You thought I’d go to Japan and not come back without some game merch? No way! Games a re big in Japan. I saw ads for games everywhere, even mobile games. Many people spent their commute playing games on their phones.
They opened the Nintendo store the day after we left so we just missed it. But the lines were way too long anyway. Lining up at 6 in the morning only to be let in after noon is too long. Even with 13 days in Japan we didn’t have time enough to do (and eat) everything on my list.
Pokemon
We visited three Pokemon Centers: the one in Ikebukuro, the one in the Skytree complex, and the one next to the Pokemon Cafe where we ate later. I picked up the plushie you can see in the picture below, together with some stationery you can see here.
If you love games, Akihabara is the place to be. We found some shops with blind bags, one of them Pokemon themed. Now, these bags usually contain a lot of dead merchandise. Things that didn’t sell, are broken, or bad quality. Well, for 3000 yen (about 28 euro), I think I lucked out. The major prize isn’t in the picture, but it’s a 30 cm Dragonite plushie. That one alone was definitely worth it. And aside from the little Eevee figurines, all Pokemon stuff was in the bag. The Manaphie and Jiggly Puff are just too cute.
I bought the Japanese version of Pokemon Blue to play on my old Gameboy. I still haven’t given up on learning Japanese and this will motivate me even more.
Kirby
I really wanted a Kirby figurine for underneath my PC screen, but no matter how many capsules I pulled, no Kirby… Not even in the bath bomb with Kirby toy inside (highly recommend the bath bomb though). So I still have no Kirby, but a ton of other tiny monsters. One day, I swear, I will have my Kirby!
Totoro
Ok, technically not game merch, but this seems the perfect place for some Ghibli. I really love the Ghibli movies. The art and the stories are mesmerizing. I bought a blind box for Totoro. It was more expensive than a regular capsule toy, but the quality it much higher too. The plushie I bought at the airport with leftover money from our pasmo cards. It’s so soft and cute.
I could’ve bought a ton more, but my budget was spread out over several hobbies of mine, and fountain pens aren’t cheap. Maybe the next time things will be different. Maybe I’ll have a bigger budget or loose interest in one of my hobbies. But for now, it’s hard to go to Japan and not buy any gaming merchandise.
