Summary
There are a growing number of anime stores around the world to feed the continuallygrowing trend of anime love, but Japan still has the most stores. And as the birthplace of anime, it probably always will. Some neighborhoods in Tokyo are almost entirely dedicated to anime and anime sales, including the famous Akihabara, as well as Ikebukuro. It is in the latter that a newly renovated anime store has re-opened, and it is huge - record-breakingly huge.
That’s right, the renovated anime store called Animate in Tokyo’s Ikebukuro neighborhood has won the title of Largest Anime Store in the World by none other than the Guiness Book of World Records! The store was always big, but after its reopening, it is absolutely massive. It continues to serve as a major pilgrimage point for anime fans both around Japan and around the world, and now has a special new title to continue to draw in the crowds.
Ikebukuro, an Anime Paradise
There is no better place for the World’s Largest Anime Store than Ikebukuro. While Akihabara has historically been the more famous of the two anime towns, Ikebukuro has risen in popularity over the past decade among anime fans. Certainly, havingfamous anime likeDurarara!!and dramas likeIkebukuro West Gate Parkhave helped this, but the town has also not shied away from making itself an anime destination. It all started with Animate, which opened its first shop in Ikebukuro before spreading out to bring anime goods to pretty much every major city in Japan.
Besides Animate, Ikebukuro is also home to several cosplay stores and cosplay photo studios, one of the largestPokémonCenters in Japan, aOne Piecestore, the world’s onlyPokémon Gostore, countless anime merchandise resale and doujinshi shops, and a manga museum. There are also plenty of arcades and game centers, a huge store devoted only to gachapon, and, of course, maid cafés! Plus, Ikebukuro is host to a monthly cosplay event that literally takes over the streets, and an even bigger cosplay festival every year for Halloween.
About one year ago, thenewly renovated Animate shop in Ikebukurowas unveiled. The building had always been a large, standalone structure that was several stories tall and full of anime goods and anime fans every day of the week. But when it closed, it announced big plans for its reopening, including spreading into the nearby buildings and growing even further. When the shop opened in May 2023, it had done exactly that, revealing not just the original building but an expansion into two further ones!
On February 28th, Animate’s official Twitter account posted a “challenge announcement” for the Guinness Book of World Records, the quintessential organization that declares the biggest, smallest, tallest, fastest, and more things from around the world. As translated byAnimeNewsNetwork, the Tweet read:
The challenge announcement for “Animate Ikebukuro Main Store” Guinness World Records ™ will be delivered! We will invite guests Shōta Aoi and MC Neki Matsuzawa to announce the Guinness World Records results. Come watch on 3/17 from 15:00~ [Japan time] on the Animate Times official YouTube channel.
And sure enough on March 17th, the official announcement was made on Animate’s YouTube channel! The Ikebukuro store was declared the Largest Anime Store in the World, just in time for the shop’s one-yearanniversary. you may still watch the whole story on Animate’s official YouTube channel, which featured not only the Guiness World Records representative but also voice actor Shota Aoi, the CEO of Animate, and the manager of the Ikebukuro store.
If Animate in Ikebukuro was notalready on your to-do listfor when you’re in Tokyo, it should be now. With a store that big - world-record-shattering big - there is bound to be plenty for even the most discerning customer to buy. And you get the added bonus of being able to brag to your friends that you visited the official biggest anime store in the entire world!
