Japan was fortunate enough to be the first region on the planet to see the release of the  Nintendo 3DS on February 26, 2011. A number of stores across the country offered pre-orders, however, many of the electronic and game stores in the area where I live in Saitama prefecture did not. With that said, I knew that Saturday morning was going to be an early and potentially active morning for me.

I originally intended to wake up around 4:00 a.m. and periodically check the stores in my area for lines. It was a good plan, but waking up at 5:30 a.m. put a bit of a hitch in my original intentions. Nevertheless, I quickly got dressed, and raced out the door less than five minutes later.

First, I checked a Toys 'R' Us located about five minutes away from my apartment. I was expecting to see at least a handful of people lined up outside, but was surprised to see the lights on in the store and people filtering back and forth from two store employees standing by the entrance. I quickly went up to the employees and asked if I could start lining up for the 3DS. They went on to tell me that, since it was a bit cold outside, they were giving out tickets for the system so people wouldn't have to line up. At that point they only had one ticket left out of the forty they started with at 5:00 a.m.! I gladly took the ticket. Shortly thereafter, I saw several parents being turned away from the doors with their heads hanging low. After snapping a few photographs of these poor souls from a distance, I made my way back home to get a little more sleep before the store opened at 10:00 a.m.

Left: Sad parents being turned away. Right: My coveted ticket!

Before picking up my Nintendo 3DS, I checked an electronic store nearby to see if they had any lines. When I first looked from a distance, there appeared to be nobody waiting outside of the main doors, but I found it odd that an overabundance of cars were in the parking lot hours before opening time. After taking a closer look, I found that there were a number of people lined up waiting patiently for a chance to purchase Nintendo's latest handheld. I have no idea what time they started lining up, but it was clear that the chilly morning air was not going to deter these people from obtaining a system.

Left: Outside of Yamada Denki. Right: There's the line!

I arrived back at Toys 'R' Us about thirty minutes before the store opened. Even though I had my coveted ticket, I wanted to make absolutely sure that nothing would prevent me from getting my hands on a 3DS. After the doors opened, I made my way calmly to the register with my software and hardware tickets. After forking over a fistful of cash, I became the proud owner of an Aqua Blue Nintendo 3DS along with Super Street Fighter IV 3D Edition, Nintendogs + Cats (Shiba Inu Edition), and Professor Layton and the Mask of Miracle. Though the day came close to being a disaster, I had come out on top.