Feature
Ikebukuro for Fans: Durarara!! to Sunshine City
Streets and parks from anime, big anime shops and official stores: 12 Ikebukuro stops in two days.
- All on foot
- Anime shops
- Anime settings
It's Toraco 🐯 Ikebukuro packs streets and parks from anime together with anime and manga shops, all within walking distance on either side of the station. There are so many of both, though, that on a first visit it's hard to know where to start. So I put them together for you, in walking order.
In this feature I've picked 12 stops that fans head for: settings from Durarara!! and Ikebukuro West Gate Park, Animate's flagship and Otome Road, and the official shops in Sunshine City. Day one crosses from the west exit to the east side, and day two runs from Otome Road into Sunshine City.
West Exit to East Side: Durarara!! and IWGP
A pilgrimage through Ikebukuro's anime settings flows naturally as a walk linking the station's west and east sides. Start at West Gate Park, pass the Ikefukuro owl inside the station, come out at the east exit, and Sunshine 60 Street stretches out ahead of you.
Ikebukuro West Gate Park (Global Ring)
Anime & Manga · Ikebukuro
The park with the Global Ring open-air stage, and the setting of Ikebukuro West Gate Park. It appears in episode 13 of Durarara!!, and the Anime Tourism Association names it in its listing for BanG Dream! It's MyGO!!!!!.
Free entry
Ikefukuro Owl Statue
Sights & experiences · Ikebukuro
The station meeting point the Anime Tourism Association lists as a Durarara!! pilgrimage spot. In Ikebukuro West Gate Park, the statue's theft drives one of the plot lines.
Free entry
Ikebukuro Station East Exit
Anime & Manga · Ikebukuro
Where Mikado Ryugamine steps out into Ikebukuro in episode 1 of Durarara!!. It also appears in BanG Dream! Ave Mujica, including episode 8.
Free entrySunshine 60 Street
Anime & Manga · Ikebukuro
The shopping street from the east exit to Sunshine City, and the setting for the Dollars' first gathering in Durarara!!. Ikebukuro West Gate Park used it for street and chase scenes.
Free entry
Animate's Flagship and Otome Road
Ikebukuro is also home to Animate's flagship store, with sales floors from B2 up to the 9th floor. On the west side of Sunshine City runs Otome Road, lined with shops for anime, manga, doujinshi and 2.5-D stage goods aimed at women. In between, a quick standing soba lunch is a very Tokyo way to refuel ✨
Tanuki wa Nomimono Ikebukuro
Food
A standing soba counter devoted to tanuki soba topped with crunchy tempura bits. Buying a ticket at the machine and eating standing up is a quick taste of everyday Tokyo soba culture.
¥1–1,000
Animate Ikebukuro Flagship Store
Shopping & streets · Ikebukuro
A large anime store that also houses the Animate Theater, an exhibition floor and two event halls.
Free entry
Otome Road
Sights & experiences · Ikebukuro
A street of roughly 200 metres at the core of Ikebukuro's otaku district, with the K-BOOKS branches and butler cafes all within walking distance.
Free entry
Mandarake Ikebukuro
Shopping & streets · Ikebukuro
Mandarake's Otome Road branch, focused on women's interests: BL and shojo manga, doujinshi, anime goods, cosplay items and dolls.
Free entry
Sunshine City: A Park, Official Shops and the Observatory
Right next to Otome Road is Higashi-Ikebukuro Central Park, with Sunshine City just beyond. Inside are official shops for Pokémon and Studio Ghibli, and you can end the day looking out over Tokyo from the 60th-floor observatory 🐯
Higashi-Ikebukuro Central Park
Anime & Manga · Ikebukuro
A park that genuinely hosts cosplay photo meets, drawn as the cosplay event venue in episode 5 of My Dress-Up Darling. In Durarara!!, it is where Mikado and Anri take refuge.
Free entry
Pokemon Center Mega Tokyo
Shopping & streets · Ikebukuro
A large Pokémon Center with a Pokémon Card Station and Pokémon GO Lab., an official Pokémon GO space.
Free entry
Donguri Kyowakoku Sunshine City (Studio Ghibli Shop)
Shopping & streets · Ikebukuro
Studio Ghibli's official goods shop, gathering character goods from across the studio's films in one place.
Free entry
SUNSHINE 60 OBSERVATORY TENBOU-PARK
Sights & experiences
An indoor observation deck on the 60th floor of Sunshine 60, with 360-degree views of Tokyo between shopping stops, reaching Mt. Fuji on clear days.
¥700
Do this route
Two Days in Fans' Ikebukuro
This is how I'd go around them! Add them all to a trip and change anything you like later 🧳
Day 1
More spots for these titles
Every stop is within walking distance of the station, so you could also fit it all into one long day. Add this route to your trip first, then split the days to suit your pace 🧳
