When shopping for Anime & Figure stores in Tokyo, Akihabara is definitely the first place to visit. But while Akihabara features most of the stores you could ever want, there’s one thing it clearly lacks – Official Brand Stores – of which you’ll need to head to Ikebukuro to check out.

With the largest Pokemon Center and Animate store here, and a whole lot of different brand stores like One Piece, Studio Ghibli, and Disney – Ikebukuro appears to be a good complimentary destination to Akihabara.

But exactly what stores can you find around here, and is it even worth a visit? Let’s get to it. How Good is Ikebukuro & Sunshine City Actually?

–Sunshine City–
–Pokémon Center Mega Tokyo–
–Pikachu Sweets–
–Pokémon GO Lab–
–Pokémon Card Station–
–Bandai Cross Store–
–Bandai Candy Official Shop–
–Ichiban Kuji Official Store–
–Other Stores at Bandai Cross Store–
–Other Stores at Sunshine City–

–Stores Around Sunshine City–
–Animate Annex Ikebukuro–
–Madarake LaLaLa–
–Other Stores Around Sunshine City–

–Ikebukuro Area–
–Animate Ikebukuro Main Store–
–Mandarake Nayuta–
–GiGo Ikebukuro No.3–
–CAPCOM Plaza–
–GiGO, Namco, Round1, & Adores–
–Other Stores Around Ikebukuro–

–Verdict–
–Getting There–

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🏠 Sunshine City 🏠

Sunshine City mall is where most of the official stores are at, so let’s go over this area first.

My main goal here today is to check out Pokémon Center Mega Tokyo. As soon as you arrive on the 2nd floor, you’ll already be greeted by a ton of Pokémon-themed decorations to get you immersed in the world of Pokémon.

From wall arts of starters and legendaries, to seating areas with statues of the starters, Hoothoot, Plusle & Minun, and more. 

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🟡 Pokémon Center Mega Tokyo 🟡

The different Pokémon Centers in Japan all have their own mascot Pokémon, and for Mega Tokyo, you’ll see their mascot in statue form the moment you enter the store – Miraidon (Formerly Charizard Y and Zacian.)

And a little ways inside the store, you’ll also spot statues of the 3 Paldea starters next to the store’s name.

Inside the store, you’ll be able to purchase a whole variety of Pokemon merch and collectibles. From games, plushies, figures, TCG, phone accessories, and all sorts of seasonal and store-exclusive items.

I’d recommend you check out every single thing they offer, but here are some of my personal favorites. 

🧸 Plushies –  Seriously… There’s a lot here. From the standard Pikachu, starter, and legendary plushies to limited-time ones and some really wacky looking ones. My favorites continue to be their “Dowasure” Amnesia and long-armed Hug You! lines.

🧸 Pokémon Fit – Imagine every single Pokémon in palm-sized plushie form… and I mean every single Pokémon and form (up to Generation 7.) Whether your favorite is the classic Pikachu or Charizard, or less popular ones like Sewaddle, Drowzee, a Deerling form, or a specific Unown letter, Pokémon Fit has got you covered!

🧸 Pokémon Scale World – As one of the three Pokémon Centers that sell Scale World (Mega Tokyo, Tokyo Skytree, and DX at Nihonbashi) make sure to check out which Figures and Premium Bandai sets are currently available. 

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🍰 Pikachu Sweets 🍰

Pikachu Sweets is Pokémon Center’s very own themed café, featuring a variety of different themed snacks and desserts, like Scarlet/Violet academy Frappes, Alcremie Soft Serve, and Pikachu art lattes.

And like any other Pokémon Store – some exclusive merch, including plushies, cup sleeves, Sinistea cups, Polteageist teapots.

Special mentions to that Garbodor Trash Can!

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🔴 Pokémon GO Lab 🔴

Pokémon GO players get their very own section at the Pokémon GO Lab.

There’s some merch of Pokémon Fit and GO-related items here, but the main attraction here are the life-sized statues of Professor Willow and the Team Leaders.

And in the center of the room, you’ll find a gym-like display showing all sorts of stats like the current raids and gym defender usage ranks. 

It’s a pretty spacious area, so make sure to take some photos – including snapping some AR shots with your Buddy Pokémon! (I totally didn’t forget to do that…)

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🎮 Pokémon Card Station 🎮

Whether it be to buy the latest starter packs, booster packs, play mats, and card cases, or to compete in friendly or competitive matches, Pokémon Card Station is the place for TCG Players. And if you wanna get started in the TCG scene, you’ll also find staff members who’ll help you learn the basics of the game.

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⭕️ Bandai Cross Store ⭕️

Opened in 2023 and located right below Pokémon Center Mega Tokyo, Bandai Cross Store is home to all sorts of different shops – from the largest Gashapon department store, to candy toys, model kits, exhibits, and arcades.

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🍫 Bandai Candy Official Shop 🍫

For wafer cards of your favorite anime & games, to Candy Toys and other smaller figures, Bandai Candy Official Shop is the place to head to.

And for Pokémon Scale World collectors, you can also find a display case of their recently released sets on the other side of the shop.

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🏆 Ichiban Kuji Official Store 🏆

You can find Ichiban Kuji shops in convenience stores, other toy stores, and a couple other places, but for a store dedicated to one – look no further than the Ichiban Kuji Official Shop at Sunshine City.

As one of Tokyo’s main Kuji stores, banner pull rates can/will change pretty frequently, so make sure to check back every once in a while to see if the pull rate increases/refreshes to feature your ideal prize. (or just… y’know, go buy it at a 2nd and store if you prefer.)

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🛍 Other Stores at Bandai Cross Store 🛍

You can find some other Bandai stores here as well

Gashapon Bandai Official Shop
Tamashii Nations Store
Bandai Spirits Hobby Store
Banprestore Shop
Premium Bandai Showrom
MegaHouse Official Store
The Idolm@ster Official Shop
One Piece Card Game Shop
and more

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🛍 Other Stores at Sunshine City 🛍

Pokémon Center might have been the main reason I’m here, but that doesn’t mean that’s the only Official Store at Sunshine City. Here’s some of the other shops you can expect to see here.

🛍 Donguri Republic
🛍 Sanrio Vivitix
🛍 Disney Store

🛍 One Piece Mugiwara Store

🛍 Shin-Chan Official Store
🛍 Flower Miffy
🛍 Marvel Store
🛍 Seasonal Pop-Up Stores

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🏠 Stores Around Sunshine City 🏠

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🔵 Animate Annex Ikebukuro 🔵

Across the street from Sunshine City, you’ll also find a couple more Anime/Figure stores – starting off with Animate Annex with their selection of manga and anime goods.

While the size of this store has been eclipsed by the new Animate Ikebukuro Main store nearby, this is the shop where you can find Animate’s sweets shop, Cosplay shop, and Animate Cafe.

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🔴 Mandarake LaLaLa 🔴

Mandarake has several specialty shops around Japan, and at LaLaLa, their main focus here is on Yaoi/BL and Male Idol goods (with some manga and books here and there).

I’m not familiar with this space (at all…) but based on my quick visit for photos, the sheer amount of items they have here is very impressive.

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🏠 Other Stores Around Sunshine City 🏠

You can find Lashinbang and K-Books right next to Animate Annex. The Lashinbang here features a ton of Yaoi/BL merch, so after stopping by Mandarake LaLaLa, I’d recommend you check it out here next. 

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🏠 Ikebukuro Area 🏠

Moving on to the Ikebukuro side of things. You won’t be finding as many official stores around here – but there’s still quite a few places to check out.

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🔵 Animate Ikebukuro Main Store 🔵

Definitely the most impressive-looking store in the Ikebukuro area.

Opened in March 2023, Animate’s Ikebukuro Main store is a towering 9-floor building featuring all sorts of manga and anime goods – from manga, DVDs, apparel, and a whole ton of merch (can badges, acrylic stands, keychains, plushies, etc.)

Like with a lot of Animate’s other stores, this place also features autographed Shikishi boards of famous mangaka, game developers, and other artists. But unlike the others, you’ll find several floor wall’s worth of them here! Make sure to stop by and find where your favorite artist’s Shikishi are located!

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🔴 Mandarake Nayuta 🔴

Right around Exit 23 of Ikebukuro Station is Mandarake Nayuta – Mandarake’s specialty shop for 2nd hand Figures, Import Toys, and Model Kits.

Like with Mandarake’s other stores, you can check what this store has in stock directly from their website, so I highly recommend you give that a go before visiting here. (Or you can just come here blind, whatever you prefer!)

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👾 GiGo Ikebukuro No.3 👾

I’ll go over Ikebukuro’s main arcade area below, but if you exit the station from Exit 35, you’ll be greeted with another one of GiGo’s arcades.

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👾 Capcom Plaza 👾

Capcom Plaza features several different areas to check out, from Gashapon stores to an arcade, with the main highlight being Capcom Cafe – a themed cafe featuring all sorts of different Capcom and non-Capcom (oddly enough…) collaborative menus.

The featured series rotate every 2 months or so, so make sure to see what’s on offer when you visit.

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👾 Arcades – GiGO, Namco, Round1, & Adores 👾

You’re spoiled for choice when it comes to the arcades here, as Ikebukuro features 4 different stores to choose from – GiGO, Namco, Round1, and Adores.

Honestly, just visit all of them and see which ones offer the figures you want in the crane machines you prefer best. 

GiGO often does collaboration campaigns with a bunch of media franchises, so make sure to stop by and see what’s on offer when you visit. (I’m still salty they released their Quintessential Quintuplets collab the week I left Japan…)

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🏠 Other Stores around Ikebukuro 🏠

Other than that, you’ll also find a couple of big-brand electronic stores here like Bic Camera and Denki Yamada (LABI1.) 

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⭐VERDICT⭐

So how good is Ikebukuro & Sunshine City actually? I mentioned in my last review that Nakano Broadway is the place to head to for rare/retro figures and games. Take that info – flip it 180 – and that’s what the Ikebukuro area is like.

Sunshine City is *the* place for all your official merch needs – surpassing even Akihabara in this category. With official stores from all sorts of different anime, media, and game franchises – not to mention the largest Pokémon Center and Animate stores in Japan – if your favorite brand has an official store, this is probably where it’s at. 

A lot of these stores will generally focus on the smaller merch side of things (figurines, plushies, acrylic stands, stationery, and other collectibles,) so you’ll still need to head to Akihabara for figures and games (Mandarake, Lashinbang, and the others here are still worth the visit though.) Basically treat Ikebukuro as the Official Store district, with figure & game shops scattered throughout.

So, if you wanna do some anime & figure shopping at Tokyo’s largest official store district, then Ikebukuro and Sunshine city are the places to visit!

For more Anime/Figure area reviews around Tokyo, check out my other reviews here:
Full Review: Nakano Broadway

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🚗 GETTING THERE 🚗

The Ikebukuro area is pretty big, so here’s my advice on how to get there/start your journey.

Once you arrive at Ikebukuro Station (JR, Marunouchi, Yurakucho, etc. Lines) head towards the East Exit and choose any exit no. you want – 23 for Mandarake, 29 & 31 for most other shops.

(They’re right next to each other, so it really doesn’t matter much which you choose.)

If you wanna head straight to Sunshine City, you can exit via Exit 34/35 at Ikebukuro Station, and it’ll be a 12 minute walk.

Alternatively, if Sunshine City is your only priority, you can just head straight to Higashi-Ikebukuro Station (Yurakucho Line) and exit from Exit 6 or 7. Follow the underground passageway, and you should reach Sunshine City in around 7 minutes.

Ikebukuro & Sunshine City

Ikebukuro
🌏 Location
1 Chome Minamiikebukuro, Toshima City, Tokyo 1710022, Japan
🗺 Map
https://maps.app.goo.gl/Vp52ZfDpoVzQcNNJA
⏰ Opening Hours
Varies by Store

Sunshine City
🌏 Location 🌏
3 Chome-1 Higashiikebukuro, Toshima City, Tokyo 1708630, Japan
🗺 Map 🗺
https://maps.app.goo.gl/9TPp9iEHBe9TFNjz7
⏰ Opening Hours ⏰
10 A.M. to 8 P.M. (Varies by Store)
💻 Website 💻
https://sunshinecity.jp/en/
🏠 List of Stores 🏠
https://sunshinecity.jp/en/shop/shop_list/field/reg_category/7/13/

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