This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License Academic Disclaimer: This blog is a class project for my Visual Anthropology class; as such it is for educational purposes only. All photos posted here were taken taken by myself unless otherwise noted.
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| Otome Road in Higashi-Ikebukuro. |
Ikebukuro is a true gem for those who are involved in Japan's otaku-subculture. Higashi-Ikebukuro features Otome Road, which caters mostly to the needs of female anime and manga lovers. Since I moved here it has been home to two different Animate stores, which specialise in offering DVDs, Cosplay, games, CDs, manga, figurines and every other kind of anime/manga related goods a fan could possibly need. It also is host to multiple K-Books stores which allow fans to sell their old DVDs, CDs, games and other goods as well as purchase. These shops are special because they sell Doujinshi (amateur manga) and also goods that are not regularly for sale (i.e. UFO catcher, or "crane machine" goods). Around the corner from K-Books, there is a cafe called "Swallowtail" which is a popular Shitsuji or "Butler" cafe. Just like the "Maid" genre is a fan favorite for male otaku, many female otaku enjoy the "Butler" genre. Inside, guests can select from available choices of how they would like to be addressed by their butler. For example "Ojyou-san", meaning "young miss" or if there are male guests, "Botchan" or "Danna-sama". Sunshine Street, which is closer to Ikebukuro's JR Station is also otaku-centered as is contains many game arcades, Maid Cafes and yet more anime/manga related shops.
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| Outside Sunshine City's Otome Road entrance. |
Ikebukuro is also a center for fashion as it is home to one of Tokyo's most popular malls. Sunshine City. Sunshine is directly across from Otome Road and includes many trendy cafes and boutiques. It also has its own aquarium, hotel and two indoor theme parks (yuenchi), Namjya Town (Namco), and J-World, which just opened this year. J-World is a theme park dedicated to Shonen Jump comics which published comics such as Dragon Ball, One Piece, Rurouni Kenshin and Naruto. Appropriately, Animate Girls Festival is held in Sunshine's convention complex once a year. Animate Girl's Festival is a convention where both men and women can come in cosplay and visit shops and displays from different anime, game and manga companies. There is also always a special room for Yaoi (boy on boy comics) panels, which is very popular among female otaku.
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