Japan, Day 19: Shopping in Tokyo

Carol | August 24, 2015 | Japan, Travel | No Comments

Our last full day in Tokyo was our shopping day. We spent the morning packing up so we could assess how much space we had left for souvenirs before traveling to Ueno, Ikebukuro, and Harajuku.

Train: Akihabara to Ueno

Our first stop was Hard Rock Cafe in Ueno. Karl is a pin collecting fiend. He had already ventured out on his own while we were in Osaka to get his Hard Rock Osaka pin. Lucky for us this Hard Rock Cafe’s inside the train station so we didn’t have to travel very far.

Hard Rock Ueno, located inside Ueno Station.

The only souvenirs Karl wanted were pins from two Hard Rock Cafes. Really?

Train: Ueno to Ikebukuro

I was told that a store called Loft is the place to go for art supplies so we traveled to Ikebukuro. We happened upon a Gashapon festival, a large temporary setup of gashapon machines, while in the train station and picked up a few cute things for friends. I’m really digging gashapon machines. The toys, usually figures, are really nice, and some are really wacky but in an adorable kind of way.

Gashapon Festival in Ikebukuro Station

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I was a bit disappointed in the art supply selection at Loft. It was mostly sketchbooks, patterned tapes, and other typical art things, but we did find some other items of interest in Loft’s other departments.