Toy Shopping in Tokyo

Travelling without the children meant that we could totally chiong the streets of Tokyo from breakfast to supper, something we couldn’t do when it takes hours to get everyone out of home and into bed. The part about toy hunting in Tokyo is that prices can fluctuate from place to place, the same good can easily cost ¥1000 more/less depending on the shop’s policy. In that sense, it benefits the bargain hunter but can be exasperating for one who just want to grab something off the shelves.

Remember that most shops in Akiba have tax free options for spending of more than ¥5,000 on same day single receipt. This makes the shopping a little more complicated as you may want to buy all your stuff in a single place that offers one of the best prices to beat the 8% tax. Also for tax claims purposes, the passport holder must also be the payor if using credit cards.

After freshening up at Hotel Remm which is really conveniently located next to Akihabara station, our first stop was Radiokaikan – 7 stories of toy, hobbies and collectors shops. Start from level 7 and work your way down. Be sure to check out Jungle and Yellow Submarine which holds one of the better collections at reasonable prices.

Then it was to Yodobashi Akiba. While the main focus of the store is on electronics and home appliances, our target was level 6 where a whole floor is dedicated to toys. Dinner at level 7,  almost my favourite dinner haunt since three trips ago. The restaurants open till 11pm so it is a good place to catch late dinner after a day of hard shopping.

Haven’t got your fill after the shops of Akiba are closed? Then Don Quixote is the place to go. Opens till wee hours of the morning, Don Q sells almost everything from snacks, make up, home appliances, clothes to some more exotic cosplay products. We made a pitstop at the arcade machines and played Tsum Tsum and a UFO catcher game.

Day 2

First stop Sunshine City Ikebukuro for four main brands which need no further explanation. Shops open from 10am.Tokyo’s flagship Pokemon Center catering to the fans of the Nintendo series which caught our imagination 20 years ago. Here you can satisfy all your inner desires to catch them all. I’ve been to Pokemon Center once every year for the last three years and I dare say, the goods are always different. And plushies are the best deal as they intend to be overly priced back home.

One level down, you can find Disney Store without having to go to Disneyland. The main hype here are the Tsum Tsum plushies which we indulged ourselves in a ¥600 per piece. At the same level tucked at the far corner is Toy R Us, also a familiar brand with outlets globally. And lastly Animate for all things shoujo, that is, young girl’s fan art. There is also a Tokyu Hands for the art aficionados.

Then off to Nakano Broadway to scour three floors of toys from vintage to new releases. The anchor tenant is Mandarake which have at least 20 stores dispersed throughout the mall, which means whatever you buy in each shop adds up to the ¥5,000 for tax free status. In addition, you’d be pleasantly surprised to see staff from different nationalities serving customers in each shop, speaking all possible languages. Determined hunters is sure to find bargains off last season’s toys stuffed in between all the newer goods.

After Mandarake, we headed to Shinjuku. First we headed to Isetan but disappointed that it has a small collection of toys and its apparels were exorbitantly priced for the rich. So we decided to head next door to BICQLO, a partnership between BIC Camera and Uniqlo. Though there is also a Uniqlo in Singapore and prices for normal priced goods aren’t too different, there are more varieties here and some apparels have limited time offers, e.g. we bought a pair of nice chino shorts for only ¥1290.

Over at BIC, toy selection was average but we managed to grab a good deal off a SHIFiguart figurine which seemed to have been wrongly priced.

And that ends our shopping for day 2! Thus far, other than Pokemon Center, all the shops mentioned offer tax free options. More coming up tomorrow.

Day 3

Decided to break off from shopping and made a short sightseeing trip to Asakusa to have a glimpse of what Edo might have been like. The key highlight here is Sensoji Temple which sees million of visitors local and tourists annually as the oldest temple in Tokyo. Leading towards the temple is Nakamise Street which is lined with shops selling souvenirs and local goodies. Felt more like a tourist trap but nonetheless I finally got to taste dango after reading so much about it in mangas and anime. Don’t forget to take pictures with the huge Thunder Gate lantern guarding the entrance to the shrine. You can also see Tokyo Skytree from the temple grounds, the world’s tallest broadcasting tower so it seems, a juxtapose of the old and modern. From here is a short walk to the Sumida River which would be lined with cherry blossoms in spring.

Then it was back to Akihabahara to check out the rest of the shops we missed earlier.

Kotobukiya

Akiba Zone

Mandarake

Amiami

Hobby Paradise

Sofmap

Day 4

We knocked off real early last night skipping dinner entirely. Woke up this morning to bring sunshine and thought we must have overslept only to find out that it was only 5am!!

Spent the morning packing our luggage and could just barely fit all that we have bought into the luggage we brought. Guess we bought too much or brought too little luggage. Haha.

We headed out for Tsukiji Market in the morning for breakfast at the renown and beloved fish market which will be closed and moved to another location in November after operating for more than 50 years at its current location.

Then it was back to Akihabara for any last minute shopping. While we were checking out some shops, we met two possible Singaporeans carrying a Pokemon Center bag with a picture of a Rayquaza poncho Pikachu. They informed me that they had come from Tokyo Skytree Pokemon Center which had its grand opening just today.

Without further delay, we made our way to the newly opened Pokemon Center. I cannot believe that I actually made it for one of Pokemon Company’s historical milestone and was one of the first few to grab my Raykachu. Thank God for the serendipity of meeting two Singaporeans who are into the same thing wandering some corner of Akiba.

And so that ends our toy hunting escapade for Tokyo. Based on this route, I suppose one needs at least 2 full days to complete scouring the shops. We took a bit more time than usual because I was still recovering from the Mt Fuji climb which made going down stairs of the subway stations and the shops a really big chore.