Akihabara Boxkeepers - M9 and 35 v4

[fates]

Haven't posted anything in a while. Here's a few selects from a street outing in Tokyo's electric town. These tiny outlets carry the the most specialized collections of vacuum tubes, capacitors, led lights, CCD cameras, switches, and other electric needs. Each tiny box is an average of six square feet in size and the boxkeeper usually has the tiniest space in which to operate from. The full set can be found here.

 

[Nelson Tan]

Nice series! I especially love this photo where the photographer can be seen on the LCD screens...

 

[tunalegs]

I once happened upon a small shop in New Mexico that was much like that tube one. In the middle of nowhere, in an alley a tiny shop specializing in vacuum tubes and projector bulbs... I'd be incapable of finding it again. Lord only knows if they're still around.

 

[fates]

I once happened upon a small shop in New Mexico that was much like that tube one. In the middle of nowhere, in an alley a tiny shop specializing in vacuum tubes and projector bulbs... I'd be incapable of finding it again. Lord only knows if they're still around.

Similar story inspired this set. I visited this underground lair probably 9 years ago, and was always upset I didn't take photos as I was in awe of the tube dealers that were there. This trip I had some free time so I managed to find this in less than 20 minutes. Now that I have some electronics knowledge, some of the booths were disappointing in their banality and others were curators to the rarest of the rare. This one remaining tube boxkeeper was one such curator. He had tubes I will probably never see anywhere else.

The booths were not carrying as much rare/vintage electronic parts as I remember but some had amazing items. This guy had a record player stylus that was over 1500 USD. So a DJ would be out 3 grand. 😉 Photo wasn't included in the set because the staging felt too different.