Calling all international anime fans! animate Ikebukuro Flagship Store Celebrates Grand Opening After Major Renovation! Part 1: 4 things you should know before visiting the store

Today, animate is a favorite among anime fans not only in Japan but around the world. The animate Ikebukuro Flagship Store just celebrated its 40th anniversary with a grand reopening after a major renovation.

animate opened in March 1983 as a specialty store for anime, comics, and games. Since then, the surrounding area has come to be known as “Otome Road” (lit. "Girls' Road"; a.k.a. “Maiden’s Road” or “Fujoshi Street”), an area that attracts anime and comic lovers, especially female fans, as well as a large international crowd.

The sales floor has been made substantially larger with the renovation, and other spaces have been added, including a theater (the first of its kind in an animate store), a café space, and an exhibition/event space.
The animate Ikebukuro Flagship Store is no longer a simple place to shop, but an entire complex where you can fully experience the world of anime and comics.

Be ready for long lines even before the store’s opening hours begin!

On March 16th, 2023, the Ikebukuro Flagship Store held an opening ceremony with many guests to celebrate its grand reopening!

At the ceremony, Jun Fujiki, president of Animate Inc., expressed his commitment to all anime fans around the world. "Through its products, events, and services, we hope that the new animate Ikebukuro Flagship Store can become a new mecca for manga and anime fans from all over the world."

After the ceremony, several hundred people lined up in the park in front of the store, waiting for the opening time. There was a lot of excitement in the air!
The animate Ikebukuro Flagship Store was also trending on social media, and the long lines at the checkout counter made for a very lively and successful event.

Here are four things you should know before visiting the animate Ikebukuro Flagship Store!

4 things to know before visiting an animate store

Here are some things international anime fans may wish to know before visiting an animate store. Keep these these tips in mind to make your visit more enjoyable and convenient!

1) While many know animate is a general store for anime and related merch, they also sell books!

If you're not familiar with animate, you might think that these stores only sell anime merchandise. But did you know that animate is also a bookstore?

Outside of Japan, anime merchandise is usually available in special sections of large bookstores, or in smaller stores that specialize in a particular type of item, such as action figures or manga. That can make it difficult to find exactly what you're looking for.

A place like animate, where anime merchandise and books are all available in one place, is a true anime fan's paradise! No matter which store you visit, you will always find a consistent selection of goods to meet all your shopping needs, which is nothing short of amazing!

In addition, to avoid overly complicated travel routes, many tourists prefer to visit animate stores that are conveniently located close to their hotels or the attractions they plan to see. If you’re visiting the Ikebukuro Flagship Store for the first time, prepare to be surprised by the sheer size of the store and the variety of exhibitions and limited event displays available!

2) Use the maps to make it easier to find what you’re looking for!

As is often the case in large stores, finding what you're looking for can be a challenge. Anime merchandise in particular can be spread out over two floors, and it can be difficult to tell what is sold where.

If you're the type of customer who has no time to waste and wants to find what you're looking for immediately, check the store's floor plan to see which floor sells the category of merchandise you want. Are you looking for books, character merchandise, apparel, or capsule toys?

Even if you want all the character merchandise and books from a particular IP, you will have to visit every floor (unless it has a dedicated pop-up area or exhibit), so it will make your shopping experience easier if you first check which category each floor has been assigned to find the items you most want to buy.
Check the floor plan or show a picture of the item you want to buy to the store staff, and they will help you find it!

*Some of the staff speak English, so don’t hesitate to ask them any questions you may have!

Please look forward to a future article in which we’ll introduce in detail which product categories are located on which floor.
If you're the type of customer who likes to browse the entire store from top to bottom before deciding what you want, you can take the elevator to the top floor or take the stairs while perusing the posters of recently popular anime that decorate the store's walls. At the animate Ikebukuro Flagship Store, many customers choose to start from the uppermost floor and then work their way down to the lower floors. The renovated store now has an escalator that runs from the 1st floor to the 2nd floor, and what’s more, an elevator has been added to the newly constructed side of the building for added convenience!

▼ Floor plans are available next to the elevator and stairs on each floor

3) Don't make the mistake of forgetting to pay on the right floor!

At animate, there are cash registers on each floor. However, you must pay for your purchases on the floor where you got them.

"What? The store is so big, why can't I just shop across all the floors?"
"But I want to pay for everything in one place!"

Sorry, those are the rules. You must pay on the floor where you picked up the item (or where the item is displayed).

For example, if you find something you like on the 2nd floor, you must pay for it on the 2nd floor.
If you find a video game you want on the 6th floor, you must pay for it on the 6th floor.

However, during certain crowded events, you may be asked to pay on another floor. Please be sure to follow the staff's instructions.
We recommend using the automated checkout for an even smoother experience!

4) Be aware of different opening hours!

While in some countries it's not uncommon for stores to stay open past 10:00 pm, be sure to check the store hours when visiting animate! You might want to stop by the store after dinner only to find that it's already closed...
The opening hours of the animate Ikebukuro Flagship Store are as follows.

Monday through Friday: 11:00 am to 9:00 pm.
Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays: 10:00 am to 8:00 pm.

On holidays, the store opens and closes an hour earlier, so if you're planning on visiting animate in the evening, be sure to keep the above hours in mind when planning your schedule!
Hours vary from store to store, so if you are going to a different animate, please remember to check the hours when referring to the access page.

These are the four tips you should know before visiting an animate store to make your shopping experience smoother and give you more time to look around the store. Read them over before you visit, or if you have any friends who are planning a trip to an animate store, share this article with them!
In the next article, we will take a closer look at the renovated floors. Don't miss Part 2!

Store Details
animate Ikebukuro Flagship Store
1-20-7 Higashi-Ikebukuro, Toshima-ku, Tokyo 170-0013
Websites:
animate Ikebukuro Flagship Store Special Website
animate Ikebukuro Flagship Store Official Website
animate Ikebukuro Flagship Store Official Twitter