Well, I found a place I like! The old Sogo Department Store building at Yurakucho station now houses Tokyo's biggest BIC Camera and they have a good selection of toys on the 4th (if I remember correctly) floor.

Pregnant Licca-chan doll (where you fill out the card and mail it to the company and the baby comes a couple of weeks later with a special key to deflate mom's stomach) is cheaper than elsewhere.

http://www.takaratomy.co.jp
makes Licca-chan, but English section on the site is disappointing.

Hakuhinkan Toy Park (close to Shimbashi station)
8-8-11 Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-8132
tel: 03-3571-8008 fax: 03-3571-8256
http://www.hakuhinkan.co.jp
The whole building (maybe 6? floors and a basement) is full of toys.

Kiddieland in Harajuku is not the only place to look for cool toys!

I just joined so gomen if this is redundant, but we have not one but two Toys R Us out here near Saitama-shi if y'all want to take a scenic drive sometime. ;-) Also, the local Yuzawaya (near Urawa station) has a ton of toys, especially in specialized areas like trains and robotics (i.e., Toys R Us might have one Mindstorms kits and they have them all and then some), so you might try one near you (plus it's just a cool arts and crafts store to know about).

Dana

Kiddy Land Harajuku
6-1-9 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo
tel: 03-3409-3431 fax: 03-3409-3438
Closest train station: Meiji Jingumai station exit 4, Chiyoda Subway line

6 floors of toys, comprehensive selection. Extremely crowded on weekends. Authorized money changer. Shipping service domestic and overseas. No discounts except for sales about twice a year.
Basement: Paper goods - character stationary, greeting cards, stickers, rubber stamps, gift wrapping, Tarepanda-Kogepan, Hello Kitty, Afuroken
1F: Fancy variety goods, fashion watches, joke toys, mobile phone accessories, carnival goods, hot character of the moment
2F: Stuffed animals, Disneyana, Snoopyana, Miffyana, Beanie babies, Tonarino Totoro, and other character licensed goods.
3F: Licca and Jenny dolls, Barbie boutique, American toys, miniature cars, American super heroes, sports toys
4F: Girl's toys, Baby, pre-school and toddler toys, Thomas the Tank Engine, Sesame Street, Girl's TV heroines, computers for kids
5F: Games, model kits, radio controlled toys, soft air guns, magic, TV games, Boy's TV heros, Tomica, interactive toys, Pokemon

Disney Merchandise:
Not really a toy store, but there was a bit of discussion about where their stores are among some friends so I thought I'd go ahead and put up what I know so far.

Some stores are inside department stores and some stand in their own building. A few have a space dedicated to "Just Pooh" but not all. And most will sell you a Disney Passport in advance for use at Tokyo Disneyland.

Shibuya Koen-dori (03-3461-3932) 20-15 Udagawa-cho, Shibuya-ku It's an unusual looking building, sort of shaped like the head of a drill, the same building that houses the Shibuya Joy Cinema (2nd or 3rd floor), on the street opposite Marui (OIOI) City.
Kita Senju:
Inside the train station building next to Lumine Department Store (03-3882-3901)
Odaiba:
Inside the AquaCity Mall (building next to the Decks Mall)
Nihonbashi:
Takashimaya Department Store (03-3242-3932) 9th floor -- Tokyo station is only a few blocks away. But this branch is closing on 17 Feb 2002 I think.
Ikebukuro:
Ikebukuro Sunshine Alpa (03-3983-3932) B1 Floor
Ikebukuro Seibu Department Store (03-5954-3932) 7th Floor
Ikspari: The shopping center right at the station where you get off to go to Tokyo Disneyland (047-304-3932)

Their Japanese web site is: http://www.disney.co.jp

Hello, does anyone know where I can buy the Teletubbies dolls/stuffed toys? We lost our new one just the other day, that we had bought overseas. It wasn't even 2 days old, so I'm desperate to buy another one to replace it before my husband realizes it's already been lost! (Hee! Hee!) Any help would be appreciated as my daughter loves them!

I'm not sure they would have them, but there is a huge toy store in Ginza/Shimbashi area (a corner building across the street from the Ginza 9 shopping center). Do you know it ?
There is also Kiddyland in Omotesando, Toys'rus in Odaiba, Akachan Honpo in Gotanda TOC, Yuzawaya in Kamata which have good selections of toys, but I don't know about teletubbies though.

I think that Nathalie is referring to Hakuhinkan Toy Park listed further up in the discussion by "Betty".
I have seen teletubbies for sale in the strangest places, for example the basement shopping arcade at Sunshine City in Ikebukuro which caters to teenage fashion. They seem to be harder to find now than they were about 2-3 years ago. Btw, there is also a ToysRUs at Sunshine City. Which one exactly were you looking for (red=Po, yellow, green or purple) and about what size?

Hi, thanks for your replys. The one I lost was Po (the red one) and it was about 20-30 cm high, and was covered in a felt-like material. I wouldn't mind any of the other ones either though. I have checked Toys R Us-in Kameido, and Matsudo, and they didn't have any Teletubbies things. I will try Hakuhinkan Toy Park. If you find them somewhere else, please let me know. Thanks a lot!

Does anyone know where I could find a "Fur Real Friend"? It is a toy cat that responds to touch. It is made by Hasbro-Tiger Electronics. Thank you. Cali

My family is going to japan this valentines day. My older son is highly interested in video games. Are there any buildings dedicated to Nintendo shopping like there are for other companies like lego or sony?

Hello, Having visited Japan several times in the past three years, I started collecting Sylvanian Families for my granddaughter. We will no longer be coming to Japan so I would like to find a retailer that would ship or a connection to obtain these toys. What I have found so far on the web is limited and mostly available from the UK or the Japanese suppliers don't have English access. The variety is also much better in Japan. Any help is appreciated.

Hi Nancy:
Did you try here?
http://www.sylvanianfamilies.com/

Lea Watson
www.scooterwally.com

Hello,

To discover cool stuff for kids, go to: http://tokyo.kidsincity.com/

Possible Christmas present?:
A pretty cool doll is the bath Licca-chan. She comes with green, purple or pink hair (I think I've got that right) an orange underwear set painted on, a bathrobe, etc. When you get her into hot water, her hair changes color and her underwear "disappear". We first saw it at Hakuhinkan Toy Park for about Y2600 (floor B1, mentioned above by Betty), and then we bought one at BIC camera Yurakucho for Y1753 (03-5221-1111), but they only had one choice (green hair). A big success! Playacting conversation in the bath went on for about... an hour...

Hello,
I want to buy an outdoor playhouse for my daughters. Does anyone know of a store that carries them? We tried Toys r Us but no luck.
Thanks!

Hi Betsy,
I had a look at Toys R US website. It's in Japanese but you can look at the outdoor toys by clicking the second tab from the right at the top. Below is the link. Maybe this is a bigger selection than what is on display at the stores. If you scroll down to the bottom right of the page you will see a clickable English link and you can send an e-mail.

www.toysrus.co.jp

Hi Betsy,
What size of playhouse were you thinking of? Costco has a selection, and you could ask about ordering one and having them ship to the one nearest you.
http://www.costco.com/Common/Category.aspx?whse=
BC&topnav=&cat=4062&hierPath=111*&Browse=
The Toysrus in Motoyawata has a pretty good selection of plastic jungle gyms and playhouses, a bit better than the ones at Kinshicho and Lalaport (Chiba).
Steve

Cheap Lego - if anyone else out there has young Lego fans, I would recommend the Lego Clickbrick stores.

These are kind of Lego outlet stores, where they sell all the current Lego ranges plus lots of stuff I've never seen elsewhere in Japan, and much cheaper than you will find it anywhere else. My son just spent some of his saved up Christmas and birthday money on some Harry Potter Lego which was at least 20 per cent cheaper than in Toys R Us and about half what it would have cost in a department store. There was also a much bigger selection.

The stores also have play areas with Lego and Duplo, so they are a good place to go on a rainy day.

I know of two branches in the Tokyo/Yokohama area - one is in the Queens Square shopping mall in Yokohama, and the other is in the Grandberry Mall, which is next to Minami Machida station on the Hanzomon/Denentoshi line out of Shibuya. To cut the journey time from central Tokyo, you can take an express train to Nagatsuta and then change onto the local train for three more stops. Grandberry Mall can be combined with a trip to Kodomo no Kuni (Children's Land) which is two stops on the special line from Nagatsuta station. The mall has a mixture of standard and outlet stores (outlets include Oshkosh, and there is a branch of Next which has a mixture of normal and outlet stock) plus restaurants, a supermarket and a small outdoor play area. All very child- and dog-friendly.

If anyone knows of any other Clickbrick branches closer to central Tokyo, I'd be interested to hear about them.

I went to a mall today - next to Lalaport in Minami Funabashi. I'm pretty sure a Lego store is there. I went there a few months ago and they had really cheap lego there as well.

Another good toy store, in fact, huge and I think famous, is
Yamashiroya near Ueno station (next to Marui). We got a Mazda RX8 remote control model car there for Y1050 a couple of weeks ago. I've known about it for years, but this time kept the receipt ;-)
tel: 03-3831-2320
6-14-6 Ueno, Taito-ku, Tokyo 110-0005
http://www.e-yamashiroya.com

Has anyone seen stuffed toys that look like sushi? A friend bought some when on vacation in Japan a year or so ago, but can't remember where, and I've been looking ever since but to no avail. Any ideas?

For toys try "Akachan Honpo"
Alkakit 5F
Kinshicho
Sumida-ku
(2min Kinshicho Station
JR & Subway Honzomon)
TEL 03(3829)5381
FAX 03(3829)5394

Alexandra you aren't thinking of "Sushi-Azarashii" are you? that's the seal-sushi toys. If so, I've bought toyus at the hyaku-en stores before, also at Maruzen, and Kiddyland

I am looking for natural wooden building blocks for my 3-year old. Does anyone know of anywhere in Japan I can get hold of these?

Hi Angela,

I know both Akachan Honpo and Toys R Us carry natural wooden building blocks. Happy Shopping!

Hi,

Bornelund sell a fantastic range of wooden toys plus other great educational toys. I just bought a set of 48 magnetic numbers for the fridge for my son for about 1100 yen.

There is one in Harajuku on Meiji Dori near the corner of Omotesando Dori towards Shinjuku.
There is another in the Tobu department store in Ikebukuro on the 7th floor in the toy section. Tobu also stocks Japanese made wooden toys.

If you type in bornelund japan on Google and then click 'translate this page' you can view the site map addresses in English. Email if you have any trouble finding a store near you.

Thank you to everyone who replied to my enquiry about wooden building blocks. I finally made it to BorneLund in Harajuku and found what I was looking for. Thank you again.

I apologize if this info is somwhere on this
site, but I am looking for a "toy hospital"
in Tokyo - my daughter has a stuffed
rabbit that needs some care and I seem to
recall hearing that there is a hospital in
Tokyo, but can't remember the details.
Thanks!

Another toy store, more into wood and educational aids:
http://www.utoypia.co.jp Est. 1993
The following is from their website with the aid of the Altavista translator so it could easily be riddled with mistakes.
Harajuku:
6-32-5-1F Jingumae
Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 150-0001
Tel/Fax 03-3797-3304

inside Mitsukoshi Department Store, Shibuya-ku
Tel: 03-3443-4644

Head office in Ota-ku, Tokyo 145-0071
Telephone: 03-5483-5531

On the Keio line: Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 151-0073
Tel: 044-853-6651/Fax: 044-853-6652

Lego ClickBrink store found in Tokyo!

Thanks to Elizabeth above for the clues, I found a Lego Clickbricks store on the fourth floor of the "Vivit Square" shopping mall which is just past the Lalaport shopping mall out of the Minami-Funabashi train stop. If you head out of the train station on the sidewalk under the highway, you go a few hundred meters then there is a walkway to cross the high way and you see Lalaport and beyond if (to the right) you can see Vivit Square.

Most stuff was priced OK but there were some killer sales (I got this giant Lego Gundam for 3800 yen)!

Thanks for the postings...

I found another branch of Lego Clickbricks in the Venus Fort mall in Odaiba, too - a bit smaller than the Grandberry Mall one, but still plenty of stuff you don't find elsewhere, and much cheaper than department stores. There's also a Duplo play area in the shop.

Does anyone know where I can get Keitai Tamagotchi? A friend in the states is asking for one and all I know is that it is a small electonic toy. Any advice on where to get one and costs would be appreciated.

Amanda, does your friend in the USA read and write Japanse? You need to be able to read some basic Japanese to play with the one sold in Japan.

My friend does not read Japanese. I will pass on to her that her son probably won't be able to use it. I have no idea what this toy is like so I appreciate the info. Apparently, her son wants it because it is only available here.

Well, they cost about Y2500, can communicate with some mobile phones via their infra red port. Then you can send your tamagochi person on vacation, and also buy stuff via someone's mobile phone. Since the once bought in Japan won't communicate with mobile phones in other countries, maybe your friend is trying to get one for her son, not so he can actually use it as a toy, but for collectible purposes? They can be purchased at all toy departments of major stores (such as BIC camera or Tokyu, Seibu, Tobu, Mitsukoshi, Takashimaya, etc. department stores, and probably Toys R Us has them too. But sometimes they are not in stock (they run out). Here's info on the product in English: http://www.pixelmood.com/keitai.htm

Cool Magnetic Pieces - build different scenarios
There are about 15 different kits, and they cost about Y1500, or Y2000, depending on the number of pieces. Themes include "Fish", "Animal", "Circus", "Family" (with bears), "Dairy Farm", "Ice Land", "Monster", "Makai", "Nature" and so on. Made in Japan !
We saw them on display in the toy shop at the top of Tokyo Metropolitan Governement Building South Observation Deck.

"Pitland"
http://www.vol1.co.jp/index.html
Tel: 03-3809-0405, Fax: 03-3809-0407
E-Mail: vol1 [at] oregano.ocn.ne.jp
6-20-8 Machiya, Arakawa-ku, Tokyo 116-0001

I am a parent in the U.S. with a three children one of whom is fascinated by Japan and Japanese. He's been studying the langauge for a year. We're planning to go to Japan next summer.

He owns a leap pad and a fly pen. I'd like to try to use his electronics that he loves to help keep him motivated and learning. I've looked at a Japanese shopping service and seen that I can buy cocopad software. I have a couple of questions.

1. Does anyone know if the cocopad sofware will run in a U.S. leappad or do I need to buy the cocopad too?

2. Is there fly pen software in Japanese and if so what is it called?

3. Any other good learning games you would recomend?

Thanks,
David

Cool, for older kids too!
http://www.flying-pig.com
Flying Pig Paper Animation Kits are paper models you make that move. Easy to assemble, fun to share, great gifts.

Hakuhinkan Toy Park (mentioned above)
also has a smaller shop at the top of the Tokyo Government building at the free observation "deck".

So you can have a view while shopping for toys. The selection is of course much smaller, but there are some cool things available there.
tel: 03-5320-7570
closest JR Yamanote station: Shinjuku West exit
http://www.hakuhinkan.co.jp

anyone know where I can get the pregnant Liccan Chan Doll in Tokyo?

I think that was a limited addition. I've got one un-opened, but the postcard may no longer be honored. But then again it may be. It was in honor of the Crown Prince's wife being pregnant (I believe).

When my son was little he had a Bumble Ball that he absolutely loved. But the darn switch was so gentle that it would go off on it's own in the middle of the night if a cat so much as touched it. And it doesn't shut off after any set amount of time either.


Buy Garden Swings
Garden Football goals
Toys for garden