When it comes to sports, I’m passionate with collecting New York Yankees merchandise but also Japanese NPB (Nippon Professional Baseball) merchandise.
In the U.S., I’m pretty supportive of the New York Yankees and their minor league teams, but in Japan, while my favorite team is the Yomiuri Giants (who are called the New York Yankees of Japan), I don’t mind purchasing merchandise of other teams and visiting their ball parks.
For so long, I have been collecting NPB caps of various teams and it’s not the easiest, nor the cheapest thing to do.
Unlike the United States where you can have New Era creating hats for all sports teams, in Japan, you will find Yomiuri Giants working strictly with Adidas and Under Armor, other teams with New Era and other teams with smaller companies.
So, finding good hats is not easy and the going rate for a New Era NPB hat is typically $65.
For those living outside Japan, while one can go on eBay to order NPB hats, if you are going to Japan, the best places to get them are at the official stores near the stadium for the team, there is one store in Japan that is a must-go to store to get NPB hats (and for Japanese to get American sports merchandise) and that’s Selection.
They have a few stores in Tokyo and the one I went to was in Shinjuku.
While the majority of the store is focused on NFL/MLB/NBA gear, I went far too the back to stock up on NPB hats.
And when it comes to selection, Selection does a great job of providing many versions of merchandise for a team. And one thing I found very cool about the store is how well they market themselves on social media such as Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest and Line.
And as courtesy, they also take a picture of their shoppers and post it on their blog. Even of yours truly.
If you are in Japan and are looking for a store that specializes in sports merchandise, American and Japanese, definitely give Selection a chance!
