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The Pokemon Paradise: Navigating Japan's Largest Pokemon Center

Review by @wittyzell · 1123d · of Pokémon

My Saturday was filled with Pokemons!

After my therapy session, I headed to Sunshine City. There wasn't any specific store I wanted to visit, I just wanted to see what's in there after almost 4 or 5 years.

Yes, my first visit was before the pandemic. I couldn't remember all the details of this place because I wasn't living in Tokyo at that time, and we only had a few hours to spend roaming around the place.

This way to cuteness~

This time, I went alone (although I was joined by @appleeatingapple later on) and explored the place. I wasn't expecting to see how grand the Pokemon Center is in this mall.

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Pokemon Cafe

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The first thing I noticed was the Pikachu Sweets By Pokemon Cafe. It's huge but too bad, it's only for takeout. You cannot stay long in the cafe. Looking at their menu, it seems so delicious and cute too! I wonder if I could eat it because it's just so cute!

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But when I saw the line, hmmm, nevermind. I'll just have to come back another day to have a taste of their sweets. Besides, most were already sold out for the day.

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At the side was a play area for kids. I love how they set it up so the kids would be entertained while the adults were getting food. 😅


The Walkway

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In the middle of walking around the 2nd floor, I was welcomed by these cute little decorations. They're quite the adorable ones, especially Eevee and Pikachu.

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Eevee!

Pika piiiiii~

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To be honest, I don't know all the Pokemon. So upon seeing this owl, I really thought this was the owl of Ikebukuro. Did I mention that this Mega Pokemon Center is in the vibrant town of Ikebukuro? Owls are believed to bring good luck and fortune and they're all over this town. After all, fukuro also has another meaning which is an owl, making Ikebukuro's symbol an owl.

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Back to business..

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Did you just see how they styled the floor too? It's a Pokeball!


Pokemon Card Game

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Pokemon card players

Beside the cafe, there's a Pokemon Card Gaming Center where people can battle using the Pokemon cards. I don't know how this works but based on what I saw, it's a 1 on 1 battle with your opponent. Those cards are of course, collected and owned by them. There are a lot of card gamers in Tokyo and it's good that they have this space for themselves.

Pokemon cards

I think these are all the cards being sold here.


Pokemon Go Lab

This shop is different from the main store. It's dedicated to Pokemon Go.

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Aside from the cute merchandise you can buy in this store, I heard you can also battle with people here. Just look how big the trainers' statues are.

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I don't play Pokemon Go but fanatics of the game can come to this place and have a go. Is this what they call the Poke Stop?


Pokemon Arcade

Separate from the main store, this area behind it is just dedicated to the arcade game which kids love about. It's past 6 PM when I was there so there were fewer people lining up.

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Aside from kids, maybe their fathers also love this Pokemon arcade..?

There's also a gashapon corner around here, and it's all about Pokemon. It was crowded and when I checked the designs, I understood why. So much lovely stuff! Too bad when I decided to get a piece, all of them were already sold out.


Pokemon Center Mega Tokyo

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This is, no doubt, the biggest Pokemon Center in Japan.

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I've been to Pokemon Centers in Narita Airport and in Osaka but it's not as huge as this. And from years ago, I don't remember it to be this large! IMG_9015.jpeg

It's a shop that sells merch of the game and anime but while walking around, I couldn't help but feel like I was at a museum. Everything is just too awesome and too cool I want to take them all home. 😅

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There was a large crowd when I arrived but around half an hour before closing time, the crowd became thin so I was able to enjoy my time with the Pokemon.

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There were so many to choose from. At first, I decided to just check out this store but later on, I was already carrying a shopping cart. I couldn't resist buying some items.

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There were food items, aimed to be souvenirs. I found chips too with the Pokemon shapes and did you know I found them first in the convenience store?

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Is it too early for Halloween? Pikachu and the rest of the Pokemon are already in their costume, super ready for the Halloween party. These are new items.

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Lots of Pokeballs! It's like gacha gacha of Pokemon. You won't know what you'll get til you pay for it and open it. There are 10 various Pokemons inside, including a Pikachu.

Pokeballs!

There were so many stuffed Pokemons in this store. And they come in different sizes!

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What should I get???

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So many Pikachu! There's a wedding themed Pikachu in boxes and a big sleeping Pikachu worth 12k yen or around 82 USD.

Wedding pikachu Sleeping Pikachu A big Snorlax

I kept on going back to this big and huggable Snorlax because I wanted to know its price. I couldn't find it and I was too shy to ask the staff. I really saw how the stocks of this big fluffy thing went from 6 to 3 in a few minutes. Just so adorable who wouldn't like him?

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It's so hard to decide what to get when you like them all. I'm not a super fan of Pokemon, to be frank, but of course, I love it! So even when I don't know their names, I would still take them home if I could.

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Do you recognize these Pokemon? Do you know their names? Let me know in the comments.

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There were also keychains and hey, it's only 1k yen (around 6.8 USD)! I could afford it but I was looking for a specific Pokemon's design which wasn't here.

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Aside from the stuffed toys, there were also kitchen and dining items. I wanted to get the hot cake maker because it's just too cute! I'm not making any hot cakes recently but I might start making lots if I have this item. 😂

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The wall light impressed me but I wish they would have other designs.

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There were so many accessories, toothbrushes, eye masks, and camping stuff too.

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I like this hair band design of Mew but I like another Pokemon and noticed that its hair band design was sold out! I'll probably come back another day just to buy that hairband design.

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There was stationery too. Pencils and pens that have the Pokemon design were also being sold here. There were stamps, notes, and stickers too.

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Around this area I also found notebooks, some have lines and some are free-form. There were books for elementary students too - I only found math and kanji.

Notebook

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Kanji practice book

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And because I was looking for a drill book like this to learn more about Kanji, I added it to my shopping cart. When I showed the Kanji book to my partner later at home, he was low key teasing me why I got a 3rd-grade Kanji book. 😅

My cart as of the moment

Yessss! I got myself a cute Snorlax, カビゴン (read as kabigon) in Japanese. And did you know I didn't know its price because I couldn't find it? 😅 I gambled and hoped it wasn't so expensive. Whew!

I was looking for a luggage tag but I couldn't find one. Instead, I found pouches, transportation cards (IC) cases, and a passport cover.

There were different kinds of keychains too, not the stuffed kind. Some were rubber. I wanted to get the Snorlax key holder but I stopped myself.

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There were toys here too. And I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw a laptop here. Apparently, this laptop is for kids' learning. It's a bit on the expensive side but if your kid enjoys Pokemon, then learning from this would be super fun for the kid.

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Baby corner items! I was so surprised even babies can enjoy Pokemon toys and wear too.

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There were B-side label stickers here too. This sticker brand is everywhere and I'm not surprised to see it here with their unique Pokemon designs.

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The last area was the phone accessories area where we took our time. At this point, @appleeatingapple already arrived and wants to buy phone accessories too. We're torn because there were many items that were really eye-catching and great.

Phone accessories Do I need a new watch band?

When the shop announced that it was closing time, I was still in dilemma if I should get the item I was eyeing. I like it but I wanted it to be Snorlax. She put the item in my cart and we rushed to the cashier. 😂 It's as if she just decided it for me.

Wall design in the cashier area

Happy 9.9 shopping day at the Pokemon Center! Whew, good thing I held myself from buying the Nintendo Switch game and just bought 3 items. These were all special to me because I don't really buy something like this for myself but I guess I deserve to have some cuteness in my life. 😌

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At home, when I showed it to my partner, he took the phone accessory, owning it like it's his. 😒 But after a day, he kinda got tired of it and told me he would give it back. 😂

I was so happy with my purchase. I wasn't planning to buy actually but I really enjoyed my time in the Pokemon Center and it's a bit shame to go out without buying anything because they're really a lot of items that I wanted to get.

Wall design outside the shop

Do you like Pokemon? Which one is your favorite? If you were to come here, what would you buy? Let's talk about Pokemon in the comments!


Thanks for reading! See you around! じゃあ、またね!


With love, wittyzell--rc.gif


All photos are taken using my phone unless stated otherwise.

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Comments · 16

  • @yasmarit(73)· 1121d

    what an interesting place, I think it's magical hehe great to visit someday, thanks for sharing it.

  • @ayane-chan(73)· 1122d

    Too many cute stuffs over there! I could go broke in a second if I ever I can visit that place. My impulsive side would totally win if I see those. Witty pasalubong, charr Lang~ HAHAHAHA

  • @ruffatotmeee🏆#232 🎵3 📺3(78)· 1122d

    Wahhhh, sa too cute. There's a lot of cute things inside that center. Pero ako lang ata ang di pa nakakapanood ng Pokemon haha. I dunno, wala akong mahanapan na complete episode nyan preferably sa fb or TG sana, charrr, lol. Seriously, this place is surely a paradise to Pokemon fan. And ang dami nya talagang fan no, seeing these people inside. Kamusta yong nasa iba ibamg lugar pa haha. Even if I'm not a fan kasi diko kilala mga characters, still, di talaga maiwasan na ma cute-an.

  • @hivebuzz(74)· 1122d

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  • @acidyo⭐ 🏆#18 🎵2.7k 🎬19 📺6(85)· 1122d

    Can I live there?

  • @rafasanz93(65)· 1122d

    OMG, so many colors, so many pokemons, I would love to go to that place, I also think I would empty my pockets buying souvenirs hahahahaha, the thing is that in my generation we grew up with that saga. Thanks for sharing 💙

  • @pinmapple(81)· 1122d

    Hiya, @lizanomadsoul here, just swinging by to let you know that this post made it into our Honorable Mentions in Travel Digest #1995.

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  • @youyowi(74)· 1122d

    I'm not a fan of pokemon but I do like it a little, I think I couldn't go to that place without taking a lot of things hahaha it's all so cute and there are so many beautiful stuffed animals that it's hard to decide, it's a very big place, I liked the toys for babies, they really covered all ages with their products.

  • @ak08(70)· 1123d

    I'm so in love with Japan because of all these stores! 😍

  • @incublus(79)· 1123d

    This is my paradise! I'm afraid if I go in here I'll spend hundreds of dollars. Everything is so beautiful. As a Pokemon fan, I would love to have one of these Charmanders. Do you know how much they cost? I wonder if they ship to Turkey XD I need to find a way to get to Japan right away.

  • @daltono(81)· 1123d

    A place that every Pokémon lover dreams of going. Thank you so much for sharing such a detailed look at what the Pokémon Center is like to visit.

  • @callmesmile(74)· 1123d

    I only knew the yellow Pokemon. I didn't know na ang dami pala nila. Haha! And they all look so cuuutteeee! My daughter will probably take them all!

  • @appleeatingapple(65)· 1123d

    hala no unboxing of your budols? 😆

  • @jane1289(76)· 1123d

    Ang cucute.. Medyo mahal din yung $6 haha
    Mashare nga yung pokemon village npuntahan ko haha

  • @poshthreads(74)· 1123d

    https://leofinance.io/threads/wittyzell/re-leothreads-2jhbqbzsq The rewards earned on this comment will go directly to the people ( wittyzell ) sharing the post on LeoThreads,LikeTu,dBuzz.

  • @pinmapple(81)· 1123d

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