I want to get this costumes!!!! White jacket, pants, shirt, hat and navy tie.

The east exit of Ikebukuro station.

If you have seen “DRRR!” anime, I’m sure that you recognize these sights.

At first, I visited a cosplay shop MAPLE, which is one of my favorite shops, but I could not find Rei-chan’s costumes. This shop only had Camus’ costumes today.

Then I came here, Animate’s costume shop ACOS. ACOS is in the old building of Animate Ikebukuro. This shop has only 6 princes’ costumes right now. It seems that Senpai’s costumes are very rare…

At third, K-BOOKS cosplay shop. This shop sells second-hand costumes. No Rei-chan neither…

No Rei-chan…

No Rei-chan…

I visited MANDARAKE at last, but I could not find Rei-chan’s costumes. GEEZ…(´;ω;`)!!!

With a new attitude, I came Animate’s new building for anime gooods and books, and I bought a cosplay magazine “COSMODE.” COSMODE provides popular cosplayers’ photos, make-up and photgraphy advices.
COSMODE’s official website is here.

Haaaa… It’s difficult to get Rei-chan’s costumes. Actually I already have his wig. How do I handle this?

Recently, Japan’s railroad companies are active in improving Eki-naka with various shops and events. Stations are special places where large groups of people congregate, so companies that open up stores can also benefit. Large train stations like Ikebukuro, Shinjuku, and Shibuya are filled with interesting shops. Especially, Eki-naka of Ikebukuro station is now rapidly spreading. You can find many many kawaii things there!

The west exit of Ikebukuro station.

The underground, Eki-naka of Ikebukuro station is just like a huge maze.

You can often see Japanese original brand shops like MUJI and UNIQLO on many stations in Tokyo.

This is normal station stand.

Confectionery shops are popular.

Mini cakes in the shape of owls, which is the symbol of Ikebukuro city.

Guess what! Chocoholic is my recommendation. This shop sells so kawaii cakes and sweets.

Kawaii goods shop for a limited time.

Sometimes you can buy vegetables and fruits at Eki-naka.

A station building “Esola” is popular with young girls.

Lottery stands has been a staple of train stations in Japan.

“Echika” is a part of Ikebukuro station’s underground.

There are many stylish cafes.

Soup Stock Tokyo is very popular suop stand in Japan.

★Today’s catch at Ikebukuro Eki-naka
Super kawaii macarons by Chocoholic, and reasonable fleuret pierces.

My university was in Ikebukuro and I used to live there few years ago, so this town is an adopted hometown for me. Stylish and sophisticated towns in Tokyo like Omotesando (表参道) and Roppongi (六本木) are good, but this chaotic atmosphere is exactly “TOKYO.”

　　
Platform of JR Ikebukuro Station. This station is the giant hub of several major railway lines, including the JR Lines, Tokyo Metro, Tobu Tojyo Line (東武東上線) and Seibu Ikebukuro Line (西武池袋線). Almost 2.7 million passengers get on and off here every day, and it is the second only to Shinjuku (新宿) in the world.

The underground of Ikebukuro station is just like a huge maze. My friends said that it is the most labyrinthian station in Tokyo.

Found a big advertisement of Uta no Prince-sama! SO COOL!

There are many exits at Ikebukuro Station. East exit is for otaku places.

Two big department stores at Ikebukuro. Seibu Department store (西武百貨店) is at the east exit, and Tobu Department store (東武百貨店) is at the west exit. This location is one of the source of confusions in Ikebukuro maze. (“西” means west, and “東” means east)

Sunshine 60 Street (サンシャイン60通り), the most heavily traveled spot in the city.

You can see the symbol of Ikebukuro, Sunshine 60 (サンシャイン60) after the Sunshine 60 Street.

Namco Namja Town (ナムコナンジャタウン) is in the building. This entertainment park holds several anime events, and now is Kuroko’s Basketball fair.

Otome Road (乙女ロード) is located to the west of the Sunshine 60 building. The name is derived from a dense grouping of shops that specialize in Otome-kei (乙女系) (otaku girls who like ikemen characters) merchandise, all on one side of a roughly 200 meter corridor.

Animate Ikebukuro is the entrance of Otome Road, and several shops are here.

Found that my favorite dojin artist Shiro Yamada (山田シロ) draw the nameboard of K BOOKS! I did not know that! Kawaii!!

There are cosplay shops as well. You can get both new and secondhand.

I recommend this Wig Shop Maple for cosplay beginners, because the staffs are very kind and you can try all of wigs and costumes up to two times. (*This shop is a bit off from Otome Road)

★Shop data
WIG SHOP MAPLE
TEL: +81-3-3982-5129
3-5-7-101 Higashiikebukuro Toshima-ku Tokyo 170-0013 JAPAN
Official Website: www.maple-wig.com (Japanese)

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P.S. Found Musubimaru, the character of Sendai at the satellite store of Miyagi. Kawaii?