Akihabara's little sister

“I guess I should have come on a weekday”, I thought as I walked through the tiled street, following the crowds of hot and sweaty people, just like me. We all sought one goal, Nakano Broadway. People, young and old, Japanese and not so many foreigners. The sign was ahead, Nakano Broadway, in capital letters like a Hollywood stage show. Inside we went, into heaven, and hell.

When travelling to Tokyo, Nakano Broadway isn’t often spoken about as a place to see and I only discovered it through watching a YouTube video from ‘Sharmander’, talking about how she liked Nakano Broadway better than Akihabara. Through seeing footage of the mall as well as all the tiny Pokémon figures she bought, I knew I had to check it out.

Nakano Broadway is an anime and manga lover’s heaven, but not just that, there’s something here for everyone as it’s basically a huge mall filled with hobby items and trinkets. From restaurants to souvenir stores to Rolex watches, there’s so much to see in the four floors of shop madness. I didn’t expect so many stores to be similar, being figurines and manga but one thing is guaranteed, being lost for hours amongst the winding hallways and twists and turns. Don’t let this stop you though, Nakano Broadway is like Akihabara’s sibling, possibly the one their mother likes better because there aren’t as many tourists or children and every floor is interesting.

Located directly in front of the North Exit of Nakano Station, this is a must go to for your Tokyo trip. The street leading up the Nakano Broadway, Nakano Sunmall, is lined with a variety of restaurants, sweet stores, drug stores and so much more. Try your go at one of the numerous ticket machine restaurants, eat at a train sushi restaurant, grab yourself a shoe bargain at ABC Mart, check out Japan’s Pachinko scene or try a Japanese McDonalds. Especially on a weekend, you’ll have a great afternoon surrounded by the local Japanese. If you’re interested, there’s even a supermarket, Seiyu in the basement, along with Japan’s superstore, Daiso.

Looking for some souvenirs for some friends back home, I stepped into a small, tight store that had racks and racks of keyrings and small figures in glass cabinets. Walking through the aisles, I passed different anime figures such as One Piece and Free, however the food keyrings caught my eye. Something Japan is famous for is their fake food in front of many restaurants to show customers what is on the menu and they honest to goodness look real. The keyrings ranged from different traditional Japanese foods such as rice bowls and okonomiyaki as well as some western dishes like spaghetti. They all looked delicious but my hand had a mind of its own and grabbed two of the salmon bowls. While not the cheapest I’d seen, at 400 yen each they made for great souvenirs.

Visiting Nakano Broadway, which is further out in the suburbs, rather than Akihabara which is a major tourist area of Tokyo, really gave me an insight into Tokyo as a city. Each neighbourhood is unique with something different to offer and while, as a Caucasian tourist, you might get a bit more stares in the suburbs than the heart of the city, experiencing the culture of the Japanese is well worth it. If you ever venture out of the city in Tokyo or any city you visit, make sure you explore what each place has to offer because if locals live there, there has to be something for them to do that also makes them stay there.