If you arrived in Haneda airport, it’s very easy to go to Ikebukuro. It will take below 1 hour if you take limousine bus and it only costs around JPY 1200. I would like to describe Ikebukuro as a mysterious place. Ikebukuro has its specific features which are different from other popular districts in Japan like Shinjuku and Shibuya.
[source : http://jpninfo.com/36549]
Here is not as grey as Shinjuku where is full of office buildings. Here is not as dazzling as Shinjuku’s red light districts. Also, here does not give the feeling of youth like Shibuya. However, the thing is that Ikebukuro has both images of Shinjuku and Shibuya. It doesn’t feel very young but it still gives feeling of youth and individuality. It’s not big but not small as well. Why don’t you explore this interesting district?
department stores
(1) SEIBU Department Store
Same as other SEIBU department stores in Japan, SEIBU Ikebukuro is also a high quality department store. SEIBU Ikebukuro is directly connected to Ikebukuro station so that you don’t have to go outside and search for location here under bad weather. You can enjoy wide range of goods here from clothes to accessories. As here is high quality department store, you can also find products of world’s top luxurious brands.
The interesting point of Japanese high quality department stores is that one department store has almost everything. Most of the time, one whole building consist of more than 10 levels including basement is used as department store. Basically, you will see places for grocery, snacks, and souvenirs on basement level. Here you can buy either ingredients for cooking or already cooked dishes. However, there are usually no seats for eat in since most of their customers use there for take-out. Furthermore, you can see high class restaurants on the high floor of department stores. It is a little bit pricey but the taste will not disappoint you.
(2) TOBU Department Store
[source : https://livejapan.com/en/in-ikebukuro/spot-lj0002989/]
TOBU department store is also directly connected to Ikebukuro station. It is also good idea to have a look on both TOBU and SEIBU since these two stores are connected by underground pass way. Japan has extremely hot and cold weather for summer and winter, so moving from one to another underground will help you a lot. As here is also a department store, TOBU sells items which are generally thought to be sold in other department stores as well. However, the most attractive point of TOBU Ikebukuro is its ‘Depachika’, which refers to the place I have mentioned above. Yes, stores located basement of department stores where sell food and sweets.
TOBU Ikebukuro uses two floors only for depachika. There are wide range of things you can buy from sushi to western desserts such as cake. A lot of tourists visit here to buy sweets and this becomes their souvenir. However, it’s not true that they sell only sweets. There are places for sushi, salad, meat, yakitori, and groceries as well. There packed foods are usually very fresh since they make it every day. What I recommend is that you should try fruits there and you will be able to taste the best fruit ever. One small flaw of depachika is that they don’t provide enough space for eat in.
fashion shopping malls
(1) PARCO IKEBUKURO
[source : http://wikimapia.org/9428944/Ikebukuro-PARCO-main-buiding]
Parco is one of the most popular shopping centers in Japan. Parco mainly focuses on selling fashion items such as clothing and accessories like other fashion shopping malls, however, you can also see stores related to Japanese pop cultures and daily goods. Like other malls, 7th and 8th floors are being used for restaurants and bars. More than 100 stores in this shopping center take part in tax free program so don’t miss this chance! Parco is not as expensive as department stores since here is not putting power on locating high brands. However, it doesn’t mean that they only have local brands. There are some brands you may already know and they also have Korean cosmetic brand(ETUDE HOUSE).
[source : https://ikebukuro.parco.jp]
You can also have a shopping at francfranc in PARCO IKEBUKURO. You can see a lot of home deco items from tiny things such as plates and towels to big furniture here at franc franc. The products here are not very cheap (compare to 100 yen shops), however, it deserves to be expensive when we see their design and quality.
(2) SAKAZEN
[source : https://livejapan.com/ko/in-ikebukuro/spot-lj0004607/item/]
Do you want to buy clothes in Japan but are you worried because of size? No worries, SAKAZEN is here for you. SAKAZEN Ikebukuro is consist of 8 floors and there are a lot of products from small to 9L size. The target of this store is men, yes, big men. Most of the time people with big size have hard time to find fancy clothes, especially when they are looking for high brand products. SAKAZEN has high brands such as Armani. Plus, there is no need to worry if your size is M or L. Because everything is already prepared!
others
(1) 3 COINS SHOP
[source : http://jpninfo.com/tag/3coins]
I guess you already know DAISO or SERIA, which is famous for selling almost all products with JPY 100(before tax). 3 coins shop is very similar to 100 yen shop and the only difference is that every product is sold with the price of JPY 300. Personally I think products at 100 yen stores are pretty good. However, the quality of products is sometimes unsatisfying. In terms of quality and design, 3 coins shop offers you a better conditioned products. It is also good to visit here when you want to buy something for your friends but suffer from budget. They have so many interesting items which may be hard to find in your own countries. 3 COINS Ikebukuro is located on the B1 of Ikebukuro Sunshine Aquarium.
(2) Pokemon Center
[source : http://flimsywhim.com/blog/]
There are many people who love pokemon and want to have pokemon goods in Japan as well. Pokemon center is a great place for person who wants to buy pokemon character dolls and other related goods. Here is located in Sunshine City and it takes about 10 minutes from station on foot. They basically have everything about Pokemon including pokemon cards, snacks, phone cases and games. I wouldn’t say the price is reasonable, since almost all character shops sell their products with high price. However, it deserves to visit here even if you do not want to buy anything but you do love pokemon and want to take photos of them.
rent a pocket wifi in japan
If you want to enjoy things above and make your travel to Japan more abundant, it is necessary to get online all the time. Regardless of its highly-advanced technologies, it is not easy to find free wireless(WiFi) hotspots in Japan. So, what we recommend for tourists who want to stay connected 24/7 and have exciting journey, is to use wifi rental services, which is also known as pocket wifi.
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