Located right around Nipponbashi station and Dotonbori lies Den Den Town – a district dedicated to all things gaming and anime. Often described as “Osaka’s Akihabara,” Den Den Town is home to streets lined with shops selling anime figures, retro collectibles, video games, and so much more. With the area being a walkable distance from my hotel, you can already assume any evening hour I’m not spending at Dotonbori, I’m spending at Den Den Town. And with a combined time of around 6 hours in the area (probably a bit too much for 2 days,) I managed to compile a list of the 10 stores I visited during my stay at Osaka. So, what’s Den Den Town like? And what can you expect from the stores here? Let’s find out. How Good is Den Den Town Actually?
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👜 Torejaras 👜
Starting with Torejaras, a multi-floor store with a wide range of figures and collectibles, from prize figures to smaller collectibles like pins, folders, and acrylic stands. There’s also a glass cabinet section focusing on some rarer items, with their Pokemon Zukan line immediately catching my eye.
Between their selection and my personal preferences, this was the store I ended up constantly revisiting, just to have a look at the figures they have to offer. Every store (and the stuff they have in stock) is different, of course, so I’m not saying this place will also be on the top of your list. But I did manage to locate myself a Taito Coreful Nino Nakano prize figure after endlessly searching for it everyday back in Tokyo. In any case, this place would probably be my recommended starting point.
👜 Torejaras 👜
🗺 Map: https://goo.gl/maps/Vp4PBepjqez87sjA8
⏰ Opening Hours: 11 A.M. to 8 P.M.
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👜 Lashinbang 👜
Like Torejaras, Lashinbang features an assortment of anime and gaming figures, with a slight focus on more recent releases. From Ichiban Kuji prizes, to scale figures and model kits, there’s really a lot to explore here (alongside the other Lashinbang store across the road.) As for what I got, I somehow managed to find myself a Granblue Fantasy Lancelot prize figure for under ¥700 from here, so have a look around.
👜 Lashinbang 👜
🗺 Map: https://goo.gl/maps/JwCV3Qb3VcFWXNPV6
⏰ Opening Hours: 12 P.M. to 8 P.M.
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👜 Surugaya 👜
If I had to give one piece of advice when shopping at Den Den Town (or Akihabara,) it would be to survey around before you make any purchases (unless something happens to be incredibly rare. Hang on to those while you do your research). As long as what you’re looking for is relatively new, there’s a good chance that multiple stores will have the item (at varying prices.) After about an hour of comparing prize figures for my brother, it looks like Surugaya regularly has the cheapest prices out there (it’s like ¥200-300 cheaper, but if you’re exploring anyways, it doesn’t hurt to explore a bit.) Other than that, Surugaya also has bargain bins at the front of the store, so make sure to stop by and check out if there’s anything in the discount section.
👜 Surugaya 👜
🗺 Map: https://goo.gl/maps/fAeoHMrDqb5QuZee6
⏰ Opening Hours: 10 A.M. to 9 P.M.
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👜 Mandarake Grand Chaos 👜
Speaking of doing your research, here is Mandarake’s Grand Chaos shop.
As one of the largest second-hand shops in Japan, you can expect to see a vast selection of old, retro, and sometimes incredibly rare finds (and, of course, newer releases as well.) From different prize figures (often cheaper than getting them from the UFO machines) and collector’s editions of games, to retro Ultraman and Godzilla figures costing over ¥100,000, there’s a good chance Mandarake has something you might be interested in.
While you can spend hours exploring every aisle of this 5-floor building, Mandarake also has an online database of each store’s items, so you can glance over their offerings before making the trip there.
Mandarake’s Website: https://order.mandarake.co.jp/order/?lang=en
As a quick note, not everything will be listed on their site, however, so it’s still a good idea to at least browse around once you’re there. While the staff was locating my Pokemon Scale World figures I saw online, I happened upon some Granblue Fantasy message cards that weren’t on the website. Suffice to say, I spent a bit more money than I planned on doing coming into the shop.
Second-hand rare collectibles tend to be extremely pricey, but from what I’ve purchased from them throughout the years, I say Mandarake’s prices are quite fair, with some finds being an absolutely great deal (Mandarake is quite serious about figure/box conditions. Even with a tiny little dent, they’ll label it as “extremely damaged,” resulting in quite the discount). So if you’re into the retro and rarer side of collectibles, definitely give Mandarake a visit.
And if you’re in-store and the purchase is over ¥5,500, don’t forget to ask for a tourist tax-exemption form.
👜 Mandarake Grand Chaos 👜
🗺 Map: https://goo.gl/maps/8w73Vsbu7wPKTzmD6
💻 Website: https://order.mandarake.co.jp/order/?lang=en
⏰ Opening Hours: 12 P.M. to 8 P.M.
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👘 Gee! Store Osaka 👘
Gee! Store is located right around the entrance to the main Den Den Town road (assuming you’re coming from Dotonbori or the Nipponbashi metro.) Here, you can find quite the selection of cosplay goods, from character-specific costumes and wigs, to more general outfits (school outfits, bags, and gloves.) And for some standard merch, there’s also an arrangement of anime products here – with a slight focus on shirts, caps, and other clothing items.
👘 Gee! Store Osaka 👘
🗺 Map: https://goo.gl/maps/pMHW7Fisy5qXDAUa6
⏰ Opening Hours: 11 A.M. to 8 P.M.
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👜 Animate Osaka Nipponbashi 👜
Towards the end of Den Den Town, we have Animate and its multiple floors of anime goods. If you want to grab some manga or anime merchandise (or literally anything anime-related), this is the place to go to. And if you’re into seiyuus, idols, and other music bands, Animate also has a records section dedicated to that.
Like all other Animate stores, there’s usually a pop-up section featuring their latest products or collaborations. Lucky for me, their focus was on Go Toubun no Hanayome, so I was thoroughly happy with their selection. I already bought a few of their acrylic stands back at Animate Shibuya, but it was nice just to browse around again.
👜 Animate – Osaka Nipponbashi Store 👜
🗺 Map: https://goo.gl/maps/Vp4PBepjqez87sjA8
⏰ Opening Hours: 11 A.M. to 8 P.M. (10 A.M. to 8 P.M. on weekends)
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🎲 Yellow Submarine 🎲
For card games and tabletop games, here’s Yellow Submarine. There’s the usual card sets, playmats, and other supplies, as well as individual cards on sale (common ones in folders, rarer cards displayed on the glass shelf by the wall). And if you want to have some games, there are play areas on the 2nd floor, alongside a selection of model kits and other collectibles. I’m not a card game player, so I can’t add much more, but It certainly was an interesting visit.
🎲 Yellow Submarine 🎲
🗺 Map: https://goo.gl/maps/NwYfn3gzKFRjKrSS8
⏰ Opening Hours: 12 P.M. to 8 P.M.
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🥔 Super Potato 🥔
For a store I completely forgot to take photos of (thanks, my early train ride to Kyoto the next day,) Super Potato is my go-to location for anything retro gaming related. The shop is lined with shelves of retro consoles and games, from Sega Saturns, Neo Geos, to basically every one of Nintendo’s lineups, with varying prices based on rarity, condition, and completeness. And if you need some accessories for your older systems, Super Potato also has you covered (controllers, memory cards, cables, etc.)
I didn’t grab anything from here this time, but I did get my GameCube and SNES from here a couple of years back. Overall an amazing visit if you’re even remotely interested in retro gaming.
🥔 Super Potato 🥔
🗺 Map: https://goo.gl/maps/NwYfn3gzKFRjKrSS8
⏰ Opening Hours: 11 A.M. to 8 P.M.
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👾 Taito Station 👾
Torejaras might be my favorite shop, but Taito Station’s Osaka Nipponbashi store was my overall favorite. Located right at the end corner of Den Den Town, this Taito Station has the usual offerings of games and claw machines, but with one interesting addition I haven’t seen anywhere else (out of the ~15 other Taito Stations I visited,) a “Very Easy Mode” UFO Machine.
I’ll keep things short and save the full overview when I cover Taito Station in the coming weeks, but when they said “Very Easy Mode,” they literally meant it. From an extra strong claw grip, to one where you knock the figure off balance (and one where you literally just push it down?!,) this was by far the easiest set of UFO machines I’ve ever seen. And if you somehow haven’t won your prize yet (I say 10 plays is a reasonable number,) you can always just ask the staff to “assist” you out.
I wasn’t even planning on getting these Sega Go Toubun no Hanayome figures, but after securing Nino in 6 tries, I came back the next day to grab both Itsuki (this one took a bit more than I’d like to share) and Yotsuba (3 tries,) as well as another Yotsuba (4 tries) for my friend the morning before I headed to Kyoto. (For reference, most prize figures at Den Den/Akihabara are around ¥1,500)
If you ever stop by Den Den Town, you *have* to at least have a look around this Taito Station. And if you want some extra tips on these machines, stay tuned to my Taito Station overview in the coming weeks!
👾 Taito Station 👾
🗺 Map: https://goo.gl/maps/NwYfn3gzKFRjKrSS8
⏰ Opening Hours: 10 A.M. to 12 A.M.
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👾 Namco Arcade Osaka 👾
For another arcade, there’s the Namco Arcade right around the entrance to Den Den Town. Of course, there’s the usual prize machines, arcade games, and photo booths, but this Namco arcade also has a section featuring Ichiban Kuji and occasionally some pop-up collaboration stores, so stop by and see what’s in season.
👾 Namco Arcade 👾
🗺 Map: https://goo.gl/maps/NwYfn3gzKFRjKrSS8
⏰ Opening Hours: 10 A.M. to 12 A.M.
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👜 Quick Mentions 👜
These aren’t the only stores around Den Den Town, of course. There’s also some other local shops here, as well as some larger chains like Sofmap and Joshin (and their Gundam store.) If you’re a Dragon Quest fan, don’t forget to check out the Dragon Quest themed Lawson store. And as a final note, maid cafes are also quite common at Den Den Town, so if you’re interested in that, make sure to stop by.
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⭐VERDICT⭐
So how good is Den Den Town actually? I mean, it’s Akihabara but Osaka. If you’re the type of person to enjoy Akihabara, then Den Den Town should be just as great, if not even better. Maybe the selection here suits more to my tastes, maybe it’s ever so slightly cheaper. In any case, outside of not being as visually stunning as Akihabara, Den Den ticks all the boxes. And let’s not forget about that Taito Station. If I ever head back to Osaka in the future, I can’t wait to play some more of their prize machines.
But of course, areas like these are incredibly subjective, but viewing it generally, Den Den Town has just about anything you need. So if you’re in Osaka and want to spend a few hours immersed in the gaming and anime world (and maybe finding some cool stuff to buy,) then Den Den Town is the place to go!
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🚗HOW TO GET THERE 🚗
Den Den Town can be accessed via a couple stations, either from Nipponbashi Station (Exit 10,) or Namba Station (Exit 3.) Whichever station you decide to head to, the front side of Den Den town is around an 8 minute walk from the station. It’s quite the walk, but since Den Den Town stretches for around 800m anyways, the initial walk won’t be too bad.
If you’re around Dotonbori and want to head straight to Den Den Town, the journey’s around a 10 minute walk south from the Glico Sign. If you want to take a break from the street foods at Dotonbori, a quick visit to Den Den Town isn’t a bad idea.
Nipponbashi Den Den Town
🌏 Location (Starts from around here): Japan, 〒556-0011 Osaka, Naniwa Ward, Nanbanaka, 2 Chome−1−17 コスモビル
🗺 Map: https://goo.gl/maps/xcjYAcZdwzRinaGCA
⏰ Opening Hours: Varies by Store (Generally 12 P.M. to 8 P.M.)
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