Shopping from Japan.

[The Summoner of Leviathan]

So I have recently became interested in purchasing some stuff from Japan and have been wondering a few things:

What are good sites based in North America (preferably Canada, but USA will do) that have decent prices (since imports can be ridiculously expensive at times)?

Also, has anyone ever used Amazon Japan? If so, besides currency conversion, are there any major issues I should worry about? It seems most of the site is in English and I know enough Japanese that I think I can handle it. How are international shipping prices? Is it worth importing directly from Japan or is it better to order from a North American based company that offers Japanese merchandise?

Note: I am interested not only in acquiring manga but other books as well. I have a few grammar guides in mind I want to buy and it seems easier to get it from a Japanese source, or a retailer specializing in Japanese commodities than in Amazon.com.

Much thanks in advance.

[Rye]

This is what I've found!

japan-shop.com - online mall specializing in Japanese goods and services

I hope it's good.

I've not had any luck finding Japanese fabrics outside of asia though. ;_;

[The Summoner of Leviathan]

Cool, it is like a portal to a whole bunch of sites. :O Nifty. Thanks Rye!

[aquatius]

I ordered a CD off play asia and it took about 8 months to arrive T_T

[JKTrix]

When importing stuff, you should never go for the cheapest option if you have a choice. The first thing I ever ordered online was an artbook for a game I had, and it took almost a year to get to me. Since then, if I could afford it, I just get things FedEx/UPS'd to me. It's expensive (so make sure your order is worth the cost), but you're guaranteed to get it fairly quick.

It also depends on what you're getting--I think mainstream places like Amazon and Yahoo will not ship game software and videos outside of Japan, but there are lots of sites that specialize in the video/videogame import business. For the most part, I'm not sure you will find an 'all purpose Japan stuff' site, but there are plenty of specialist sites around.