First One Piece flagship store to open in Tokyo’s Shinjuku
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The first official flagship store for the popular manga One Piece was unveiled in Tokyo's bustling Shinjuku district.
PHOTO: THE JAPAN NEWS/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
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TOKYO – The first official flagship store for Japan’s popular manga series One Piece (1997 to present) was unveiled to the media by Bandai Namco Group on Nov 26.
Scheduled to open to the public on Dec 5, One Piece Base Shop occupies the entire fourth floor of the Shinjuku Marui Honkan building in Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo. It is designed to evoke islands where the protagonist, Luffy, has gone on adventures.
Limited-edition merchandise is available at the interactive shop, where customers can also make original One Piece T-shirts and other collectibles.
About 800 kinds of character figures and other items are on display at the shop, which covers 1,185 sq m. About 500 are limited-edition items, including an extra-large plush toy of the Going Merry pirate ship. There is also a space surrounded 360-degrees by animated images of One Piece.
Reservations to visit the shop will need to be made via an official smartphone app for now to avoid overcrowding.
“I expect this shop will become a base for spreading new interactive experiences from Shinjuku,” said Mr Hiroshi Kawasaki, president of store operator Bandai Namco Experience.
One Piece, written and illustrated by Japanese manga artist Eiichiro Oda, has been serialised in the Shukan Shonen Jump weekly manga magazine since 1997. More than 510 million copies have been printed for the manga’s tankobon (standalone volume) book edition. THE JAPAN NEWS/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
