Dream choice - Japan trip 2025

Hopefully this is in the right thread, sorry if it not. 😅

Hubby and I are planning to travel to Japan in 2025 and I would love to visit the Volks store and get a Dream choice. 

The trip is still in early planning stages,  but i would love some advice on how to do doll choice.

Are options online or still just in the book? are appointments needed? What payments are accepted and is Language a huge barrier? ♡

Also as a side note, any advice on travelling to Japan in general would also be well received,  it's our first international trip ever 😅😅

 

Thank you so much in advance ☺️

Oni 

How exciting! And what better way to commemorate the trip than with a new Dream Choice doll! 🤩

36 minutes ago, Oni-Chan said:

Are options online or still just in the book? are appointments needed? What payments are accepted and is Language a huge barrier? ♡

There’s an overview of the options on the Volks website, but the specific makeup options can only be seen in-store in the Dream Choice booklet.

You need an appointment for Dream Choice. You have to make the appointment yourself—no one else can make it for you—and you only get 45 min (technically you get an hour, but they need 15 min to put your doll together). If you don’t finish making your choices within the time frame, the appointment ends and you have to make another appointment. You can’t extend the time limit, even if there’s no one scheduled after you. Luckily you can often get an appointment the same day or within a few days, so you should be able to schedule something during your trip unless it’s an uncharacteristically busy time of the year.

For payment, I know they take cash, credit cards and QR code payment, but they may accept other forms of payment I’m not aware of.

For language, there shouldn’t be much of a barrier since you’ll mostly be pointing at stuff in the book, and they have papers explaining stuff in English, but if you need to ask something more complex then things might get tricky. I always do Dream Choice in Japanese so I can’t say one way or another, but I did sit in on @XOHimitsuOX’s session and it seemed like the staff could only speak very basic English.

For general advice, again I’m not the best person to ask since I’ve been here so long I don’t know what usually trips people up anymore, but if you want to travel around, get a rail pass before you leave and set up a Wise account with a physical and digital card so you can take money out at ATMs and exchange currencies for cheap.

3 hours ago, Oni-Chan said:

Are options online or still just in the book?

You can find some here: https://dollfie.volks.co.jp/blog/2021/08/26/004060.html

And Jadepixel has some on her blog here: https://www.jadepixeldoll.com/dream-choice-guide/

On 8/21/2023 at 7:24 PM, Oni-Chan said:

i would love some advice on how to do doll choice

Some points that may not be obvious for first time dream choice users:

• Bust size is not part of the dream choice selection. If you want something different than the standard size (MDD, DDP -> S-bust; DDS, DD -> M-bust) for that body, you have to get that specific part separately.
• Some wigs or eyes may be out of stock. So if you have already pre-planned the look for your doll, best prepare one or two backup options in case some stuff is currently not available.
• Bonus: A Dream Choice DDS will come with fist hands (as does the DDS base body), so you may want to pick up e.g. a pair of "normal" hands for more posing flexibility.

 

The Dream choice process will usually flow like this:
select body type (and skin tone) > select head (and makeup) > select eyes > select wig > your doll will be built

Before you lock in your choices and the staff starts preparing all necessary parts for building the doll, you can always go back and change stuff or compare several options. However, depending on the complexity of your request (or if you want for instance to select the head first, before deciding on the body), that may be tricky to communicate in English. - So if not sure, try to go slowly and step by step.

 

On 8/21/2023 at 7:24 PM, Oni-Chan said:

Also as a side note, any advice on travelling to Japan in general would also be well received

English usually works fine at airports and larger hotels.

At smaller stores or restaurants, it can be tricky to find someone who speaks English. Some basic Japanese for ordering food may prove helpful. Nowadays, many restaurants are switching over to smart tablets, that can be switched to (sometimes very janky) English, that you have to use to make orders. - However, I'm not yet entirely convinced they really make the ordering process easier...

In larger cites, signage is usually both in Japanese and English, but if you go a bit off grid you'll often find Japanese only. If you're mostly going for the touristy spots, that should not be too much of an issue.

 

That's all that comes to mind for now.

On 8/21/2023 at 4:24 AM, Oni-Chan said:

Are options online or still just in the book? are appointments needed? What payments are accepted and is Language a huge barrier? ♡

I just called in to make a Dream Choice reservation the other day!

I had to ask to get a staff member who spoke English, but once that was done, the reservation setup was quite smooth. They ask you a few questions to setup the appointment. I just made a post (here) to document my Dream Choice process along the way when I go to Doll Point Akihabara in a month or so.

On 8/21/2023 at 4:24 AM, Oni-Chan said:

Also as a side note, any advice on travelling to Japan in general would also be well received,  it's our first international trip ever 😅😅

I will have a better idea of this myself once I get back from Japan (will be my first time going), but I have some cash and international fee-less credit and debit cards ready. I hear that Mastercard is more accessible than Visa currently, but I'm sure you can find better information online than I can provide at this time. >_<