This article is based on a visit made on Wednesday, 2 April 2014.
Previously on Sekai Ichi,
I talked about Tokyo Skytree, the newest and tallest observation tower in Tokyo. Among the tips I laid out in that post, I showed off the timed tickets they sometimes use, so visitors can wait outside a while and come back to get in line for entry tickets. What is one to do in the intervening time? Well, the Skytree itself is only the centrepiece of the Tokyo Skytree Town complex, which also includes office space, an aquarium, a planetarium, and a shopping mall called Tokyo Solamachi (東京ソラマチ,
Tōkyō Soramachi). Its name is also written as "sora-machi" in Japanese, which translates to "sky town".
Before going inside, I first stumbled upon the store "Donguri Kyōwakoku" (どんぐり共和国), or "Acorn Republic" (personally, I split the difference and call it "Donguri Republic"), a shop for official Studio Ghibli merchandise. I discovered later on that this is actually a chain of stores with dozens of branches across Japan!
Posters for
The Tale of the Princess Kaguya, Ghibli’s then-latest release in Japan.
Even if you're not looking to buy anything, it's worth popping into one of these stores just to see the displays based on Ghibli's movies, such as this one from
My Neighbor Totoro.
A giant Jiji from
Kiki's Delivery Service sitting in the window. ♫ How much is that kitty in the window? ♫ It's probably not for sale.
Finally going inside. The Solamachi Shotengai Shopping District (ソラマチ商店街, Soramachi Shotengai), on the eastern 1st floor, is one of the main halls of Solamachi. The wooden accents along the storefronts evoke an old-town Edo feel in a refined, modernist way, if that makes any sense.
A window display of a toy store. The big poster on the left advertised figures from the TV anime
Attack on Titan (進撃の巨人,
Shingeki no Kyojin), which was really blowing up at the time of my visit.
Sets of Pokémon pins! The samples depict, from left to right, Oshawott cooking monjayaki, Meowth with Tokyo Tower, Pikachu with the Kaminari-mon lantern from Senso-ji, Eevee in a crepe from Harajuku, and another Pikachu with Skytree. I would've picked these up instantly, if I actually collected pins...
Jump Shop is another anime character-goods store, this one focused on the manga comics seralised in
Weekly Shonen Jump magazine, including the "big 3" of
Dragon Ball,
Naruto, and
One Piece. At the Jump Shop in Solamachi, there's a wall with the heights of different manga characters which you can measure yourself against. I'm almost as tall as Monkey D. Luffy, the main character of
One Piece...
...However there are so many more characters taller than that! See, that's the beauty of the manga art form: the licence to expand upon reality.
Solamachi boasts an eclectic sense of interior design all around, such as these painted plates adorning the wall of one of the food courts. I kinda dig it.
Tokyo Skytree Town boasts other facilities of interest apart from shopping and the Skytree itself. There's the
Sumida Aquarium (open 9AM-9PM, entry ¥2,050) on the western 5th floor, and the
Konica Minolta Planetarium (open 10AM-9PM, entry ¥1,500-3,800) on the eastern 7th floor. So, even if your fear of heights were to inhibit you from visiting the actual Skytree, there's something for every interest in Tokyo Skytree Town!
Tokyo Solamachi
Hours: Open hours for individual stores may vary, but Solamachi itself is open from 10:00 AM to 9:00 PM. Some restaurant floors are open from 11:00 AM to 11:00 PM. No regular closing days.
Costs: Free entry. Stores accept credit cards including MasterCard, Visa, Diner's Club, JCB, and China UnionPay. Tax-free shopping is available at many stores for foreigners spending ¥5,000 or more at any one store. A currency exchange machine (foreign-to-Yen only) is available in the middle of the 1st floor.
Address: 1-1-2 Oshiage, Sumida, Tokyo 〒130-0045
Access: Right next to Oshiage Station on the Tokyo Metro Hanzomon
(Z) and Toei Asakusa
(A) lines, and Tokyo Skytree Station on the Tobu Skytree
(TS) line. From Tokyo Station, walk to nearby Otemachi Station and take the Hanzomon subway line to Oshiage (Z14, 15 minutes, ¥200).
Website:
(English) (Japanese)
Donguri Republic: Tokyo Skytree Town Shop
Hours: Open from 10:00 AM to 9:00 PM. No regular closing days.
Address: Tokyo Solamachi 2F, 1-1-2 Oshiage, Sumida, Tokyo-to 〒131-0045
Directions: From Oshiage Station, climb up the outdoor stairs to the 2nd floor. The store will be on the right.
From Tokyo Skytree Station, enter the mall on the 2nd floor, cross through the mall, and go through the far left-hand exit (next to the Plaza store). The store will be on the left.
Website:
(Japanese)
Jump Shop: Tokyo Skytree Town Shop
Hours: Open from 10:00 AM to 9:00 PM. No regular closing days.
Address: Tokyo Solamachi 3F, 1-1-2 Oshiage, Sumida, Tokyo-to 〒131-0045
Directions: From Oshiage Station, enter the mall on the 3rd floor, and cross through the mall until you reach the "Solamachi Tabe-Terrace" food court. The store will be on the left.
From Tokyo Skytree Station, enter the mall on the 3rd floor; this will put you into "Solamachi Tabe-Terrace". The store will be on the right.
Website:
(English) (Japanese)
