![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biggestinjapan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/20211219_131902-1.jpg?resize=960%2C430\")
<\/p>\nSince November 2020, I\u2019ve been trying to get my hands on a PlayStation 5. I finally succeeded over a year later\u2014and that\u2019s not due to lack of trying. If you\u2019re in Japan and are still chasing this elusive white whale (or are just interested in everything I tried in order to get one), then maybe you\u2019ll find this article helpful.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
When the PS5 released in Japan, it was only possible to get one online\u2014retail stores by and large didn\u2019t ever get any. Moreover, online sales didn\u2019t tend to be first-come-first-serve. Rather they were raffles (where the winners would be announced days or even weeks later.<\/p>\n
Now, more than a year later, the raffles continue. While the odds are most certainly not on your side, there\u2019s always a chance you could win one. The real trick is figuring out which websites are doing raffles at any given moment.<\/p>\n
For this, google is your best friend. The search string \u201cPS5\u62bd\u9078\u8ca9\u58f2\u201d will get you the information. Recent news results from sites like Game Watch and Game*Spark will have lists of all the recent raffles going on\u2014as well as articles whenever result mails are sent out (which can be helpful if you entered as many raffles as I did).<\/p>\n
To enter these raffles, you\u2019ll almost always need an account for the store\u2019s website or you\u2019ll need to download an app (or both). Sometimes, you\u2019ll have to deal with extra rules\u2014like needing to sign up for a newsletter or even having to have been a member since before the raffle was even announced.<\/p>\n
Over the past year and change, I entered dozens upon dozens of these. Many didn\u2019t even have the courtesy to send me a mail to let me know I didn\u2019t win. And in the end, this isn\u2019t how I got my PS5. No, I went another route entirely.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biggestinjapan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/20211219_131902-.jpg?resize=1019%2C576\")
<\/p>\n
While retail stores didn\u2019t get PS5s at launch, that isn\u2019t necessarily true these days. Yodobashi Camera regularly gets shipments of PS5s sent to their stores in major cities. There\u2019s just one catch. To buy one, you don\u2019t just need to have a Yodobashi Camera point card, you need to have a Yodobashi Camera credit card: the Gold Point Card+<\/a>.<\/p>\n Now, it doesn\u2019t cost you anything to get this credit card, though, if you\u2019re a foreigner like me, you might be turned down based on that alone (a well-known struggle among expats here in Japan). In the end, a Japanese friend of mine went out of their way, got themselves this card, and offered to go with me to buy a PS5 as a Christmas present. And honestly, it\u2019s the best gift I\u2019ve gotten in years.<\/p>\n Of course, having the credit card is just the first step. While Yodobashi Camera has a rule of one PS5 per credit card to combat scalpers, Yodobashi Camera staff are nonetheless not allowed to tell customers when PS5 shipments are due. This means it\u2019s impossible to know for sure when any given store will get a shipment of PS5s in. However, that\u2019s not to say you can\u2019t make an educated guess.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biggestinjapan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/20211219_070358.jpg?resize=768%2C1024\")
<\/p>\n