While it may look out of sync with its surroundings, model and radio-controlled car giant Tamiya's Plamodel Factory (Plastic Model Factory) flagship store has a happy home amid the office buildings and dining establishments of Tokyo's Shinbashi district.
"Being in Shinbashi seemed like quite a mismatch for a store selling scale models," says store manager Takamichi Hangai. "But there are a lot of businessmen and workers (in the area) who used to build scale models. They come in here for the nostalgia. They're coming home."
While most of the window displays feature Tamiya's traditional products — models of ships, airplanes, cars and tanks — one is devoted to translucent art objects and fashion accessories and another to T-shirts and other souvenirs bearing the company's iconic two-star, red, white and blue logo. If anything, that variety is a tip-off there is more at play here than just static scale models.