If you choose to read on, be warned this post is image heavy. If you came here via a direct link, well, never mind. XD
The photos themselves are hard to come by because for the most part, no photos are allowed in the store unless it's the photo shoot area for customers who brought their own dolls. (You can even see the "no photos" sign in the above photo. I took it from outside of the Akihabara Volks store border.) Photos of Volks stores located in fancy dedicated buildings like the one in Harajuku are much easier to take. (But even there, I don't have any photos of what the store looks like inside.)
On with the remaining photos!
Harajuku Tenshi no Mado, September 2016:
Minami-Funabashi Volks Lalaport Showroom, September 2016:
September 2017:
Volks Yokohama Showroom, September 2016:
Volks Utsunomiya Showroom, September 2017:
Volks Nagoya Showroom, September 2017:
Volks Osaka Showroom, September 2017:
Tenshi-no-sato Kachuuan, Saga Arashiyama, Kyoto, September 2017:
This is the famous Super Dollfie Museum. Of course it was closed. I went on a Tuesday and this place is closed on Tuesdays. However, it wouldn't have mattered even if it were open because I'm not a member and I didn't make an appointment. I also don't own a Super Dollfie. Even if I did, traveling around Japan, the last thing I wanted to do was to lug around a heavy large scale doll. Doing so was a big hassle just for the local OC Dolpa. I wasn't about to give myself exponentially more hassle by lugging around said large scale doll in another country thousands of miles away.
So why did I go to this place, knowing it was closed and I couldn't get in anyway even if it weren't? I had actual tourist things to do near the next train station. Since I was literally in the neighborhood, I paid a quick visit around this place and took whatever photos I could from outside.
Volks Hobby Square Kyoto, September 2017:
The corporate headquarters is also located inside this building.
Doll merchandise was available on the second floor but this is more of a general hobby store than a location featuring dolls.
Back to Akihabara.
Akihabara Doll Point, September 2017:
Volks Doll Point is located in this building on the 8th floor.
Visitors are allowed to take photos in most areas of the store.
So... which Volks locations haven't I visited?
I visited the Los Angeles area (Torrance) store a number of times back when it was still open. Sadly, I don't have photos of those moments. Today, Volks in Torrance exists as an office and not a retail store. I haven't bothered visiting the office because I don't want to make the trip out there just to get photos of the company logo displayed outside. (This coming from someone who went to Kyoto just to do that. ^_~) There were things I wanted to do around the "photos of the logo only" locations in Japan and most Volks locations have retail stores. Not the case with the Torrance location (now).
However, I have evidence I visited the Torrance store when it still existed:
I haven't visited the Volks store in Seoul. I haven't set foot in South Korea at all. I don't speak Korean and I don't have much of a reason to visit South Korea in general. Just to go to the Volks store in Seoul isn't a good enough reason. XD
In terms of locations in Japan, I haven't visited:
Sapporo
Sendai
Kobe
Hiroshima
Fukuoka
Maybe I'll get to visit them at some point in future.
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