Geek It! Out and About: A Moment in Time: Visiting Nakano Broadway

For many fans of manga and anime, they have always recommended Akihabara as THE ultimate destination for all things Japanese popular culture. However, what many people don’t know, is that there is another hot-spot tucked away in Tokyo, Japan — NAKANO BROADWAY. 

If you’re looking for a new addition to your merchandise collection and/or perhaps wanting to find a toy from decades ago, there is high chance you will find it at Nakano Broadway.

You’d think Nakano Broadway would look similar to Akihabara — you know, splashed with vibrant colours and anime characters. But for a collectors’ paradise,  Nakano Broadway is totally the opposite of Akihabara. 

Believe it or not, Nakano Broadway actually looks like a flea market. Nakano Broadway is situated in an eccentric, dingy building, and within its maze of floors, there are many stalls/shops tucked away in its aisles and corners. We’re talking tea shops, watch shops, sushi restaurants, record shops, pop-up gatcha machines, and more.

Don’t just casually skim your way through the shops though. As you’re walking through the building, you will soon see the glorious shops dedicated to Japanese pop-culture. 

From anime key-rings to figurines to plushies to animation art books, it’s basically another anime haven. Besides anime-related content, you will also see a lot of retro merchandise such as Kamen Rider, Godzilla, Astro Boy, mecha, and everything else you can think of. And also, we must mention Mandarake — they pretty much occupy most of the floors with each floor focusing on specialty products. 

But wait! Nakano Broadway isn’t all Japanese pop-culture merchandise.

Surprisingly, there are many Western pop-culture merchandise as well. From Disney to ET to Transformers to Star Wars, it is amazing to see Japan’s fond love for Western culture. Or perhaps we should note that it is interesting to see how Western culture has found its way to Japan, especially back in the ’80s. 

A bit of new and vintage (and weird and wacky)… Nakano Broadway has a bit of everything for everyone. Although you may need to take more than one train to Nakano, we highly recommend you to put Nakano Broadway on your next Japan bucket list.

For more info on Nakano Broadway, you can visit their website [here]. 

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