Nakano Broadway

I had heard about Nakano Broadway as being an alternative otaku mecca in Tokyo versus the more famous district of Akihabara but hadn't had a chance to visit on previous trips to Japan. This time I made it a point to check it out and it was certainly worth the trip and I would highly recommend it to any fellow otaku but with some caveats.

First off, Nakano Broadway is primarily a great place to shop for pre-owned merch rather than new stuff. It's an older commercial center with the bulk of the anime and pop culture-themed shopping being made up of the 27 different Mandarake shops scattered all over the second to fourth floors of the mall. Yes, that's right TWENTY-SEVEN, but each shop specializes in a particular category of pre-owned goods ranging from manga to anime figures to diecast cars to kaiju/tokosatsu goods to cosplay items and so on. Mandarake is one of Japan's biggest pre-owned retailers and Nakano Broadway houses their headquarters so you'll find an ample selection of items but that also means a lot of searching through often tightly-packed stores to find any items you're interested in. Scattered amongst the Mandarake shops are various smaller stores selling a mix of new and used items. The new stuff that's for sale tends to be goods from older series and not merchandise from the latest and greatest shows or games – for that you'll want to stick to Akihabara where there's a far greater selection of new release goods.

Another caveat is that Nakano Broadway can feel like an absolute maze with a scattershot arrangement of stores and corridors going every which way so allot plenty of time to browse if you're here for otaku goods shopping. The basement level is mainly groceries and the first floor is mainly clothing and everyday items so head straight to the second, third, and fourth floors if you're only interested in pop culture stuff. Yes, Akihabara is far more confusing due to its sheer size, especially to the newbie, but Nakano Broadway can still be pretty maddening considering it's just one building and especially given the normal Japanese propensity for orderliness.

If you have the time and can put up with Nakano's eccentricities it can be very rewarding though. After the first few stores seemed to be yielding squat on my visit I did find a new figure for a favorite character from a not-so-recent but still popular anime series for a rock bottom price, several unique die-cast cars, and a promotional Nissan GT-R DVD I'd never seen before for cheap. Other items also tempted me but luggage space considerations helped save my wallet from more suffering. Go into Nakano Broadway with patience and a treasure hunting mentality and you'll be rewarded.