Mr. Sato takes us on a tour of Cyberspace Shibuya inside Parco ahead of its grand opening. 

There’s been a lot of new buildings opening up in Shibuya ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, but one of the most hotly anticipated of them all has to be the new Parco complex, which, after three years of reconstruction, is scheduled to open its doors to the public on 22 November.

▼ The old Parco was in such need of a makeover it even lost the “R” on its facade just before it closed in 2016.

What sets this new building apart from all the others is the fact that it will be home to not just a number of fantastic new stores, but also the first Nintendo store in all of Japan, the first Capcom store in all of Japan, and a new Pokémon Center megastore featuring Mewtwo as its representative Pokémon.

Luckily for us, our Japanese-language reporter Mr Sato scored a pre-opening invitation to view the shopping complex, which meant he got to be one of the first in the country to take a peek at the new stores before their grand opening.

When Mr Sato arrived at Parco, he went straight to the sixth floor, which has been given the name “Cyberspace Shibuya“. According to Parco’s official website, this floor is a “Digital x Subculture Zone gathering top content from games, characters, manga and esports”.

This is where you’ll find the “Jump Shop“, which is Weekly Shonen Jump’s official store. This is the fourth Jump Shop in Japan, and at this location you’ll be able to strike a pose with Dragon Ball’s Goku and Luffy from One Piece.

The next thing likely to catch your eye on this floor is Capcom Store Tokyo, the first of its kind in all of Japan, which is stocked with official merchandise from hits like Monster Hunter, Devil May Cry, Ace Attorney, and Resident Evil.

▼ At the front of the store you’ll find Ryu from Street Fighter throwing a Hadouken.

Another never-before-seen store is Nintendo Tokyo, which is filled with a slew of exclusive character merchandise. This looks set to become one of the most popular shops in the entire building, and when Mr Sato was there it was so crowded they had restricted access so sadly, he was unable to enter.

One other store to keep an eye out for is the Touken Ranbu official store, which looked beautiful with its wood interiors.

At the centre of it all is Pokémon Centre Shibuya, which is one of the best looking Pokémon Centres in all of Japan, particularly with its special representative Mewtwo sitting in a research tube at the entrance.

▼ The new store incorporates the colour of Mewtwo in its lighting scheme as well.

Every Pokémon Centre has its own exclusive Pikachu, and one of the two types you’ll find here at Shibuya comes covered in graffiti, designed by Japanese graffiti muralist Number-D.

As a holy land for fans of the franchise, lines to pay for exclusive merch here look set to remain long every day of the year.

Once you’ve enjoyed everything that Cyberspace Shibuya has to offer, you won’t want to miss out on visiting the “Rooftop Park” on the tenth floor of the 19-storey building, which has a beautiful garden space with a gorgeous view of the surrounding area.

From the rooftop, you’ll be able to see across to nearby Shibuya Scramble Square, which towers over the neighbouring buildings.

It’s not long to go now until the public get to enjoy everything the building has to offer for themselves, so button up your Pokémon Shirt or throw on your Nintendo Uniqlo T-shirt, and head out to Parco Shibuya on 22 November. See you there!

Information
Shibuya Parco / 渋谷パルコ
Address: Tokyo-to, Shibuya-ku Udagawacho 15-1
東京都渋谷区宇田川町15-1
Open 10 a.m.-9 p.m.
Grand opening November 22
Website

Photos © SoraNews24
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