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This article is written in partnership with ZenMarket – the best Japanese shipping proxy around. Siliconera readers can use our link here to sign up and gain 1,000 ZenPoints off shipping on your first order, plus a chance to win 20,000 more!
ZenMarket is a marketplace that allows you to purchase products exclusively available in Japan and have them shipped out across the world. The process is simple: place an order for the items you want, and ZenMarket will have them delivered to their warehouses, package them up for you and ship them out.
There are many reasons why someone might want to order something from Japan. It’s a country whose pop culture has seen increasing popularity in the West, and yet a lot of products that Westerners may be interested in can only be bought from places that ship within Japan.
If you’re not clear on who ZenMarket might be for, here are just a handful of examples of where it can be useful.
For Game Collectors
The Japanese gaming scene has plenty of popularity in the West, but despite the range of Japanese titles finding their way overseas increasing over the past few years, a few games still stubbornly stay within their home country. And for those cases where the chance of a localization is next to zero, the only option is to import them. ZenMarket can help with this, as Japanese game releases are abundant across the many partner stores.
This becomes even more useful for retro enthusiasts. Video game history is full of curiosities and critically acclaimed games that never left Japan, making tracking them down difficult for Western collectors. ZenMarket lets you stroll through the many retro stores of Akihabara without leaving home, allowing you to track down a beloved visual novel released on Japanese microcomputers or that obscure 32-bit cooking game you were curious about. You can even find the old systems required to play some of these games too.
Even beyond the games and systems, there are plenty of options available for gamers to explore. Many artbooks or physical soundtrack releases tied to games are Japan-exclusive, meaning those of us in the West often miss out on them. With ZenMarket, this is easily rectified, as many of them can be found by browsing through the many bookstores or record stores available. You can even find a few back issues of some popular Japanese gaming magazines if you’re lucky!
For Anime and Manga Fans
Outside of gaming, anime and manga fans will be able to make good use of ZenMarket. Most manga sees a delay between its original Japanese release and its translation for the West, and for fans who want to pick up the latest volume early or simply read it in its original language, there are many bookstores available through ZenMarket that will serve you perfectly.
It’s also the ideal place to find anime Blu-Rays that may not have received a Western release yet, or simply because you want a rare release. ZenMarket has access to several stores that specialise in physical media, allowing you to pick a rare boxset or the latest movie that hasn’t had a localization announced yet.
But the real struggle anime fans have to deal with is how often merchandise for their favorite shows never leaves Japan. We cover plenty of stories about merch releases, and several of them don’t have Western releases in mind. If you’ve ever seen one of these stories and wished there was an option to purchase these items, ZenMarket has you covered. You can browse through a ton of stores selling figures, plushies and other merch that you’ve been desperate to get your hands on.
For Fans of Japanese Music
From J-pop to visual kei, Japanese music has a wide range of unique genres that don’t really reach the West. As a lover of Japanese music myself, I’ve often found it frustrating that a lot of it hasn’t reaching streaming services, which is why my last trip to Japan saw me grabbing a haul of CDs from Shibuya’s many record stores. Some of the more popular stores are available to order from through ZenMarket, meaning you can grab your own CD haul from the comfort of your own home, anytime.
But it’s not just Japanese music that ZenMarket is useful for. Many Western albums will get special releases for the Japanese market, including tracks unique to those releases that fans in their home countries may miss out on. ZenMarket makes it easier to track down these unique releases, meaning the most dedicated fans no longer have to miss on these extra songs.
But it’s not just other people’s music that ZenMarket can help with. There are a range of stores to help you make your own music, by allowing you to pick up instruments only available in Japan. Traditional Japanese instruments are the obvious choice here, as ZenMarket gives you access to music stores that source from local manufacturers, allowing you to pick up an authentic shamisen or koto. Beyond that, any good electronic musician knows that some of the world’s best synths come from Japan, and ZenMarket can help you get some of the latest models before they reach the West.
These are only a handful of ways that ZenMarket can be useful. All these items (and more!) can be shipped out to you through ZenMarket’s warehouses, where previously there would have been no way to obtain them outside of traveling all the way to Japan.
And the best part of it all? Siliconera has partnered with ZenMarket to give our readers special discounts! Don’t miss your chance to win! Sign up through the link to shop directly from Japan with ease, then head back to the campaign page to submit your giveaway entry.