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Ikebukuro (Page 5)

The future is here! Celebrate Back to the Future: Part II’s historic day at theme cafes

Do you know what day October 21, 2015 is? It’s the day that Marty and Doc come to the future from 1985! But, sorry Marty, hover boards aren’t quite what they were supposed to be, and we barely made it to five Jaws movies, let alone Jaws 19. One of the only prophecies that may still come true is the Cubs winning the World Series, but even that seems doubtful.

Okay, so Marty might not be overly thrilled with this real version of 2015, but hey, at least he’ll get to go to the limited time “Back to the Future” Cafe if he stops by Hill Valley Ikebukuro in Tokyo.

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Visiting Ikebukuro’s disaster prevention center and experiencing a magnitude-9 earthquake【Video】

The first real earthquake I remember experiencing was on March 11, 2011. You might recognize that as the day of the Great Tohoku Earthquake, which brought the devastating tsunami that ravaged the northeastern coast of Japan. I was in Tokyo at the time, so the seismic activity was markedly lower than that experienced by people living in places like Iwate and Fukushima, but it was still a real shock.

Ever since, I’ve wondered just how much worse it must have been closer to the epicenter. Thanks to the Ikebukuro Life Safety Learning Center, I’ve come close to understanding what it must have felt like. Though far from anything you could describe as “fun,” it was an unquestionably powerful experience — and you can find out what it was like too. Check out our video introducing the center below, and learn a little bit about what to do in case you find yourself in caught in the middle of a powerful earthquake.

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Gintama themed cafe coming to Ikebukuro! Get ready for some wacky Edo hijinks

Gintama fans are in for a special treat as a cafe in Ikebukuro is re-working its image and re-opening as Yorozuya, the “we do everything” office from the Gintama manga.

While this cafe won’t be able to help you with all your life problems, they will be able to satisfy your need to eat, dine and be merry surrounded by Gintama characters and decor. This special theme cafe will finally make a Yorozuya store a reality and you only have to wait until this August.

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Want to shake hands with an adorable otter? You can right now at this Tokyo aquarium

Tokyo’s Ikebukuro is an archetypical part of the concrete jungle of Japan’s capital. The neighborhood is even home to Sunshine 60, one of the tallest buildings in a city that’s already packed with massive skyscrapers.

With so much space to work with, Sunshine 60 houses a shopping center, restaurants, planetarium, museum, and even a parlor for playing the Japanese board game go. But what convinced us to visit recently was the complex’s aquarium, which right now is offering a chance to shake hands with its adorable river otters!

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Nicocafe dishes up a serving of surreal with manga meat, half an umaibo, and rice teishoku

Niconico is Japan’s biggest video sharing website – apart from that other one – and this week sees their unique café and creative space re-open in Ikebukuro, Tokyo.

The new nicocafe aims to bridge the gap between the online and offline worlds with its online interactive ordering system, which allows viewers watching at home to order items to be delivered to the guests at the bar!

We’re not sure how happy you’d be to actually receive some of these menu items, though…

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A Fujoshi’s heaven on earth exists in Ikebukuro’s Boy’s Love Academy cafe

Japan should officially be known as the land of themed cafés. From cat cafés to owl cafés, character cafés and maid cafés… there’s even a café where you can pay 980 yen (US$9.57) to get two young men to share a stick of Pocky. Mouth to mouth. And that’s not all that is on their fantasy-inducing menu.

Regardless if you’re a fujoshi (girls who are fans of homoerotic fiction) or not, you should take a peek behind this particular curtain, because honestly, this probably isn’t something you’d get to see on an average day!

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  • Jan 20, 2014

We buy limited edition gourmet-flavored Kit Kats — at the world’s first Kit Kat specialty store!

Who doesn’t love Kit Kats? They’re tasty, available in many interesting flavors, and they’re even considered a good luck snack in Japan for students preparing for entrance exams because the name Kit Kat sounds somewhat like the phrase “You’ll win for sure! (Kitto Katsu)” in Japanese. Well, the popular chocolate snack now seems to have reached a new level of refinement and consumer appeal, as the world’s very first specialty Kit Kat shop opened this past Friday at the Seibu Department Store in Ikebukuro, Tokyo.  A shop that sells Kit Kats exclusively? Now, that sounds like something to be excited about!

But that wasn’t all — to our further delight, we heard that the Kit Kat Chocolatory, as the specialty shop is called, was selling Kit Kats in original flavors created by renowned patissier Yasumasa Takagi. Well,  there simply was no way we were going to miss this, so off we went to Ikebukuro to visit the shop, on opening day, no less! What else could we do, right?
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All-you-can-eat cookies!!! Aunt Stella’s cookie buffet opens in Ikebukuro Station

Japan is wild about dessert cafes and pastry shops. From donuts to pretzels to cakes, the nation’s sweet-tooth knows no bounds, and you’ll find baked sugary treats almost anywhere in the city. “So what makes this new store special?” you ask. Well, it’s not your typical sweet shop, but in fact an all-you-can-eat cookie buffet!

This Wednesday, a new location for the popular dessert chain Aunt Stella’s Cookies opened up in Tokyo’s Ikebukuro. And Aunt Stella has cooked up a bunch of tasty specials to celebrate the move!

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  • Jul 19, 2012

A Cool Sight for the Hot Summer! See Penguins Fly – at a Rooftop Aquarium in the Middle of Tokyo

Okay, is everyone ready for summer? You may already have vacation plans, but if you’re going to be in Tokyo this summer, you may want to consider visiting the Sunshine Aquarium in the Ikebukuro area. Why? Because you’ll be able to see “flying penguins” there this summer! Read More

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