Specialty shop Animate stays true to its roots because it gets able to have a good time a giant milestone with a giant store.
When people consider anime shops and events in Tokyo, Akihabara is the primary neighborhood that involves mind. It’s not the one otaku gathering spot in the town, though, because the Ikebukuro district, particularly the realm east of Ikebukuro Station, can be a preferred destination for anime and video game fans.
As a matter of fact, Animate, Japan’s largest chain of anime specialty shops, got its start in Ikebukuro, opening its very first branch there in 1983. Since Animate’s fortieth birthday is drawing close the chain is planning something special to have a good time, and Ikebukuro is where it’s going to occur, with the opening of what the corporate says shall be amongst the most important anime shops on this planet.
Animate’s current Ikebukuro branch is a nine-floor complex a couple of five-minute walk from the station. But with otaku culture more popular than ever before, even that’s not large enough, and it just so happens the Ikebukuro Public Health Center, which was round the corner, has relocated, forsaking a vacant lot. So Animate has decided to grab the space up and use it to construct a big expansion that shall be attached and integrated into Animate Ikebukuro’s current form.
The brand new facility, to be called the Animate Ikebukuro Flagship Store, is scheduled to open within the spring of 2023.
Source, images: PR Times
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