A massive photo safari of the treasure trove of amazing stuff waiting at Nintendo’s brand-new Shibuya destination store!
November 22 was a weekday. November 22 was incredibly cold in Tokyo, with a mid-winter-level cold snap dropping the morning temperature down to around 8 degrees Celsius (46.4 degrees Fahrenheit). Oh, and November 22 was also when a rainstorm covered east Japan, dropping chilling rain onto the capital while whipping it with biting winds.
So I was hoping there wouldn’t be too many people who’d be both willing and able to blow off work/school and brave the elements to try to be first in line for the grand opening of Nintendo Tokyo, Nintendo’s first-ever dedicated retail shop in Japan. And guess what?
I was absolutely, 100-percent wrong!
The opening of Shibuya Parco, the shopping complex that houses Nintendo Tokyo, attracted massive crowds, with more than a half-dozen of the more popular shops having their own entrance lines in which people started queuing up well before the doors opened at 10 a.m. When I rolled up at around 9:15, the line for Nintendo Tokyo started on the street in front of the building, even though the shop itself is up on the sixth floor.
OK, so the line was six stories tall, right? Nope, it was actually eight, because it stretched right past the exterior entrance to the shop and onto the roof before snaking back on itself and coming back down.
But after just an hour and 45 minutes of waiting outside in the freezing cold, my spirits picked up as the shop’s entrance finally came into view, with Mario himself there to greet me!
▼ By the way, 8-bit Mario’s foot looks freaky from the front.
Mario’s appearance wasn’t quite the end of the odyssey of waiting, though. Even once inside the building, there was another 15 minutes of standing around, since customers were being let in little by little to prevent overcrowding. It was kind of like waiting to be let into a club…that’s open at 10 in the morning and plays nothing but Nintendo background music over the speakers.
But finally, after roughly two hours of being in line, I was in Nintendo Tokyo!
Despite being its first dedicated shop in its home country, Nintendo has not come soft in its merchandising mix. There’s an immense catalog of brand-new, never-before-offered stuff in the shop, much of which won’t be available anywhere else in the world.
▼ Plus some incredibly cool statuary, like this life-size version of Zelda’s Link, in his ladies’-choice Twilight Princess form.
So, what’s there to buy at Nintendo Tokyo? Strap in, crack open your piggy banks, and let’s take a spin around the store.
Mario merch is in abundant supply, especially when it comes to bags and stationery, two things Japan can’t get enough of. The packable power-up series is a stand-out for veteran gamers, while the plumber’s humble overalls make for a surprisingly fashionable subtle motif worthy of its own sub-line of purses and pouches.
The Super Mario heroic quartet of Mario, Luigi, Peach, and Toad have their own line of dishware, adventuring both together and solo, with their cups forming a group shot on one of the series’ level-ending flagpoles when stacked up.
The Mario power-up series also gets the full plushie treatment, but that’s only a small fraction of your hugging and squeezing options.
▼ I see you hiding down there, Kongs!
There’s even more Mario stuff to covet, but let’s shift gears for a moment and head back over to the Legend of Zelda section.
The Hylian crest adorns such mature apparel as neckties, dress socks, and a pseudo-leather shoulder bag,
If you prefer something a little less stuffy, though, there’s also plenty of playful Link’s Awakening merch, like mugs, clear files, and hand towels, featuring the hero as he appears in the Switch remake of the Game Boy classic.
▼ Even The Wind Waker gets some love.
▼ Brand-new, but also slightly damaged
Even though Pokémon isn’t developed by Nintendo, it is still published by the same company that created Mario and Link, which has led to the Super Mario x Pokémon 8-bit Scramble line, which uses Mario game graphics to make mosaics of Pikachu and other Pocket Monster species.
▼ These cushions are at once both blocky and soft.
But Nintendo Tokyo has enough floor space for more than just the company’s biggest franchises. Also standing tall are Splatoon and Animal Crossing.
▼ Splatoon plushies and pouches
▼ Animal Crossing kitchenware and sweet to keep your real-life dwelling as cozy as your in-game one.
Oh, and don’t forget about Kirby, because Nintendo Tokyo hasn’t!
▼ Looks like a plushie…
▼ …but it’s actually a hat!
Oh, that’s right, I promised you more cool Mario stuff, didn’t I?
And that’s still not all of it…
…but what about all the awesome Zelda stuff we still haven’t looked at, like the mug where the hearts turn from black to red with hot water, or the little tiny rupee erasers?
OK, so clearly a trip to Nintendo Tokyo is an exercise in choosing priorities, as there’s no way you’re going to have enough space in your suitcase or room in your budget to buy everything you want. If your Nintendo fandom is so broad and so deep that you can’t bear to leave any of the company’s characters behind, the special Nintendo Tokyo art line is the way to go, since it puts over a dozen of them in a single group shot.
▼ Note that the Pokémon aren’t in the group shot, but that does give you an excuse to buy a few more items.
▼ Oh, and they even have Pikmin plushies!
So in the end, was it worth standing in the rain for almost two hours? Absolutely, and if you’ve got any love for Nintendo, Nintendo Tokyo should have a place of honor on your itinerary in Japan.
Shop information
Nintendo Tokyo
Address: Tokyo-to, Shibuya-ku. Udagawacho 15-1, Shibuya Parco 6th floor
東京都渋谷区宇田川町15-1 渋谷PARCO 6F
Open 10 a.m.-9 p.m.
Website
Photos ©SoraNews24
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