Ikebukuro and Sunshine 60

This article is based on a visit made on Tuesday, 15 November 2016.

Edit 3 October 2019: Updated prices to reflect the increase in Japan's national sales tax.

After a day spent exploring some of Kamakura's shrines and temples, I made my way back to Tokyo for a night on the town.  My evening's activities were centred around Ikebukuro (池袋, lit. 'pond bag'), a district on the northwestern corner of the Yamanote loop line.

This is the eastern plaza in front of Ikebukuro Station, taken at night when I returned from the evening's activities.  Ikebukuro is the second-busiest railway station in the world, behind the nearby Shinjuku, and four companies operate lines here: JR East, Tokyo Metro, Tobu, and Seibu.  A little Fun Fact for you: the names "Tobu" (東武) and "Seibu" (西武) stand for east and west Musashi (武蔵), the old province that used to cover modern-day Tokyo.  Ironically, however, Tobu's terminal and department store stand on the western side of the station, and vice-versa for Seibu.

This owl statue inside the station, near the east exit, is a popular landmark for meeting friends,  similar to the Hachiko statue outside Shibuya Station.  Its name is "Ikefukuro-zo" (いけふくろう像, Ikefukurō-zō, lit. 'pond owl statue'), which is similar to "Ikebukuro", but ending with a long "o".

I got lost a couple of times along the way, but I eventually found the right roads to lead me to where I was headed.  Sunshine 60 Street, which leads to the complex of the same name, was even blocked off as a pedestrian zone when I arrived.

A Sega arcade was all lit up when I was making my way back out.  Ikebukuro is kind of like Shinjuku on a smaller scale; it has a similar array of shopping, dining, and entertainment options.  Just off to the north of Sunshine City, there is also an otaku-centric shopping area.  It's not as big as, say, Akihabara, but it does focus on a female clientele, hence its name: Otome Road (乙女ロード, Otome Rōdo), "otome" meaning "maiden".  This means there is a greater emphasis on stuff like cosplay parts, "print club" photo booths, dojinshi fan-comics with popular bishonen characters in... ahem, guy-on-guy situations, and "butler cafes", which are like maid cafes but with male waiters.

But, as for me, I had my dinner at a good old-fashioned maid cafe.  Maidreamin', one of the more popular cosplay-cafe chains, has a branch on Sunshine 60 Street.  My waitress called me a fuzzy bear (chicks dig the beard, lol) and even gave me a pair of furry ears to match.  While you are not allowed to take your own pictures of the staff in these kinds of establishments, you can pay a nominal fee to have them take a picture with you, and give you a copy of your own.  Which I did.

The Sunshine 60 building.
By Morio [GFDL or CC-BY-SA-3.0], from Wikimedia Commons

After that bit of nosh, my next destination was Sunshine City.  Sunshine City is a shopping mall at the base of the Sunshine 60 skyscraper (pictured above).  The tower was completed in 1978 and stands just shy of 240 metres (786 feet).  At the time, it was the tallest building in Asia, a record lost seven years later to the 63 Building in Seoul.  There is an observation deck on the top floor, which was recently re-opened after renovations and now includes some VR-style attractions.  There is also an aquarium and a planetarium at Sunshine City, along with other attractions which I will describe below.

I found a Pokémon Store in Sunshine City. with a huge assortment of merchandise from the Nintendo game franchise.  The shop is watched over by wicked-awesome statues of some of the more advanced-form Pokémon, such as Mega Lucario and Mega Mewtwo Y.

ALL PIKACHU EVERYTHING.  It's a small Pokéworld after all.

Pika-daruma.  And the shrink-wrapped things on the left are kadomatsu (門松, lit. 'gate pine'), a traditional New Year's decoration.  But with Pokémon.

Plushies of Pokémon taken over by Ditto.  Ditto, called "Metamon" (メタモン) in Japanese, is a blobby Pokémon that takes the form of other Pokémon to use their abilities.  In the anime show, Ditto's "victims" have their face replaced with tiny beady eyes and a long, thin mouth.  The Ditto-fied Pokémon for sale here are Raichu (the evolved form of Pikachu), Vulpix, Espeon, and Umbreon.

And then there's this thing.  I don't know what it is, but it's a play on the Japanese box-art of Super Mario Bros.... but with Pokémon!

Moving on, Namja Town (ナンジャタウン, Nanja Taun) is an indoor theme park on the second floor of Sunshine City.  It has a few rides and games, and two unique food areas: one specialising in gyoza, Chinese-style dumplings, and another for desserts.  I did not actually go to Namja Town, but instead headed one floor up to its sister park...

...J-World Tokyo, devoted to the manga and anime characters made famous from Shonen Jump magazine!  But, that story will have to wait for another day.  See you next time on Sekai Ichi!

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Access: 10 minutes on foot from the East exit of Ikebukuro Station (JR Yamanote (JY), Saikyo (JA), Shonan-Shinjuku (JS), Tokyo Metro Marunouchi (M), Yurakucho (Y), Fukutoshin (F), Tobu Tojo (TJ), and Seibu Ikebukuro (SI) lines), or 3 minutes on foot from Higashi-Ikebukuro Station (Tokyo Metro Yurakucho line).

From Shinjuku Station, take the Saikyo line to Ikebukuro (5 minutes, ¥160).  The Yamanote line is slower (9 minutes) but more frequent.  From Tokyo Station, take the Marunouchi subway line (16 minutes, ¥200).

Maidreamin Ikebukuro

Hours: Open from 1:00 PM (11:00 AM on weekends) to 11:00 PM (5:00 AM on Friday, 5:00 PM on Saturday).

Address: Asahi Kaikan Building 4F/5F, 1-12-11 Higashi-Ikebukuro, Toshima-ku, Tōkyō-to 〒170-0013

Directions: From the East exit of Ikebukuro Station, make your way across the plaza and onto the wide boulevard.  At the next traffic light, bear right onto "Sunshine 60 Street".  Go up the stairs or elevator in the building just before the KFC, on first block on the right.  The entrance is on the 5th floor.

Website: (English) (Japanese)

Sunshine City

Hours: Open 9:00 AM - 8:00 PM, individual store hours may vary.

Address: 3-1 Higashi-Ikebukuro, Toshima-ku, Tōkyō-to 〒170-0013

Directions: From the East exit of Ikebukuro Station, make your way across the plaza and onto the wide boulevard.  At the next traffic light, bear right onto "Sunshine 60 Street".  Continue until you reach the Tokyu Hands store on your right; an underground passage to Sunshine City starts here.

From Higashi-Ikebukuro Station, there is a direct underground passage connecting the station and Sunshine City.

Website: (English) (Japanese)

Pokémon Center Mega Tokyo

Hours: Open from 10:00 AM to 8:00 PM.  No regular closing days.

Address: Sunshine City 2F, 3-1 Higashi-Ikebukuro, Toshima-ku, Tōkyō-to 〒170-0013

Directions: Facing Namja Town (see below), turn right and right again.  The store will be on your right side.

Website: (Japanese)

Namco Namjatown

Hours: Open from 10:00 AM to 10:00 PM.  Admission ends 1 hour before closing time.  No regular closing days.

Costs: ¥500; attractions cost an additional ¥600-800 each. A Passport allowing use of unlimited attractions for the day costs ¥3,500 (¥1,800 after 5:00 PM).

Address: Sunshine City 2F, 3-1 Higashi-Ikebukuro, Toshima-ku, Tōkyō-to 〒170-0013

Directions: From the underground entrance in front of Tokyu Hands (see the previous article for more info), continue down the main walkway.  After you pass the Fountain Plaza, go up the escalators until you reach the second floor.  Namja Town will be in front of you.

Website: (English) (Japanese)