I found them in a tiny electronics shop in Tokyo's Ginza district, wedged between a nine-seat whisky bar and what might have been the city's smallest omakase counter. The keycaps caught my eye immediately—that particular shade of yellow that dominated personal electronics in the age before everything turned glossy white or matte black. The shopkeeper, who had been selling mechanical keyboards since the days when all keyboards were mechanical, nodded approvingly at my interest.
"Sport Walker," he said, running his finger along the perfectly doubleshot legends. "From the original production run." He was wrong about that last part—these weren't vintage caps at all, but rather a modern homage so perfect it could fool even the most discerning collector. The same bold yellow that once meant "waterproof" (or at least "water-resistant"), the same purposeful red accents that suggested adventure. When I asked about purchasing them, he smiled and pointed me toward Washington State. Sometimes you have to travel halfway around the world to find what's been made in your own backyard all along.
