{"id":34163,"date":"2014-07-04T21:31:54","date_gmt":"2014-07-05T01:31:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.animenation.net\/blog\/?p=34163"},"modified":"2014-07-04T21:31:54","modified_gmt":"2014-07-05T01:31:54","slug":"tokyo-revisited-day-13","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.animenation.net\/blog\/tokyo-revisited-day-13\/","title":{"rendered":"Tokyo Revisited Day 13"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Tokyo_Character_Street\"<\/a><\/p>\n

For otaku in Tokyo, Akihabara and Nakano Broadway are the primary satisfying destinations and will remain so for the foreseeable future. Ikebukuro\u2019s Otome Road is increasing in prominence and awareness, but the Otome Road otaku district at present remains small \u2013 a mere two blocks \u2013 and near exclusively devoted to female consumers and collectors. The hidden gem of Tokyo\u2019s anime otaku destinations is the relatively little known Tokyo Character Street, which is actually not literally a street at all. A basement section at the north Yaesu exit of the Tokyo railway station houses a strip of roughly 20 consecutive gift shops collectively known as \u201cTokyo Character Street.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nBefore heading to Tokyo Station, Jon & I stopped at Tokyo Green Cafe, a second-floor Thai restaurant located between his apartment and the Yotsuya train station. We both ordered the day\u2019s 850 yen lunch special: a soft-boiled egg atop minced, lightly spiced, fried, crumbled pork served over white rice with a side salad.<\/p>\n

\"Thai_lunch\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Since the day was overcast and hooded in a foggy rain, we decided that going out to stay indoors would be a good idea. So we took the Chuo Rapid line to Tokyo Station, from there heading for the north exit then following katakana signs that lead us to the basement floor.<\/p>\n

\"Tokyo_Character_Street_stairs\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The stairwell that Jon & I took deposited us in the middle of \u201cTokyo Character street,\u201d a row of adjacent stores at least as long as Otome Road, if not longer, including stores devoted to Snoopy<\/em>, Miffy<\/em>, and Rirakkuma<\/em>, along with gift shops for Tokyo\u2019s major television networks, and an Ultraman World M78<\/em> store, a Pokemon<\/em> Store, a Tamagotchi<\/em> store, a Ghibli store, and shops devoted to Pretty Cure<\/em>, Aikatsu<\/em>, and Shounen Jump<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"Jon_at_Tokyo_Character_Street\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The stairs were opposite the Fuji TV store, so we browsed that shop first. I was immediately amazed by the variety of exclusive One Piece<\/em>, Sazae-san<\/em>, and Ge Ge Ge no Kitaro<\/em> merchandise available, including cookies, bottled waters and juices, and character goods. I purchased a 500 yen fully embroidered Chibi Maruko-chan<\/em> handkerchief (technically I think it\u2019s a baby wipe).<\/p>\n

\"Sazae-san_cookies\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"One_Piece_goods\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"More_One_Piece_goods\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Chibi_Maruko-chan_cloth\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The next-door TV Tokyo store was filled with Yokai Watch<\/em>, Aikatsu<\/em>, and Naruto<\/em> goods, along with a substantial selection of Neko-sensei<\/em> items from Natsume Yujin-cho<\/em>. Of course, the stores also promoted goods from their popular live-action programs that I wasn\u2019t familiar with.<\/p>\n

\"TV_Tokyo_shop\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Youkai_Watch_goods\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The TBS store had large selections of Haikyuu<\/em> and K-On<\/em> goods. One shelf held a variety of Shingeki no Kyojin<\/em> gachapon boxed toys, but, to little surprise, I also noticed a display with a conspicuous \u201csold out\u201d notice. I was disappointed to see that the manju cookies in the Shingeki no Kyojin<\/em> boxes weren\u2019t shaped like little people; they were just standard round balls.<\/p>\n

\"TBS_Store\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Yui_pillow\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"K-On_goods\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Titans_sold_out\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I wasn\u2019t actually aware, in advance, that Tokyo is actually home to several Ultraman<\/em> stores. So I was surprised and thrilled to come across an Ultraman World M78<\/em> store. The entire shop is exclusively Ultraman<\/em> goods of every conceivable variety. I did notice, however, that at 500 yen each the vinyl Ultraman<\/em> figures are actually cheaper at other big department stores.<\/p>\n

\"Ultraman_store_Tokyo_station\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Ultraman_store_Tokyo_station_statue\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"bin_o_mini_Ultraman_figs\"<\/a><\/p>\n