Honestly, if you're THERE, then you need to go to Akihabara "Electric Town". I know of a store there named Clevery [ クレバリ ] that has most Filco models and at least 100 other keyboards that you can touch.
Here is a page from their website with photos of the store:
http://www.clevery.co.jp/shop/shop-2.htmlGetting there is a bit of an adventure if you're not used to navigating Tokyo, but if you can get to Tokyo station then you're halfway there. Once in Tokyo station you need to take the Yamanote Line or Keihin-Tohoku Line towards Ueno (a green or blue line is on these trains), you'll ride for about 5 minutes and then get off at Akihabara. There is more than one exit from the station, but you want to exit towards the main street of "electric town" which is named Chuuoudouri ( 中央通り ), it's West of the station. Once you find this street (It's hard to miss, it's the widest and busiest street by the station and you'll see nothing but towering colorful electronics stores up,down,left,and right.), you should stay on the East side of the street and walk North for 2 or 3 minutes. You'll cross over a couple small side streets, but while you walk you should be looking for a large white and blue building on the WEST side of the street with a huge Sofmap [ ソフマップ ] sign on top. Cross the street at the next traffic signal and walk around to the back of the left side of the building, there you'll find an alley which you should turn right into and walk North again. Continue walking north up the alley past the back of the Sofmap building and look for a little cafe called the "Linux Cafe" (yes, for real); it's on the right side. Just next to this open-source coffee shop is a small orange storefront with a クレバリ sign. Here is a google street view of the shop, there is another Sofmap storefront to the left and the Linux Cafe is to the right:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=%E6%9D%B1%E4%BA%AC%E9%83%BD%E5%8D%83%E4%BB%A3%E7%94%B0%E5%8C%BA%E5%A4%96%E7%A5%9E%E7%94%B0%EF%BC%93%E2%88%92%EF%BC%91%EF%BC%93%E2%88%92%EF%BC%92&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=47.301626,87.890625&ie=UTF8&layer=c&cbll=35.700523,139.770854&panoid=nhfjstzDfRH-LHcev5YZnA&cbp=13,137.64,,0,10.36&t=h&ll=35.700436,139.770845&spn=0.00528,0.009656&z=17&iwloc=AYou can pay cash at this store, but the price might not be the best, and if you use a CC, they might charge you a 5% processing fee, so if you find something you want to buy, you might get on amazon.co.jp and order it with CC or pay with wire transfer; if you choose wire transfer then you can take the account number and go to just about any ATM to make a wire transfer using cash if the amount is less than $1000; there might be a fee of 500yen for a W/T. NOTE: Bigger banks will have ATMs that have English menus if your Japanese isn't very good. You can have online purchases sent right to your hotel the next day; next day shipping is very cheap in Japan, and you can even choose the time of day the package is delivered.
Also, on the same street as Clevery, there is a store named Two Top that is maybe 3 storefronts up from Clevery; they *might* have Realforce and Filco keyboards you can touch. You can also try one of the Sofmap stores since you're right there, they are a dealer for those brands too plus HHKB, but they tend to display more "white" goods, so you might not be able to find keyboards you can touch. There is another Clevery storefront on the same street you might check out as well.
Two Top webpage with Japanese map and address:
http://shopinfo.twotop.co.jp/akiba_honten/Oh, and since you're in Akihabara, you need to go Yodabashi-Akiba; it's right outside the station and is the biggest electronic store you'll ever see - they have EVERYTHING.
Well, I hope that's enough info! Good luck, and be sure to take pictures to share with geekhackers!
