‘Antenna shop’ might have the sound of an establishment selling electrical parts mysteriously absent of any labels, however here in Japan they are anything but.  On these shores the antenna shop has grown to become a permanent and prominent arm of regional marketing strategy.  Any prefecture or town in Japan with ambitions of becoming a default destination for the tourist and the investor will, by now, have in place an outpost through which they can offer, at a distance, the consumer a sample of their region’s boasts.  Usually in the form of food.  The shelves of antenna shops are well stocked with preserves and pickles, requisite souvenir snacks, novelty ready-meals, and cuts of meat not to be found outside of a posh supermarket.  

To the consumer, this may all sound like pleasant novelty.  And it is.  These stores are typically not a part of the daily shop.  For the region they represent, however, they are a lifeline of sorts.  

Where this writer is from, there are still ‘prefectures’ that plenty of people don’t even know are a ‘prefecture’, let alone have the ability to point them out on the nation’s map. Should that be the case in Japan, the more diminutive locale might face the prospect of being erased from the map altogether, such is the nature of Japan’s urbanization and ageing population.  To this effect, strong regional marketing, and the subsequent branding, is vital.  And the antenna shop seems to be performing well.  In Tokyo alone, there are more than 50 of these outposts.  

The effectiveness of the antenna shop is illustrated further when compared to that other regional marketing strategy in Japan, 'yurukyara'; cute mascots appearing on keychains, stickers, the sides of trains, and wrapped around some poor part-timer forced to shake hands and take selfies with the public.  Such was the feverish desperation in recent years to tattoo a 'yurukyara' onto the nation’s conscience, a kind of saturation point was reached.  The public grew tired and confused of an army of goofy mascots whose connection to a representative region was oftentimes absent.  The ‘cull’ that followed was as unsurprising as it wasn’t upsetting.

The antenna shop then, looks to be fairing well, and for the expat or overseas visitor to Japan, it is a chance for some ‘armchair’ travel, allowing us to sample the flavors of a nation we might otherwise be unable to cover in its entirety.  

For a comprehensive directory of antenna shops in Tokyo, see the original article at www.city-cost.com