Tokyo Character Street in Japan: Character Shopping Spree Right at Tokyo Station!
Just a short walk from Tokyo Ramen Street at Tokyo Station, Tokyo Character Street is a perfect destination for fans of anime, manga, and other cute Japanese characters. Almost all of the most popular Japanese characters, plus some international ones, can be found here.
Tokyo Character Street dominates the stretch of the North Street of First Avenue Tokyo Station, save for a few other restaurants and shops on the opposite side. There are currently 32 shops at Tokyo Character Street.
Some of the hottest stores are the world-famous Pokémon Store, Hello Kitty Shop, and Rilakkuma Store, as well as Jump Shop, where you can find various characters of manga serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump like One Piece and Naruto.
Also read: Pokémon Cafe in Nihombashi, Tokyo: A Must-Visit for Pokémon Fans of All Ages!
For Studio Ghibli fans, there is Donguri Republic which seems to be reigned over by people’s best-loved Totoro. Of course, you can also find many other lovable characters like No Face and Jiji.
Aside from the famous Japanese icons and anime characters, there are also stores with cute character items by Japanese TV stations like FujiTV, TV Tokyo, TBS, and NHK.
How to get there
Tokyo Character Street is at First Avenue Tokyo Station, which is right at the basement floor of Tokyo Station’s Yaesu Exit. You can either walk from Tokyo Ramen Street (after having a taste of one of its ramen shops), which is closest to Yaesu South Gate. Or take the basement stairs at Yaesu North Exit which leads directly to Tokyo Character Street.
From Shibuya Station, take the Ginza Line to Akasaka-mitsuke Station, and then transfer on the Marunouchi Line to go to Tokyo Station.
General Information
Address: B1F First Avenue Tokyo Station, 1-9-1 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
Operating Hours: 10 am to 8:30 pm
Website: www.tokyoeki-1bangai.co.jp/street/character
Also read: Tokyo Ramen Street in Tokyo: The Best of Japan’s Ramen Restaurants in One Place
Written by Rei Leaño
This first appeared in Philippine Primer English magazine’s Vol. 31 – October issue.
