10 best character shops in Tokyo

Considering ‘Donkey Kong’ came out nearly 40 years ago, it’s about time Japan finally got its own official Nintendo store. Located on Shibuya Parco’s Cyberspace floor, which is dedicated to otaku geeks, this outlet has everything a Nintendo fanboy or girl could ever dream of. Aside from the latest and most popular games, Nintendo Tokyo also offers a selection of merchandise you cannot find anywhere else.

The home-quarantine era’s hit game ‘Animal Crossing’ has inspired loads of merch including tumblers, bento boxes and even pajamas. And you can only buy them here, along with clothing and everyday items featuring mustachioed mascot Mario, Princess Zelda, the aforementioned gorilla and other much-loved Nintendo characters. The gaming corner, meanwhile, is fitted with TVs and consoles for you to test out the latest titles.

Right across from Nintendo Tokyo, the Pokémon Center Shibuya looks like the futuristic lab of the game’s Professor Willow. At the entrance, you’ll be greeted by a life-sized Mewtwo hibernating in a water tank, before you venture into a massive retail space filled with all your favourite Pokémon characters in every imaginable form.

Shop for Pokémon plushies, phone cases (with Swarovski crystals, no less), sheet masks, and keep an eye out for limited-edition designs only available in Japan, especially the Shibuya-exclusive Pokémon x Super Mario 8-Bit Scramble collaboration tees and backpacks. As a nod to Shibuya’s famous street culture, there are also Pokémon skateboards and fashion items.

Love Studio Ghibli films? Now you can shop for the merchandise. Located inside Miyashita Park shopping centre in Shibuya, GBL offers a wide range of American casual apparel and accessories featuring characters from the animation studio’s iconic films.

The selection is aimed at adults, so expect stylish streetwear including T-shirts and jackets as well as cool accessories like skateboards and LL Bean tote bags. Don’t miss the seasonal offerings, which in the past have included Hawaiian shirts inspired by ‘Kiki’s Delivery Service’ and ‘My Neighbor Totoro’.

The world’s very first Sesame Street Market recently opened in Ikebukuro’s Sunshine City, and fans of the popular American TV series can now enjoy shopping for all sorts of goods featuring the beloved puppets including Elmo, Cookie Monster and Big Bird. The store is stocked with around 270 items including plushies, T-shirts, mugs, loungewear and cookie tins exclusive to this outlet. 

The Market has a café attached, decked out with exposed brick walls and checkerboard floors to imitate a traditional American diner. You can purchase doughnuts that come in five different flavours, inspired by Elmo (raspberry), Cookie Monster (sugar), Big Bird (mango and passion fruit), Oscar (matcha) and Abby (white chocolate and ruby chocolate). These go for ¥520 each and can be taken home in a box of three (¥1,560) or six (¥2,920). For those craving something savoury, the café offers big slices of New York-style pizza at ¥770 apiece. 

In 2024, you can also expect to see fun workshops held here. While details have yet to be released, the workshops should be easy enough for all ages to join.

Die-hard Godzilla fan? You have to check out the world’s first store dedicated to the Big G in Shinjuku. The store is inside the Shinjuku Marui Annex complex – just a quick hop from the Godzilla head in Kabukicho – and has all sorts of monstrous merchandise. 

You can pick up fun items like T-shirts, smartphone cases, mugs and calendars, in addition to quirkier items like a stylish Godzilla-embroidered sukajan jacket and a number of collectible figurines. You'll even find fun collections like the Chibi Godzilla series, which includes adorable merchandise featuring mini Godzilla and friends. There are also other wacky yet useful goods such as a Godzilla humidifier, tape dispenser and tissue box case.

Hit anime saga 'Mobile Suit Gundam' now has a dedicated Gundam figurine museum on the seventh floor of the DiverCity Tokyo Plaza shopping centre in Odaiba. The Factory Zone is an exact replica of the actual factory at the Bandai Hobby Center in Shizuoka, where you can learn about the elaborate manufacturing process of Gundam models and figurines. Don't miss the massive Shop Zone, either: it has over 1,500 types of models on display and more than 2,000 varieties of merchandise available for purchase.

Mahou Dokoro has made a name for itself running Harry Potter pop-up shops around the city, and now it’s opened a permanent shop in Akasaka’s Harry Potter plaza. You can purchase all kinds of memorabilia such as tote bags, stationery, mugs, accessories and snacks inspired by the magical world of Harry Potter and Fantastic Beast movies. You’ll even find items that are unique to Japan, including a soy sauce plate with the Dark Mark and a baumkuchen printed with the Hogwarts house crests.

Manga series Doraemon has finally opened its first official store in Tokyo. While there’s no shortage of mugs, bags, cookies and other merchandise emblazoned with the famous blue cat-robot, this is more than just another souvenir shop.

For one, you’ll find a play area hidden behind the anime’s iconic Anywhere Door, filled with Doraemon’s gadgets. Then there’s also a ‘post office’, where you can send a Doraemon postcard right on the spot.

Don’t miss the massive Doraemon Time Square installation outside at the DiverCity Tokyo Plaza mall entrance, where you can enjoy tunes from the anime played at the top of every hour. Two Doraemon-themed benches complete the elaborate set-up for the cutest photo-ops.

You can’t miss this Sanrio store with its facade of a giant Hello Kitty holding a red apple that forms the entrance. Inside you’ll find a host of Sanrio characters from the aforementioned kitty to Cinnamoroll, Gudetama, My Melody and others, available in all shapes and forms including plush dolls, apparel, suitcases and gift-ready snacks and sweets known as omiyage.

Since the store is located in Tokyo’s historical Asakusa neighbourhood, just around the corner from Sensoji Temple, the shop offers several unique items made in collaboration with local artisans, such as bags from Inujirushi Kaban, a long-established Japanese label known for its rugged canvas bags.

Don’t want to bounce around the city visiting each and every individual character shop? Just make your way to Tokyo Station as this landmark building houses an entire section dedicated to the country’s most popular characters from manga and anime.

This one-stop shopping destination offers an interesting, albeit somewhat overwhelming, crash course on the who’s who of Japanese manga and anime. There are more than 30 shops dedicated to household names such as Pokémon, Studio Ghibli, Doraemon, Rilakkuma, Crayon Shin-chan and Hello Kitty.

There are even a few stores dedicated to foreign imports that have made it here in Japan, such as the cute bunny Miffy, the Moomin family and, of course, Snoopy. Just make sure to set aside plenty of time as there is lots to get through.