Nakano Broadway Turns 50 This Year

Above, the entrance to Nakano Broadway. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

A special place in Tokyo marks 50 years this year.

It is the mecca for otaku shopping: Nakano Broadway.

The Japan Times reported:

Nakano Broadway turns 50 this year. The shopping complex in Tokyo’s busy Nakano district remains popular with enthusiasts of pop culture, boasting dozens of manga, anime and collectors’ shops. 

The scruffy but vibrant building, housing some 300 shops and restaurants across its five floors, sits at the end of the Nakano Sun Mall shopping street, which is adjacent the north exit of JR Nakano Station. 

Since the opening of Mandarake Inc. stores at the center in 1980, Nakano Broadway has evolved into a center for enthusiasts of pop subculture, offering everything from cosplay items and old movie posters to figurines, plastic models, toys and used books. There is, of course, a good dosing also of manga publications and anime goods.

Along with the various Mandarake stores, Nakano Broadway has other, but smaller, stores who cater to your "inner fanboy" (or "inner fangirl") such as Robot Robot.

It is a must-visit place in Tokyo.

To read more, go here.

For an "ultra-short" history of Nakano Broadway, go here.