Any respectable otaku knows about Mandarake, the largest reseller of used manga and anime related products in the Tokyo area. Nakano Broadway, just outside of Nakano station, is home to no less than a dozen Mandarake shops, each catering to a different type of collector. From models to manga, to collectable Disney, you’d have a…
Tag: anime
Gundam
The largest sci-fi franchise in Japan, Gundam could be likened to the Star Wars franchise of America. In fact, Gundam debuted in Japan in 1979, just two years after Star Wars in America. Sales of Gundam merchandise including toys, models, and video games regularly top the charts. Gundam is based on the idea of huge…
Festival Masks
Attend any summer festival in Japan and within the stalls selling delicious yakisoba (fried noodles), kakigori (flavored shaved ice) and yakitori (various meats on skewers), you’ll find a booth selling children’s masks. These masks are available in various characters from Disney to popular Japanese cartoons to traditional (Hyottoko, the funny-faced mythical spirit). Like a Disneyland…
Pikachu
The Pokemon franchise has now been going strong for over two decades, lead by the cute and cuddly pokemon, Pikachu. A favorite of kids and adults alike, Pikachu is a marketing powerhouse who finds himself outside of the video games and kids television shows that made him famous and onto ice cream bars, oven mitts…
365 JAPAN 