Explore Tokyo : In and Around Ikebukuro

Ikebukuro is a famous commercial and entertainment district located in Toshima. Today we want to tell you a little bit more about the area and also why you can find so many owls in form of statues, prints etc in this area of Tokyo. Keep scrolling!

Contents

• Transportation
• Shopping
• Culture and Entertainment
• Temples and Shrines
• Universities
• Language Schools
• Housing

Transporation

Ikebukuro Station is one of Tokyo’s major railway stations in Toshima, serviced by JR, Tokyo metro as well as Seibu Railway and Tobu Railway, and is the second busiest railway station in the world after Shinjuku Station.

Lines:

• JR Yamanote Line
• JR Saikyō Line
• JR Shōnan–Shinjuku Line
• Seibu Ikebukuro Line
• Tōbu Tōjō Line
• Tokyo Metro Marunouchi Line
• Tokyo Metro Yurakucho Line
• Tokyo Metro Fukutoshin Line

Tomi Mäkitalo / CC BY-SA

Shopping

Ikebukuro offers almost endless options for shopping, but we would like to mention a few ones:

Sunshine City

Sunshine City is a building complex located just a few minutes walk from the East Exit of Ikebukuro Station.  On the lower floors there is a huge shopping mall and numerous restaurants. For all the Pokemon fans our there: It also is home to a Pokestop!

Animate

Animate is an absolute must-visit location for anime fans. How does 9 floors of books, CDs, DVDs and other anime-related merchandise sound to you? You can find the impressive Animate main store just a few streets behind the Ikebukuro Station East Exit.

運転太郎 / CC BY

Tokyu Hands

Tokyu hands is a department store focused on hobby, home improvement and lifestyle products.  The Ikebukuro store is also home to a cat cafe called Nekobukuro Cat’s House.

Culture and Entertainment

Namco Namja Town

Namco Namja Town (ナムコナンジャータウン) is an indoor theme park in the second floor of the Sunshine City shopping building complex. Opened in 1996 by the Japanese company Namco, which is well known for it’s video games, it offers themed dining, games and a haunted house.

SnowFire / CC BY

Sunshine Aquarium

Also located in the Sunshine City complex, there is the Sunshine Aquarium. The coolest thing is, it’s located on the top three floors and rooftop of the World Import Mart building in Sunshine City and features around 80 tanks with 37,000 fish.

KimonBerlin / CC BY-SA

KONICA MINOLTA Planetarium “Manten” in Sunshine City

It’s not always easy to see the stars in a bright city light Tokyo. Luckily there is the KONICA MINOLTA Planetarium “Manten” located in Sunshine city, allowing you to see the stars clearly, even on a cloudy day.

Ikefukuro café

What would Ikebukuro be without it’s Ikefukuros? Thanks to an alternative reading of the second kanji in the name Ikebukuro, which can also be read as “fukuro” meaning owl, owls have become the mascot of the district.

There is an owl cafe called Ikefukuro café located a bit south of the Ikebukuro Station’s East Exit.

Ikebukuro Chinatown

Not a big as for example Chinatown in Yokohama, but there is a still growing Chinatown with a variety of Chinese restaurants, supermarkets, bookstores etc. located at the north side of Ikebukuro Station.

Temples and Shrines

We always find it amazing, how many temples and shrines hide in this big city. Of course you can also find them in Toshima and the Ikebukuro district. We would like to mention a few of them:

Gokokuji Temple

Gokokuji is a wooden Buddhist temple founded in 1681 by the fifth shogun Tokugawa Tsunayoshi. It survived WWII and absolutely worth a visit!

Fukudainari Shrine

The Fukudaiinari shrine has a special place in our heart, as it is directly located next to our share house SAKURA HOUSE HIGASHI IKEBUKURO B. We even share the same entrance, Torii gates included!

Universities

Many university campuses are located in and around Ikebukuro. These include:

• Rikkyo University
• Waseda University
• Gakushuin university
• Tokyo Women’s University
• Takushoku University Bunkyo Campus
• Ochanomizu University
• Tokyo University of Social Welfare
• Tokyo Fuji University
• University of Tsukuba

Language Schools

Besides many university campuses, Ikebukuro is home to several Japanese Language schools. Besides that Takadanobaba, which is a famous location for Japanese language schools is located just two stops from Ikebukuro Station.

Housing

SAKURA HOUSE offers several accommodations in and around Toshima with great access to Japanese Language Schools, Universities and all around the city:

• SAKURA HOUSE SUNSHINE CITY
• SAKURA HOUSE HIGASHI IKEBUKURO B
• SAKURA HOUSE HIGASHI NAGASAKI B
• SAKURA HOUSE HIGASHI NAGASAKI TERRACE
• SAKURA HOUSE KANAMECHO IKEBUKURO 2 (located just 6 minutes walk from Rikkyo University)
• SAKURA HOUSE TABATA
• SAKURA HOUSE TABATA 2: Muslim-Friendly Share House
• SAKURA HOUSE TABATA 3 DORM
• SAKURA HOUSE TABATA 3 APARTMENTS

Our houses in and around Ikebukuro have exceptionally good access for example to Rikkyo University, Waseda University and Gakushuin University.

SAKURA HOUSE SUNSHINE CITY:

• Distance to Waseda University: around 21 minutes (Google Maps)
• Distance to Gakushuin University: around 17 minutes (Google Maps)
• Distance to Rikkyo University: around 18 minutes (Google Maps)

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SAKURA HOUSE HIGASHI IKEBUKURO B:

• • Distance to Waseda University:  around 20 minutes (Google Maps)
  • Distance to Gakushuin University: around 16 minutes (Google Maps)
  • Distance to Rikkyo University: around 19 minutes (Google Maps)

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SAKURA HOUSE HIGASHI NAGASAKI B:

• • Distance to Waseda University: around 31 minutes with transfers or 40 minutes direct (Google Maps)
  • Distance to Gakushuin University: around 20 minutes with transfer or 27 minutes direct via bus (Google Maps)
  • Distance to Rikkyo University: around 15 minutes (Google Maps)

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SAKURA HOUSE HIGASHI NAGASAKI TERRACE:

• • Distance to Waseda University: around 34 minutes with transfers or 39 minutes direct (Google Maps)
  • Distance to Gakushuin University: around 21 minutes with transfer or 29 minutes direct via bus (Google Maps)
  • Distance to Rikkyo University: around 16 minutes (Google Maps)

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SAKURA HOUSE KANAMECHO IKEBUKURO 2:

• • Distance to Waseda University: around 29 minutes (Google Maps)
  • Distance to Gakushuin University: around 19 minutes with transfer or 23 minutes direct (Google Maps)
  • Distance to Rikkyo University: 6 minutes walk (Google Maps)

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Hoot hoot!

Rhododendrites / CC BY-SA