Square Enix Store, One Piece Store, and Thunderbirds Cafe

Seems like themed anime stores and cafes are popping up everywhere in Tokyo.  I was there in 2009 and there has been a ton of new stuff since so I'm heading back next year.  A holiday could be spent just visiting these stores and cafes to immerse yourself in your favourite anime series and related goods.  There is the Evangelion Store, Pokemon Store, Gundam Cafe, the Square Enix Store, the One Piece Store, etc.  Today, I'll cover three more places, two of which are new!
Square Enix Store in Shinjuku
This store was CLOSED as of November 25, 2012.  It used to be located where Square's OLD HQ was.  Square Enix has now opened a new cafe and store called Artnia that is still in the Shinjuku area.
Click here to go to my post on Artnia, the new Square Enix Store, which includes directions.

This old store has all the Square Enix merchandise you could shake a stick at and more!  Some of my favourite goods would be here as I love Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy.  There are cute DQ slime towers, Chocobo plushies, blue smile slimes, trading cards, all kinds of branded stationary, figurines from Final Fantasy, game soundtracks, Final Fantasy posters, etc.

Sephiroth FFVII  -  Chi (in Oz) / Flickr

As it is a themed store, there are statues of slimes, tons of figures, and posters everywhere.  The highlight on the second floor is a 1:1 scale statue of Sephiroth who is laying in a suspended animation chamber in embedded the floor (neat, but creepy).

Old Address below for history only.

SQUARE ENIX Hatsudai Bldg. 1st Floor
4-31-8 Yoyogi, Shibuya-ku,Tokyo
03-5352-6402 (Japanese only)
JR Shinjuku Station South Exit, New South Exit - Turn right, 15 min walk.

Directions can be found on their website. http://www.square-enix.co.jp/showcase/eng/index.html

• http://www.siliconera.com/2012/09/18/lets-visit-square-enixs-tokyo-store-and-see-sephiroth/
• http://www.thejapanguy.com/2766/the-square-enix-showcase-shinjuku-japan/

Official One Piece Store
The "Store straw ONE PIECE" opened on September 28, 2012.  It is on the 6th floor of the PARCO PART1 Shibuya Koen-dori in Shibuya.  The store has more than 10,000 One Piece related goods on sale with unique products than can only be found at the store too.  I'm not an avid fan of the series, but it is popular, and I'll probably pop in to have a look at it myself. 

Luffy  Figurine -  Halloween king captain ryno / Flickr

This concept store covers the anime series produced by Toei Animation and the manga that runs in Weekly Shonen Jump. There is a restaurant and many series related items are on display.  A life sized Luffy and many other replicas are on display.

PARCO Shibuya (6th floor PART1)
15-1 Udagawa-cho, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 〒 150-8377
Official Site http://www.mugiwara-store.com/pc/index.html
http://www.parco-shibuya.com

Map below has the location of the One Piece Store and the Artnia the new Square Enix Store on it. Click on the link to expand.

View Shibuya Shinjuku Harajuku in a larger map

• http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/interest/2012-09-27/one-piece-manga-1st-permanent-store-opens-in-tokyo
• Run through Google Translate (in Japanese)  http://natalie.mu/comic/news/77329
• Run through Google Translate (in Japanese)  http://animeanime.jp/article/2012/09/18/11467.html

Thunderbirds Cafe
This cafe is based on the British puppet television series run in the late 1960s by Gerry Anderson.  The show has a bit of an older fan base and I still remember it fondly too!  I really like the look of the big green, Thunderbird 2, rescue vehicle.  It is a very retro cafe and they even still manufacture model kits and toys for it in Japan.

The Thunderbirds Cafe is located in Jimbocho, where R.O.D. is set with the used book stores! The cafe was created by Pasela, which has themed karaoke bars, and the Dragon Quest bar which I talked about here.  Entry is via doors disguised as foliage and you enter a foyer with a Thunderbird character and model.  There are many replica models of the various rescue vehicles used by the team embedded in the fake transport pods set into the wall (pods are carried by the Thunderbird 2 transport).  Clips from the Thunderbirds play in the background and the menu is varied, with dishes from around the world.

東京都千代田区神田神保町 1-21-5　
パセラリゾーツお茶の水店 B1F
〒 101-0051
1-21-5 Kanda Jinbo-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo　
Ochanomizu B1F shop Pasela ResortsA 3 minute walk from exit A7 "Jimbocho station"  Head out of Jimbocho Station and go east along Yasakunidori street for a few minutes.  To your right, on a street in from the main road, you can see the Pasela Resort karaoke building along with a big blue Thunderbirds Cafe sign.

http://www.japantrends.com/thunderbirds-cafe-tokyo/
Official Site http://www.paselabo.tv/thunderbirds/access/index.html

Other Tokyo Anime / Otaku Highlights Worth Visiting

• Gundam Cafe and AKB48 Cafe in Akihabara
• Gundam Front Mini-Theme Park in Odaiba (with another Gundam Cafe)
• Tokyo's Fantastic Kiddyland Toy Store
• The First Evangelion Store in Harajuku
• Pokemon Store in Hamamatsucho
• Tokyo's Theme Cafes
• Square Enix Store, One Piece Store, and Thunderbirds Cafe
• The Ultra-tall Tokyo Skytree!
• Sweets Land, Character Street, and Ramen Street at Tokyo Station
• Yokohama Ramen Museum and Nissin Cup Noodle Museum 
• The Ghibli Museum in Mitaka