10 of the best otaku shops in Tokyo

Japan is a mecca for obsessive geeks or otaku, and Tokyo has shops catering to every obsession, says Patrick Macias, whether you collect anime or manga, action figures or yo-yos

1. Commit

Before digital animation took over, Japanese anime was made the old-fashioned way using paint on sheets of celluloid to create "cels". Over the years, countless cels leaked out of the anime studios into the collector's market, and thousands of them can now be found at this store within the Nakano Broadway shopping mall. Binders line the walls bulging with one-of-a-kind cels, and smaller bins are outside for casual browsing. Bad news: cels featuring popular characters, such as those from Hayao Miyazaki's anime movies or the Evangelion series, often go for art gallery prices. Good news: equally striking cels, from less high-profile works, can be had for the price of a fast-food meal.
• Nakano Broadway 4F, room 467, Nakano-ku, +81 3 3389 8809. Open daily noon-8pm

2. Gachapon Kaikan

Japan's gachapon vending machines (the name comes from the sound a machine makes: "gacha" when a dial is cranked, and "pon" when the prize drops) dole out brilliantly detailed toys and figures ranging from anime and manga characters to animals and tiny bowls of ramen. Gachapon machines are found all over Japan, but the mother lode is at Akihabara's Gachapon Kaikan where more than 450 machines are lined up inside a warehouse-like space. Blaring rock and J-pop heightens the confusion. It's like playing the slots at a run-down otaku casino, but at ¥100-¥500 a pop (around 80p-£4), you can afford to lose a bit until you score a prize you really want.
• MN building 1F, 3-15-5 Soto-Kanda, Chiyoda-ku, +81 3 5209 6020,. Open Mon-Thurs 11am-8pm, Fri-Sat 11am-10pm, Sun 11am-7pm

3. Mandarake

Created by a CEO who said of his company, "Our mission is to take over the world using manga and otaku things", Mandarake is Japan's number one chain of secondhand anime and manga superstores. Locations can be found throughout the country, but the 16 original stores, each specialising in a different otaku obsession, are inside the Nakano Broadway shopping mall and are still the best. Over a million items line the shelves, and some 45,000 manga titles, anime DVDs and toys are bought and sold each week. Be sure to check out the surreal spectacle of the buy/sell counter, where otaku line up to trade in treasures for cash, only to go right back into Mandarake's black-lined corridors to re-invest.
• Nakano Broadway 3F, Nakano-ku, +81 3 3228 0007, . Open daily noon-8pm

4. Gojira-Ya

Meaning Godzilla Store, this humble shop showcases vintage merchandise from the king of the monsters' cinematic reign of terror, including figures and movie posters. As one of Tokyo's oldest toy collector's shops, it also has a other anime and manga-related goods from Japan's golden era of character merchandising (including Astro Boy, Gigantor, Ultraman, and co). Glass cases overflow with rare die-cast toys and colourful vinyl figures, and model kits and action figures are stacked on the floor, making the place feel like a messy otaku's bedroom. The indisputable highlight is the Godzilla-themed bar downstairs, where you can sip cocktails and eat snacks while watching men in rubber suits pulverising miniature buildings on a big screen.
• 3-67-1 Koenji Minami, Suginami-ku, +81 3 3336 3178,. Open Thurs-Mon 2pm-9pm

5. Liberty

A Tokyo otaku shopping spree can be fun, but it can also obliterate your bank account in the blink of an eye. You can save a few precious yen by picking up used stuff among the antiseptic, fluorescent-lit corridors of Akihabara's secondhand Liberty stores. Japanese quality standards for used anime DVDs, CDs, and Blu-rays are extremely high – otaku treat their wares like the crown jewels before they sell them – so the difference between new and used is often minimal. Saving ¥2,000 (nearly £20) on a £70 Space Battleship Yamato Blu-ray takes some of the sting away.
• Multiple locations in Akihabara, start at 4-4-3 Soto-Kanda, Chiyoda-ku, +81 3 5294 6170, . Open daily 10.30am-7pm

6. Animate

Animate is located in Ikebukuro's Otome-dori (Princess Road) district: an area filled with shops specifically catering to female otaku, tucked away from the bustle of Akihabara. Eight floors are mostly populated by otaku teens and young adults, and filled with the requisite anime goods and merchandise, but the real selling point here is the large selection of homoerotic-themed manga and novels from the "boy's love" genre, a popular and influential subculture within a subculture.
• 3-2-1 Higashi-Ikebukuro, Toshima-ku, +81 3 3988 1351, . Open Mon-Sat 10am-8.30pm, Sun 10am-8pm

7. Taco-Che

If you're more interested in alternative comics and otaku culture than the current manga and anime mega hits, then head for this small, well stocked, underground book and cutting-edge culture shop located inside Nakano Broadway. Art by dark masters such as Kazuo Umezu and Suehiro Maruo lines the walls, while zines and small press creator-driven manga books range from artistic to explicit. Be sure to check the nooks and crannies for delights from limited-edition manga T-shirts to art badges and other experimental fare.
• Nakano Broadway 3F, Nakano-ku, +81 3 5343 3010, . Open daily noon-8pm

8. Akiba Culture Zone

Tokyo's Akihabara ward is already packed to the gills with stores that target otaku tastes, but that didn't stop the new Akihabara Culture Zone building from opening last summer. Seven clean and well-lit floors of specialist shops, including the impressive K-Books manga emporium, anime figure merchants galore, used goods, replica firearms, even a store dedicated to yo-yos. A good mix of otaku tourists and locals mingle inside, each on a hunt for a particular fetish object. Be sure to venture down to the basement cafe space where there is a collection of vintage model kits from otaku eras past.
• 1-7-6 Soto-Kanda, Chiyoda-ku, . Most stores open daily 11am-8.30pm

9. Cospa Gee Store

Cosplay ("costume play") is one of the most popular activities for otaku to indulge in: dressing up like anime and manga characters for conventions and photo sessions. While hard-core cosplayers often create their wardrobes from scratch, plenty of off-the-rack costumes, ranging from Sailor Moon to Final Fantasy fare, along with accessories and wigs are available for sale – or just to try on – at Cospa Gee in Akihabara. Every square inch of the store is lined with ads hawking the latest arrivals, and the store also carries a wide selection of sharp and well-designed anime T-shirts for people who want to show their otaku colours without going the whole nine yards.
• MN building 2F, 3-15-5 Soto-Kanda, Chiyoda-ku, . Open Thurs-Tues noon-8pm

10. Yodobashi

As anyone who has gone hobby shopping around Tokyo can tell you, it's all too easy to stumble into a minefield of adults-only territory without even trying. Some stores think nothing of placing nubile female figures or risqué manga next to more mainstream fare. So if you are looking for a place to browse the latest toys, model kits and figures in a more family-friendly environment, check out the 7th floor of the Yodobashi Camera superstore in Akihabara. While the department store environment can be sterile and devoid of real otaku madness and clutter, the selection is all-encompassing (expect robots, superheroes, monsters, etc) and the prices are often discounted compared to other retailers.
• 1-1 Kanda Hanaoka-Cho, Chiyoda-ku, +81 3 5209 1010, . Open daily 9.30am-10pm