About
A camera shop in Japan, run by people who use cameras
Kurakudo is a small Japanese dealer of film cameras, lenses and accessories. We have been selling to photographers around the world since 2022 — first on eBay, and now here as well.
Why buy from Japan
A great deal of this equipment was made here, and a great deal of it never left. The supply in Japan is deeper than almost anywhere else — and more often than not, the condition is better too. Japanese owners tend to keep the box, the papers, the caps and the case. They tend to keep the camera in a cupboard rather than a damp garage.
But that advantage only means something if the grading is honest. Anyone can type the word MINT. So our whole business really comes down to one thing: making sure the description matches the item in the box.
What we actually do
- We buy selectivelyWe do not list everything we can get hold of. If we would not be happy shooting with it, we do not want to sell it to you.
- We test itShutter across the speed range, light meter, aperture blades, film transport and seals.
- We inspect the glass against a lightHaze, fungus, separation, scratches, dust. The viewfinder is checked separately from the lens, because a clean lens does not mean a clean finder.
- We photograph the actual itemNot a stock photo. The camera in the pictures is the camera you receive.
- We write down the faultsIncluding the ones that lower the price.
A description that only lists good news is worth nothing to you. If we have found something — a sticky slow speed, a mark on the front element, a meter that reads a stop out — it goes in the listing and it goes in the photographs. We would rather lose a sale than have a camera come back.
Our record, in someone else’s words
We have sold from Japan on eBay since 2022 as world_camera_shop. Over the last twelve months: 100% positive, and not a single negative rating.
Buyers rate our item descriptions five stars. For a used camera shop, that is the number that matters — it means people opened the box and found what we said they would.
Figures as shown on eBay, August 2026. See our feedback on eBay
About the language
We are Japanese, and we answer you in writing rather than by telephone. That is deliberate.
It means our answer about the condition of a camera is something you can keep and read again, instead of something half–heard on a bad line between two languages. Write to us in English and you will get a clear, careful answer — usually within one business day.
Ask us anything. Another photograph of the rear element. Whether the meter is accurate at 1/8. Whether we would take this one on a trip ourselves. We would far rather answer a question before you buy than settle a problem afterwards.
Where your camera has been
Film cameras rarely fail because they are old. They fail because they spent twenty years somewhere warm and damp. Fungus and haze are humidity problems, and Japan is a humid country.
So our stock is not kept in a room at the back of a shop. Photography, storage, packing and dispatch are handled for us by a fulfilment company in Nagoya that specialises in cameras, in a warehouse where temperature and humidity are controlled around the clock. Each item has its own barcoded place on the shelf.
What we do not hand over is the judgement. Buying, inspecting, grading and writing the descriptions are ours, and our name is on them.
Business information
Who you are buying from
- Shop name
- Kurakudo
- Registered company
- Parus Co., Ltd.
有限会社パールス - Registered address
- 128-6 Tabara, Kawasaki-machi, Tagawa-gun,
Fukuoka 827-0004, Japan
〒827-0004 福岡県田川郡川崎町大字田原128番6 - info@kurakudo.biz
- Also trading as
- world_camera_shop on eBay
- Shipping
- DHL or EMS, free worldwide, tracked and insured
- Replies
- Monday to Friday, Japan Standard Time (UTC+9)
This is our registered address, not a returns address. Stock is held at a separate warehouse and returns are handled only with the prepaid label we send you. Please do not post anything to the address above.
We publish this because you are buying a used camera from the other side of the world from people you have never met. You are entitled to know exactly who they are. If there is anything else you would like confirmed before you order, ask and we will tell you.