General Store Railyard: Souvenirs for train lovers

I love trains – even in Germany, but more so in Japan, so I had to get some train souvenirs at the General Store Railyard in Akihabara.

If you’ve travelled in Japan for some time, you may have seen plenty of Japanese people taking photos of incoming trains. Pride in the nation’s railway system is strong and tourism for train stations and trains actively promoted. The simplest form is the eki stamp or train station memorial stamp available at many stations.

There’s more, like special sightseeing trains, trains with a theme, stations officially managed by a cat and the different melodies played before the doors close. There are many railway museums in Japan – one I’ve visited many years ago – and of course plenty of train souvenirs and merchandise.

One shop for train souvenirs is General Store Railyard and is located in Tokyo’s Electric Town Akihabara.

General Store Railyard 

Located outside the Akihabara station JR Showa-dori Exit, this tiny store is easy to miss. Some toy capsule machines offer some train-related capsules.

The store is operated by JR East Cross Station, a subsidiary of JR East. JR East Cross manages the retail spaces at stations operated by JR East. It owns various businesses, one of which is General Store Railyard.

So don’t expect your favourite Tokyo Metro Station to be featured in this shop. Even among the lines that JR East actually operates, the General Store Railyard is quite specific.

Of penguins and tickets

You can’t be a JR East shop without the Suica penguin and there were quite a few items featuring the iconic penguin. I picked up a medium-sized plushie that came in a Yamanote Line box. I’m afraid this Yamanote will always be crowded, because there’s only place for one similarly sized plushie in the box.

One other item I was looking for was a station sign for Nakano. Nakano is a major stop on the JR Chuo line and I entered the station every day on my commute to language school. Unfortunately, General Store Railyard only has merchandise for the Yamanote line. So you have Shibuya, Shinjuku and Shinagawa, but no Nakano, Koenji or Mitaka.

In the end, I picked up a keychain for Tabata Station, a station I used for the first three months of my live in Japan.

Should you visit General Store Railyard?

Train merchandise is ubiquitous in Tokyo. It can even be found at Yodobashi Camera or your local super market. As General Store Railyard is at a location that many tourists visit anywhere, it doesn’t hurt to take a look at their products.

If you’re looking for a wide variety of rail products, I would recommend book store Shosen Grande in Jimbō-chō. This store has a floor dedicated to rail merchandise, including a whole shelve full of train DVDs.