On Friday, July 18, Sega opened its second Sega Store, this time in the heart of Japan rather than in some other country like its first location, which opened in Shanghai back on May 1 of this year. Just like with its other location, though, Sega Store Tokyo offers visitors a wealth of exclusive Sega goods that makes it worth visiting for any fans who happen to be in Tokyo.
Related
Sega’s New Strategy: Fewer Games, Stronger Focus on Key Franchises
Sega plans to release fewer games while investing more in Sonic, Persona and Like a Dragon, strengthening development teams and reviving classic IPs
While Sega Store Tokyo does have a website that shows some of the available items, it doesn’t really communicate the full scope of what visitors can expect from it. Fortunately, we were able to go and see the store for ourselves, and we’re here for you now with a full report on the Sega Store experience courtesy of Jacob Bukacek!
I started off my Sega Store experience by arriving a little before opening time (10:00AM) in hopes of enjoying our time there without having to deal with too much crowding. Shibuya is an extremely popular location in Tokyo for both tourists and locals alike, so it’s always best to arrive there in either the morning or late evening to avoid most of the crowding. Unfortunately, many other eager fans had already gathered, so I was not, in fact, able to enter the store right away.
It turns out that, for the moment, Sega Store Tokyo is employing a time-entry ticket system in order to ensure a leisurely experience for visitors and a manageable store for the staff. So, despite getting there pretty early, the staff were already handing out tickets for early evening by the time I was able to get one. In my case, I wouldn’t be able to enter until 5:00PM later that day. This was a bit of a disappointment initially, but it turned out for the best.
Timed-entry seems like a bummer, but it makes for a better experience in the end.
Once my time finally arrived, the staff gathered everyone slotted for that time, about fifteen of us, requested that we stay no longer than thirty minutes (to avoid crowding), walked us to the entrance and collected our tickets before finally letting us in. Overall, it was a smooth process, and the wait turned out to be worth it, because, unlike the Pokémon Center and the Nintendo Store next door, I wasn’t constantly bumping into people and could really enjoy the experience.
Even though the store wasn’t nearly as big as the pictures on the website made it seem (it’s actually a pretty small space), it was still filled with plenty of cool items and gear. As one might expect, the Sonic series got the lion’s share of attention, but there were also portions of the store dedicated to Like a Dragon, Metaphor: ReFantazio, Persona, Project Sekai, PuyoPuyo and Sega itself.
As for what kinds of items one can expect to find for their favorite series, the selection was actually quite varied. Sonic fans can find everything from plush toys and plastic standees of their favorite characters to t-shirts and tote bags to even posable Sonic and Shadow figures. There were even quite a few special items, such as Japan-themed shirts, fans, mugs, cups and acrylic blocks featuring everyone’s favorite blue hedgehog.
Fans of Like a Dragon could also get cool t-shirts, plush toy keychains, figures, standees, stickers, bookmarks, patches, pillows and acrylic blocks depicting well-known scenes and characters from the games. Most of the merch was focused on Kiryu, Majima and Ichiban, though, so unfortunately there was precious little for fans who enjoy the series’ antagonists and minor characters.
If you’re a Kiryu fan, Sega has got you covered here.
The Project Sekaiand Puyo Puyo spaces were mostly dedicated to plush toys, little plastic stickers, standees, pillows and acrylic blocks, but I’m happy to report that plenty of options were available in the Personaand Metaphor: ReFantazioportions of the store. These featured everything mentioned above for Sonic and Like a Dragon, but also included items like really nice mats for trading card games, high-quality art prints, acrylic stands, wall clocks, keychains and mini-figures! Pretty much everything one could want as a Persona or Metaphor: ReFantazio fan was there.
I’m happy to report that plenty of options were available in the Persona and Metaphor: ReFantazio portions of the store.
Sega didn’t forget to feature itself either, offering pillows, Sega logo plush toys, logo cups, long- and short-sleeve t-shirts of both the logo and other Sega series like Shinobi and even mini die-cast models of the company’s classic consoles, complete with controllers! Seriously, for such a small space, Sega did a great job filling it with desirable things in addition to creating a carefree shopping experience. There were even 400-yen gachapon machines outside the store featuring Sonic characters and classic Sega game box art!
Overall, I’d say that Sega Store Tokyo is well worth the trip for any Sega fans who find themselves in the area. Even though the entry process might seem like a pain, it actually made for a superior experience in the end, thanks to ensuring that the space wasn’t crowded. And, most importantly, those who enjoy Sega’s and Atlus’ flagship series are almost certain to find something they’ll like thanks to the wide variety of goods on offer.
As for me, I came away from my visit with a cute Shadow plush toy, a Majima t-shirt, an acryliic block featuring Daisaku Kuze and a Sega-branded metal tumbler!
Some of it can be a bit expensive, with the high-quality prints, figure and higher-end shirts in particular priced at 9,000 yen and higher. Most things fall into the 1,200 to 5,000 yen range, however, meaning that visitors should at least be able to pick up one or two things. Also, limited-time and exclusive items were all being sold under a very strict “one per customer” policy, so there’s no point going there in hopes of stocking up and reselling. This is a store for the fans first and foremost, so just enjoy, yeah? I promise you it won’t be hard to do so!
Just like with most things in Japan, these prices are a lot better if you’re a visitor coming here with dollars, thanks to the very favorable exchange rate between the two currencies. Even so, it’s always better not to just impulsively buy stuff, yeah? Always consider what it is that would truly make for a fun purchase.
Again, those interested in seeing it for themselves can find the Sega Store on the sixth floor of the PARCO building in Shibuya. The store is open most days from 10:00AM to 9:00PM, but it’s best to get there as early as possible to avoid the crowds that descend on the whole area daily.
Next
Top 10 Sega Franchises
These are the best gaming franchises we’ve seen from Sega!
AloJapan.com