Dangerous Prototypes Global Geek Tours

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Singapore

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In Singapore we visited Koba Electronics in China Town, and Sim Lim Tower and Sim Lim Square.

Shenzhen, China

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In April 2012 we visited Apliu Street in Hong Kong, and SEG Electronics Market in Shenzhen, China.

Apliu Street, Hong Kong

If you fly into Hong Kong on your way to Shenzhen, the Apliu Street electronics market is a good warm up before heading into mainland China.

Akihabara, Tokyo, Japan

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Akihabara is a giant neighborhood of electronics stores and winding mazes of stands in Tokyo, Japan. It's not as big as the SEG market in Shenzhen, but it's a lot easier to get to, and you don't need a $200 visa to get into the country.

Prices are actually quite high, you won't find a lot of deals. Interesting things, vast selection, and hands-on time? Yes! It doesn't come cheap though. Expect to pay the same or slightly more as at your local electronics store. Keep in mind that the Yen is a very strong currency, things are expensive compared to the US, China, and even some parts of Europe.

Shops

  • Akihabara Radio Center (the maze, located right outside the train station) - Too many shops here to list. This is a winding maze of small stands with electronic parts, tools, LED shops, etc.
  • Corner Store (Nichibei musen)- We buy VFD tubes here. They also have solar panels, motors of all sizes, more
  • Super Junk - Surface mount and through-hole electronic components.
  • Akiba LED, others - Reels of LEDs, LED strips, LED accessories. One of many LED stores in Akihabara.
  • Sengoku - All purpose electronic store with many types of flux, solder, soldering iron tips, breakout boards, test clips, etc.
  • Kyushu Jangara Ramen - The Akihabara location of this famous ramen shop is a great place to have lunch. We got the mix of chicken, pork, and beef stock.
  • Keisokuki Land - New and used test equipment.
  • Super Potato - 3 floors of retro gaming. Arcade on the top floor, lower floors have old cartridges and consoles.
  • Rocket Radio - Ham radios, antennas, etc.
  • Akizukidenshi - Bags of parts and kits. Surface mount resistors, chips, etc. Tayken's favorite shop.
  • Aitendo - LCD, TFT, OLED display store. Breakout boards for tiny display connectors. Some other odds and ends.
  • Nishikawa Parts - All types of screws, stand-offs, tools.

Seoul, South Korea

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Seoul isn’t known for its markets like Tokyo or Shenzhen – that’s right, markets, we discovered more than one – but with electronics giants like Samsung based here there’s a huge and thriving scene. It’s totally different than Akihabara in Tokyo, but somewhat like the markets in Shenzhen.

Yongsan

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Shopping mall complex with mostly consumer electronics, but some component stores in the basement of one building.

Map source (Inkscape SVG)

Cheonggyecheon

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A neighborhood of shops with materials, tools, and supplies for making. Everything from surface mount part reels to laser cutting shops. Seoul's hidden gem.

Updates

  1. Building 'A' is called Sae Eun Sang Ga, or Sae Eun (shopping) Arcade
  2. Building C has a website

Map source (Inkscape SVG)

Bay Area Maker Faire, California

Food crawl

Every year we do a Taco crawl from 16th and Mission (16th street BART stop, near Noise Bridge hacker space) to 24th and Mission, then down 24th street for even more. If you like hoppy California ales and fancy bratwurst, check out Rosamunde on the corner of 24th and Mission before getting back on the BART.

World Maker Faire, New York City

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Locations

Here's some electronics shops and hackerspaces to visit the day between the Open Hardware Summit and the Maker Faire. This is by no means south east Asia, but it's good for an afternoon out.

These are all saved to a Google Maps layer so you can take them with you on your own tour.

We usually end at the Maker Faire setup party in Brooklyn. You generally need to be a registered maker to get in, but sometimes there's extra passes or a lenient gate operator.

Food Crawl

Thus far we've failed to discover a New York City equivalent of the Mission District. In 2011 we failed to crawl, but in 2012 we're trying a several different stand-and-eat joints in the East Village.

Mumbai, Bangalor, Kochi, India

There's a growing community of makers and hackers in India. In fact, we have a bunch of community members, readers, and customers from India here at Dangerous Prototypes. Yet while Maker Faires are sweeping the Americas, Asia, Europe, and even the Middle East, India has yet to pop up on the radar. On our Geek Tour of India we'll meet with hobbyists, hackerspaces, manufacturers, and resellers in three cities and show you the electronics scene in the world's second most populous country.

Shenzhen Sourcing Challenge

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