Shops in Nakano, Tokyo

Nakano (中野) is a quaint area located just 10 minutes of train ride, west of Shinjuku. It is where Anime fans visit for their collection of anime figurines at Nakano Broadway, and home to many small Izakayas located along the backstreets of Nakano. 


Fujiya (不二家) - a popular chain of cakes and confectioneries with stores nationwide Japan. 

I still remember my parents always buying their strawberry shortcakes for special occasions or birthdays when we were staying in Japan during my younger days. 

This is Peko-chan, Fujiya's mascot. There will always be a peko-chan standing outside every Fujiya store. And her costume changes as well, according to different seasons or festivals. 

Nice selection of cakes. and their prices are very reasonable, compared to other cake shops in Japan. 

How about some sample model cakes for ordering? They still look so tempting even though they are just model cakes only. 

This is the famous Nakano Broadway shopping mall, 4 stories of shops with Anime figurines shops as the main attraction. 

If you walk towards the back streets of Nakano, you will find many small Izakayas selling almost every type of Japanese cuisine, together with the must have - alcohol!

Heading down to the basement of Nakano broadway, you would see many interesting food stores. 

This soft cream store sells every kind of flavours, such as vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, mocha, grape, caramel, maccha, and there is even creamy tomato flavour. And the best selling item here is.... 

the 8 layer soft cream! I've tried this once before.. you need to share with a bunch of friends. I can't imagine one person finishing it, and you'll need to be fast, before the layers start melting. 

These soft cream posters are very well taken, customers are attracted by the posters to buy the soft cream. 

A shop selling meats. I used to frequent this shop for cheap meats. If you realise - many of them are selling at half price (半額). Besides beef, they also carry chicken, pork and processed meats such as hams and sausage. 

Just opposite the meat store is a siewmai store. There are 2 variations, the shrimp and pork siewmai. 

The size of these piping hot siewmai is quite big! just like the Tiong bahru siewmai. and the prices are quite reasonable as well, 1 for JPY70 (SGD1.10), 8 for JPY530 (SGD8.50) and 12 for JPY790 (SG12.50).

Another of my favourite shop is this fish shop. You can get very fresh and cheap seafood or sashimi here. 

boxed sushi is popular among locals. This one at JPY880 (SGD13) has toro, uni, ikura, which is very cheap!

If you prefer sashimi to sushi, cheap sashimi is available here too! As cheap as JPY350, you can get a decent plate of fresh sashimi. And the selection of 4 types of sashimi only costs you JPY580. 

The special of the day - Grilled Unagi. Sauces are also provided in an additional separate bottle. 


Nakano - it always has a special place in my heart, as there are many cheap and interesting shops, which I used to frequent during my schooling days there. Being a poor student, I could always buy lots of food ingredients here. And with my craze for "One Piece" anime recently, it is also my favourite spot to visit whenever I visit Japan, for my fix of One Piece figurines and products.