helloamerican

I'm headed to tokyo this june/july and my goal is to come back with a pure japanese track frame. I'm reasonably new to the fix gear genre and have been riding conversions for the past 6 months or so and feel im ready for a genuine horizontal-drop-out-legitimate-track bike. I'm drawn to the japanese frames mainly because i love the culture but secondly because i hear they're some of the best.

I know this kind of 'im going to tokyo find me a frame' thread has been raised before, but in my defense i have done some searching through the forums and the japanese building sites, and while i don't read or speak japanese my best friend is and can, and he has told me the majority of the sites that were selling to non pro's don't really do it anymore. That a lot of the quality bike builders wont talk to you if you tell them you're going to ride their frame on the street.

So that being said im begging for info on shops in tokyo that would be friendly twords the non-pro fixed gear rider seeking a quality old track around or hopefully much under 400 american, or 40000 yen. My friend i'll be staying with lives in shinagawa so if you know the area shops closer to that would be best. However if there is some sort of old frame depot farther away i'm willing to go the distance to find something great.

I don't really know the going prices for some of the old frames, i know the keirin are more expensive, i don't neccisarily need a keirin though.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

PS. i have an old motobecane velosolex i'm bringing with me to ride, my friend has told me japan has very few french frames, from the people who've been there: do you guys think it might be worth while to bring another frame with me as possible trade? The friend i have in japan says he's seen not that great motobecane frames go for as much as 400 for something that would sell for 50 bucks in the us.