acceptance.

Good to know / Common mistakes

• Check single-card condition before paying: Used TCG singles are sold as-is by visible condition. Inspect edges, surface and foil curl at the counter — after purchase, condition complaints are hard to reverse.
• The parts cases reward patience: Loose parts are sorted by kit and runner. Bring a photo or the instruction manual page of the kit you are customizing so staff can help you find the exact part.
• Don't assume every store does everything: The duel room at Akihabara ★Mint is tournament-only, scale models live at the separate Akihabara Scale Shop, and board game buyback is at the Akihabara RPG Shop. The official store pages spell out what each location handles.
• Tax-free is per store, not per chain: Only participating stores can register a tax-free purchase, and the ¥5,000 minimum must be reached at that one store on that day — purchases at different Yellow Submarine branches cannot be combined.

Sources

• Yellow Submarine Official Website & Shop List (Verified: 2026-11-11)
• Yellow Submarine Akihabara Honten ★Mint Official Store Page (Verified: 2026-11-11)