Ikebukuro is popular among visitors to Japan for its blend of pop culture and classical Japan. Here you’ll find both subcultures around anime and gaming as well as historical buildings that transport you to times past. Add in Ikebukuro’s wealth of eateries, and it’s no wonder that visitors near and far alike, find themselves coming to Ikebukuro time and time again.

Sunshine City is an iconic landmark in Ikebukuro, about an 8-minute walk from Ikebukuro Station’s Exit 35 (JR, Tokyo Metro, Seibu Line, Tobu Line). It’s a mixed commercial facility built into the 251-meter high-rise building Sunshine 60, which opened in 1978. The facility features a wide range of businesses: an aquarium, planetarium, observatory deck, cuisine, fashion, and general retailers.

Sunshine City sees many visitors who come to experience its collaborative events and stores with popular characters.

To spread the word of such special events, Sunshine City has put together the “Chara-mori!” promotional campaign and website to keep visitors up-to-date. The website includes details on collaboration shops for popular characters from Japan and around the world, plus event information and a whole lot more! Your favorite characters might be here too, so give their website a look!

We sent out a team of three to check out Sunshine City and see what characters they could find. Meet Julie, a pop culture lover and Japan-based influencer, plus two of our own editors: Taiwan native Jasmine, and US native Timothy. Which spots does Julie recommend? What were their experiences? Read on to find out!

First things first! Julie, who loves all things “kawaii”, has a store to recommend!

The SANRIO CAFE located on the Alpa B1 basement floor of Sunshine City is a new style of cafe where you can enjoy original recipes themed after Sanrio characters.

It has a café wagon for take-out and a dining area with 44 seats. You can even eat take-out orders inside the café.

Their best seller is the 100% Beef Hamburger Plate at 1,300 yen (tax included), which has a Sanrio character branded into the bun. Julie and Jasmine had a tough time choosing from the Cafe Wagon, because, as they said, “it was all too cute.”

What food and drinks did the three of them choose in the end?

Julie chose the Cinnamoroll Muscat Souffle Pancake at 1,300 yen (tax included) with a cream soda at 800 yen (tax included), which is topped with Pompompurin ice cream.

Julie explains her choice: “Everyone loves pancakes. And Cinnamoroll was ranked first in the 2023 Sanrio Character Awards. For four times straight! Next, old-style things are trending around the world right now, and in Japan, soda floats are a retro treat. ‘Retro Japan’ is another popular theme globally, and this earns double points for looking so kawaii.”

Jasmine agreed, commenting that she likes the fluffiness of Japanese pancakes.

Jasmine chose a vanilla ice cream cone at 600 yen (tax included) featuring Hello Kitty, and a “Latte Art” at 600 yen (tax included) decorated with a Pompompurin print.

“It’s cute how the ice cream recreates the character’s face! I just want to take a bite out of it, you know? As for the latte, latte art has been catching on in Taiwan, too. Pompompurin has a following in Taiwan. I think it came first in the Sanrio popularity rankings for the last two years,” Jasmine said, full of excitement.

Meanwhile, Timothy chose the Keroppi Dojima Roll Matcha at 560 yen (tax included) and the Pompompurin Mango Smoothie at 800 yen (tax included).

His reasoning? “As a veteran character, Keroppi gives me kind of an old-school vibe. Plus, the matcha flavor is very Japanese. The smoothie is quite a colorful drink, and I was curious about what all went into it. That colorfulness is also reminiscent of Japan.”

Enjoying their original treats, our three reporters had a lively sort of tea party deep in Sanrio’s “kawaii” world!

Next, they headed to Sanrio vivitix, also on Sunshine City’s Alpa B1 floor. This store is filled with a wide variety of brightly colored and cute merchandise featuring Sanrio characters.

Julie, who collects a lot of stationery, mentioned that she often goes to the stationery section here. “None of it’s too expensive and there are many cute seasonal items. More and more of the items available are geared towards different fandoms, and I love checking them out.”

Both Julie and Jasmine are fans of Sanrio. We asked them to find their favorites in the store.

A “chara-bomb,” or carbonated bath bomb, caught Jasmine’s eye (418 yen, tax included). She said, “Soaking for a long time in a bath isn’t a big thing in Taiwan, but I developed that habit after coming to Japan. It’s truly relaxing. Once these bath bombs fizz out, there’s a little toy inside, a fun and cute surprise. It’s kind of like a capsule toy since you don’t know what character you’re going to get. All in all, it feels very Japanese. I wonder how many baths I’ll need to take to collect them all? (laughs)”

On the other hand, Julie chose the UV-blocking travel umbrella that doubles as a parasol, priced at 3,300 yen (tax included). It features Sanrio character patterns.

“We’re in the rainy season right now, and the little character pattern is adorable. It’s conveniently compact and easy to pack. It ought to make going out more fun.”

They got original shopping bags (an additional 11 yen with tax) to carry their purchases. With their Sanrio character prints, they could make for good gift bags.

(*Please note that the products featured may have since sold out or ended their production run.)

Our trio’s adventure continues. Their next stop is BANDAI NAMCO Cross Store Tokyo on the third floor of the World Import Mart Building in Sunshine City. This shop allows visitors to see, touch, and experience various characters, products, events, and dining options developed by various companies within the BANDAI NAMCO Group.

Entering the store, visitors are first greeted by an arcade with lines of claw machines on the right.

To the left, there are the Gashapon Department Store and the Gashapon Bandai Official Shop, a paradise for lovers of capsule toy machines, known as “gashapon.”

The Gashapon Department Store is a new landmark for capsule toys with over 3,000 installations, making it one of the largest capsule toy venues in the world.

Julie was impressed. “All of these capsule toys are so cute! If something catches your eye, nothing’s stopping you from giving it a spin. All the capsule toys are fun.”

Timothy was struck by the worldwide selection of brands. “I love the cool crossover between Japan’s capsule toy culture and characters from popular American franchises like Star Wars and Marvel. There are plenty of popular character toys from Japanese manga and anime, so I bet anyone could find a capsule toy they like here.”

The group roamed the Gashapon Bandai Official Shop to see if they could find a capsule toy they wanted. Let’s see what they could get with a single spin!

Julie considers herself a foodie, so she went for the quirky food-related capsule toys. She likes the anthropomorphized ones. For her single spin, she chose a capsule toy machine with figures of bread, like croissants and toast, sitting on the ground.

Jasmine loves animals, so she chose a gashapon machine stocked with animal figures like Shiba dogs and pandas. She said, “I love how all these animals are in carefree poses. I hope I get the Shiba dog. The panda is cute too. I don’t really care for the monkey one, but I might have just jinxed myself saying that (laughs).”

Timothy chose a capsule toy machine that dispenses rings designed to look like pieces of meat, such as prime rib, sirloin steak, and crispy bacon. “We’ve been seeing more capsule toys that dispense quirky accessories, like rings. I guess I prefer getting the prime rib, I’d be happy with the sirloin steak too.”

With everyone having made their selections, it’s time to finally open them up!

The thrilling moment has arrived.

They crack open the capsules and take a look inside!

Nobody got the exact toy they were hoping for, but it seems they had a great time experiencing the suspense of finding what their prize was.

There are little photo sets you can use to take pictures of the capsule toys you receive.

The backgrounds include iconic tourist spots such as the Kaminarimon Gate in Asakusa, the clocktower in Ginza, Odaiba, cherry blossom landscapes, and more, making it a perfect way to capture memories from your trip to Japan!

The backdrop they chose was in front of NAMJATOWN, an indoor theme park located within Sunshine City. A fine souvenir from their visit!

Empty capsules go into the store’s Capsule Collection Machine. Returning capsules can earn visitors points via the Gashapon Point Station smartphone app, which can in turn be exchanged for services, depending on the store.

Similar machines for returning capsules can be found elsewhere. With their capsules returned, their capsule toy machine adventure comes to an end.

Their next destination was NAMJATOWN on the second floor of Sunshine City’s World Import Mart Building. It consists of four areas on one floor, offering attractions, dining options, and merchandise for visitors to enjoy.

The entrance fee is 1,000 yen for adults, 600 yen for children (4-12 years old), and free for children under 3 years old (all prices include tax). Some attractions require additional tickets. The ticket purchasing screen is available in both Japanese and English.

Let’s head in!

Julie pointed out all the photo spots. “Among the fun, old-fashioned streets of Japan, there are plenty of spots great for taking pictures!” As they entered, they were greeted by a shrine’s torii gate and its guardian cat statues, taking the place of more common guardian lion-dogs.

Julie mentioned, “I often see people at festivals wearing masks; I’ve always wanted to try one, since they’re so cute.”

She added, “It’s wonderful to experience the atmosphere of an older version of Japan. Walking around here makes you feel like you’re inside Japan’s forgotten past.”

Strolling amongst these old-fashioned streets, the trio set out to find their own favorite spots for a picture.

On a street with old Japanese movie posters, Jasmine stopped in front of a real estate agency.

Jasmine was intrigued. “Real estate agencies in Japan today don’t look like this. They usually have photos of houses and floor plans displayed. It’s fascinating to see how it used to be in the past. The hand-drawn signs also add a lovely, nostalgic touch!”

Julie chose the curtained entrance of an izakaya (Japanese pub). She explained, “Noren curtains give a sense of tradition and history for many visitors to Japan, I think. For them, izakaya are a fun place to go and get some sake, myself included. It’s a cool, retro touch. It says ‘tasty’ on the curtain, which is important.”

They walked through the noren and took some pictures in the retro setting of the izakaya.

Timothy chose a traditional Japanese chashitsu (tea room) with tatami flooring, a low table, and a CRT television, just the kind of setting you see depicted in anime and manga.

Jasmine took pictures of Timothy acting out the role of a stubborn old-timer from the Showa era.

While they were enjoying their retro-themed photo shoot, NAMJATOWN’s character, Najavu, made an appearance!

During scheduled character greetings, visitors can shake hands with the characters of NAMJATOWN and take photos together.

They bid farewell to Najavu and headed for NYANJATOWN, an attraction none of them had ever experienced before.

NYANJATOWN is gaining attention as a new trendy spot within NAMJATOWN.

It’s more of a cat village than a cat cafe, having around 30 resident cats, each with their own personality.

Visitors can sit back and watch, interact with, or take pictures with cats.

The separate admission fee is 800 yen (including tax) for a one-hour visit.

There are some important guidelines to review before entering. For instance, visitors should avoid making loud noises that would startle the cats, and walk slowly. The guidelines are available in English, Korean, Simplified Chinese, and Traditional Chinese.

They carefully stepped into NYANJATOWN one by one, and sure enough, there were adorable cats as far as the eye could see!

All three enjoyed their time, petting and observing the cats at their own pace.

Nobody could resist the cats’ adorableness. From start to finish, everyone was all smiles.

Once they had gotten cozy with the locals, they took some pictures together with the cats.

Everyone had a soothing and fulfilling time at NYANJATOWN!

In addition to the events held in collaboration with anime, manga, games, and other characters, Sunshine City has live music performances and other events.

And once again, it features attractions such as an aquarium, a planetarium, and an observation deck. Whether you come with friends, a significant other, or family, in the afternoon or the evening, you’re bound to have a great time at Sunshine City.

We asked our team of three what they thought now that they had a whole one-day experience at Sunshine City!

Everyone found something they loved: characters for Julie, animals for Jasmine, and trends for Timothy. Sunshine City offers events, shops, and other fun facilities year-round, so if you’re planning a trip to Tokyo, we highly recommend adding it to your destinations list.

The information in this article is as of June 2023. Please refer to official websites for the most up-to-date information.