Yup was touring some historical stuff in Tokyo and thought I’d look for an HHKB, checked their site and sure enough there was retailer a 10 minute walk away. Tiny shop in a more residential area a block or two off the main street.

Definitely not a US only issue

Central EU here. We order a bunch of switches. A "starter pack" of sorts. We try them and then choose the favourite.

Physical shops rarely stock keyboards with removable switches.

Nah, in the bigger electronics stores you can test the more well known keyboards and switches just fine.

Not a US issue. A store near me has mechanical keyboards.

Definitely a some-areas-issue.

i would love to know more about this.

i live in the largest city on the west coast of the USA and the only stores i've found where i can press keyboards is Office Depot and the like, and at least in the stores that i have visited, they have not had mechanicals.

even when Frys was around, i don't remember them having keyboards out and about.

Microcenter is probably the most consistent place. Not a huge selection, but some of the maintstream ones, to get a feel for switches on Keychron and some of the other big brands. Depending on where exactly you are, it's likely +/- 30min of an hour drive, which is only sorta "far" in US terms.

Frys predated the "mainstream" mechanical keyboard boom. If they were still around I'm sure they'd have even more (they were always larger stores).

Old Fry’s had a lot of keyboards.

The Fry’s that shut down was a shell of its former shelf.

If you’re in LA, Microcenter has mechanical keyboards.

They also have a whole rotating robotic wall of 3D filament that works like a physical jukebox.

wow, i had no idea at all there was a Microcenter in Socal! not too far, i'll be visiting, thank you. i went to a Microcenter in Dallas decades ago and was blown away.

I almost purchased a mechanical keyboard (with the wrong layout) from a Bic Camera [1] just because they offered in-store access to the keyboards.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bic_Camera

I would love to visit a Tokyo store with mechanical keyboards!

My solution is to buy a mech keyboard from some well respected vendor and try it out. I return the vast majority.

ok wow - https://maps.app.goo.gl/6mxrDe8H9e4u1ru38 (in Tokyo)

yeah, that's what'd I want!

The Keyboard Speciality shop you linked is great. It is always surprisingly crowded for such a niche topic. The have good test boards with different key switches.

Note that in the area are quite a few other good shops. Tsukumo has various hardware across many floors and also keyboards, in b1 they also have a razer store. Then there is a shop across the street Galleria or something, more targeting esports, if you are into that.

I've been there, but it definitely felt like more of an enthusiast experience. Someone who's just looking into getting their first mechanical keyboard would do better at a larger shop stocked with cheaper keyboards and a greater variety of common switch types.

That being said, the shop is located in a surprisingly quiet area, surrounded by other small enthusiast shops. I especially liked "High Beam" a few stores down, which specialises in handheld PCs.

They have a switch tester board where you can press individual keys and you can see which switch you just pressed on the screen

I went there last time I was sent on a business trip to Japan! It’s a fun little shop. Wasn’t so crowded at the end of October :)

If in Sydney: https://maps.app.goo.gl/q9symY7GrNh8GRNe8

Where in Taipei? I have been there a few times, so you can be specific.

I'm not sure if there are better shops, but I've been to Syntrend Creative Park and they have a floor with all kinds of gadgets, including various keyboards. There are mechanical keyboards to try out (IIRC there are for example ducky keyboards), and they are also selling some good keycap sets.