Anime and Characters, Tokyo

3 more images

As usual, we chanced upon this shop while looking for the water bus from Hammatsucho Station. The tourism guide said it was just an 8 minute walk. However, walking in the rains, we got sidetracked and found the Pokemon Centre which thrilled my boys!

As you can imagine, being fanatics of these famous Japanese animation character and its other products, the cold and the rains have been forgotten and the water bus ride we were supposed to take to Odaiba!

From the seemingly endless supply of Pokemon memorabilia and other amusingly products most of which are not readily available in Australia, being shopaholics, my boys knew what to get! They quickly snapped up a couple of
Nintendo DS styluses of course for their Nintendo DS lite consoles! They had designs showing the different Pokemon characters. They also got a few for their best mates! A pair of them costs around AUD 8.

A couple of 100 yen coins also went inside a machine which dishes out little Pokemon figurines. My youngest was ecstatic to get one of his fave characters PALKIA! (You see you never know what you will get when you push the button!)

What to buy: The list of special items abound. It depends on your needs/preferences.

What to pay: Prices start from as low as 200 yen for little figures you get from the machines around the shop.

You can rarely see young youth walking around in Ginza and Shinjuku. But if you turn your direction to Shibuya and Harajuku, you will be supprised to see all these young student, University student and collage student mostly having their activities in this area.

What to buy: Inexpensive shirts, Jewelry, Animal & Characters staffs, stationary etc

What to pay: Mainly cash

The "Hello Kitty" phenonomonen dosn't look like it is going to run out of steam in a hurry. The Japansese addiction to the impossibly cutesy is being passed on from one generation to the next.

As an adult male, if you enter a Hello Kitty concession then you will probably be throwing up within seconds.

What I find slightly worrying is that a corporation dedicated to to making lots of money out of young girls will come out with a "corporate mission statement" like this :

Simply stated, Sanrio's mission is to promote what we call "social communication," the sharing of love, respect, caring and friendship. This is the foundation of our business. While all Sanrio items have functional value, from stationery to fashion bags, we think of them first as gifts. Likewise, we view each customer as the giver of a gift, even if it is a special something for herself. The Sanrio product concept provides the opportunity for kids of all ages to share heartfelt feelings with one another through the exchange of a thoughtful, small gift. Every Sanrio product conveys a message of friendship and happiness, and they are appropriate for virtually all gift-giving occasions - birthdays, holidays, thank yous, visits, good grades, graduation; the possibilities are endless!

- what a load of balony as 'Judge Judy' would say,

What to buy: The range of items they will stick this silly little pussy and her friends on is endless

A huge toy shop filled to the brim with character plush doll goods and anime characters.

A cute shop selling plush dolls and other miscellaneous Japanese character goods.