Kiseki and Lyra Cartridge Dealers in Japan and Taiwan

juki is "very reputable seller" of grey market cartridges on ebay, none of his cartridges are supported by any original manufacturer or dealer. Some of his cartridges have fake serial numbers (like my ex Zyx). So you’re on your own when it comes to service such as factory retip or factory exchange. This is all you need to know before you’re buying anything from greay market dealers like 2juki on ebay. Up to you, some buyers are happy with grey market cartridges, most of them always claiming that soundsmith or andy kim or anyone can make their cartridges better than the original when it comes to retip/refurbishing, which is a total BS in my opinion.

You will find official dealers of Lyra in Tokyo for sure, maybe you have to ask J.Carr directly on this forum ? I'm sure he will let you know where to buy his Lyra in Japan officially.

By reputable I meant that 2juki has excellent customer service, as mentioned, and will make thing right with no fuss if the product received is not as described.  I can vouch for that myself, as can many of my friends and it'll only take a minute or two of googling to confirm it on a plethora of audio forums.

In 30+ years I've only once made use of a cartridge manufacturer's factory retip service, something I will likely never do again.  Hence I'm more than fine with grey imports (be it cartridges or most other things) and with putting the considerable amount of money saved towards other things or letting it remain in the bank.

Seller kron here on Audiogon has Kiseki Blue carts at a significant discount. You might ask if he can get the purple. 

In general, just walking around to the high end audio stores in Tokyo, you will find neither Koetsu nor Lyra cartridges for sale, on open display.  Whereas most good stores display dozens of other cartridges from a wide variety of well known brands that you can just buy, on the spot.  Off the top of my head, I would say the price differential between Tokyo and the US, for cartridges that are readily available in both locales, is from ~5% to 30%, cheaper in Japan. My hunch is that Lyra deliberately prevents local sale (i.e., in Tokyo or possibly throughout Japan), except perhaps by special order.  (I've never tried, so don't know.). Ten years ago, I was able to buy a Koetsu Urushi from a dealer in Tokyo, but I had to pay in advance and wait two weeks for delivery.  Also, I needed an interpreter in the person of my son, who lives in Tokyo and is fluent in Japanese; his help was essential, as the salespersons could speak virtually no English. The cost savings was vast, compared to US prices, which speaks to the up-charge incurred by the US distributor. 

Kiseki is another matter.  Although I always thought that Kiseki was a progenitor to Koetsu, designed by the elder Sugano-san before he formed Koetsu, I don't know what the situation is right now with respect to the revival of Kiseki.  I was in Tokyo in May, and although I did not spend a whole lot of time roaming in Akihabara (the electronics section of Tokyo and the electronics capitol of the world, IMO), I did not see Kiseki cartridges on sale.  On the other hand, I wasn't looking especially for Kiseki. You'd probably be better off in Hong Kong or using one of the Asian vendors on eBay.