Hi! I am Hassy, a new Accessible Tokyo member. On September 8th, we conducted our wheelchair accessibility review at Nakano Broadway. Nakano Broadway is known as a sacred place for a so-called “subculture of Japan” and it not only attracts Japanese but also foreign tourists.
The subculture of Japan is very well known in Akihabara but the unique part of Nakano Broadway is that it is all in one building. Many shops of peculiar but attractive hobbies are located side by side in the building and you will feel the deep world once you step inside.
Let’s start the trip from the nearest station, which is Nakano Station.
Nakano Station
Nakano Station, North Exit
Nakano Station is one of the major terminal stations of Tokyo which has the JR Chuo line, Sobu line, and Tokyo Metro Tozai line. But there is no elevator from the platforms to the exit corridor. You will have to call a station clerk to bring down the wheelchair when using the escalator.
Escalator from the platform to the exit corridor
You have to call a station clerk to get down to the corridor.
Interphone to call a station clerk
We use the escalator to get down to the corridor with the assistance of a station clerk.
From the corridor to the outside of North exit, it is flat and easy to go by wheelchair.
Nakano station North exit square
It is easy to walk on rainy days under the roof of the walkway in North exit square.
We will go through the shopping mall called Nakano Sunmall from the square to Nakano Broadway. It is 250 meters long and covered entirely by the roof. It was quite crowded and it was to difficult walk straight when we visited because it was Sunday.
Nakano Sunmall
Accessible Team
The end of Sunmall reaches the entrance of Nakano Broadway.
The entrance of Nakano Broadway
Nakano Broadway
A little background story about the building of Nakano Broadway;
The building was constructed fifty three years ago as a complex of commercial and residential use. Originally the tenants of the commercial section were mainly fashion and food but after the bubble economy crushed in 1991, the original shops faded away and the subculture shops came in and it became the current form.
Interior of the Nakano Broadway building where you can tell the original atmosphere of 50 years ago.
Display of celebration of its 50 years anniversary
This time we visited the commercial section which is from the 1st basement floor to the 4th floor. Once we entered the building, we found the display of anime goods, figures of main characters and cell pictures. We felt that we stepped into a different world.
The anime character of Showa era welcomes you.
The passages to the shops are relatively dim and you can tell the ambiance of the 50 years-old building.
There are many shops of different kinds of hobby such as anime goods, anime figures, train models and classic miniature cars. Each shop has so many items in stock which satisfies the desire of the so-called “Otaku”(geek).
Goods of famous anime
The shop packed with expensive dolls
Goods of famous anime character
Train models
Classic miniature cars
The shop full of hobby showcases
The masks of professional wrestlers
Game cards specialty shop
Many shops use a huge portion as display areas. Most shops are free to go inside by wheelchair but you may have a difficulty in some shops due to the limited space.
Some shops have limited space for wheelchairs.
Most of the shops are OK to go inside by wheelchair.
The biggest shop of Nakano Broadway is Mandarake. Mandarake started its business in 1980 with a tiny space of 6.6 ㎡ selling used comic books. Now they have many shops with specific genre of subculture on each floor.
Mandarake main store
Each shop of Mandarake attracts customers with not only the sales items but also the display of inside and outside of the shop so as to tickle the sense of fun as an Otaku.
The display of Mandarake
Each part of display is elaborate.
Alien on the street
What could be sold inside this shop?
If you take a look at the entire shopping area, you will notice there are many capsule toy vending machines in every open space. You will find so many different kinds of goods in the capsules which would satisfy your Otaku curiosity.
Toy capsule specialty shops are in business.
The building is not only for subculture shops.
The brand watch shops are surprising as well. Those watches displayed in the showcase are extremely expensive.
Patek Philippe of 9 million yen is now 6 million yen. Big discount!
In Nakano Broadway, artist Takashi Murakami and his team opens a café and galleries. Mr. Murakami is famous for the collaboration with Louis Vuitton.
Bar Zingaro produced by Takashi Murakami’s creative team
The building is horizontally long shaped with 2 corridors and with all shops facing the corridors. The structure is basically simple, but the escalator locations are a little bit tricky.
Escalators in the building
There is a multipurpose elevator at the center of the building. This elevator is not only for wheelchair users but also for business so that it is quite busy and you have to wait for a while.
Multipurpose elevator
It is packed when you go inside the elevator with a wheelchair.
There is one multipurpose restroom on the second floor, deepest corner of the corridor.
Entrance of the multipurpose restroom. It is not easy to find the signboard.
Inside the multipurpose restroom. No washlet.
There are many tourists coming from abroad and Nakano Broadway is trying to guide in English and Chinese as well.
Information booth at the entrance.
Free guidebook of the building
Official Home Page of Nakano Broadway
There is a Free Wi-Fi service in the building and a digital touch panel of the floor guide is available.
Digital touch board of the floor guide
There is a money exchange for foreigners inside.
Money exchange
The money exchange operates as a luggage storage as well.
Although Nakano Broadway has been changing over the last 50 years, there are still some shops as they were before such as coin shops and coffee shops. The ambiance of those shops brings a new attraction to the visitors.
Posters of the movies of Showa era
Nostalgic coin shop
Coffee shop Emu with Showa era ambiance
If you become hungry after you walk around, it is better to go to the soft cream shop Daily Chiko on the 1st basement floor. You should share with your friends to finish its famous 8- flavor soft cream otherwise it melts.
Daily Chiko of 1st Basement
Daily Chiko’s famous 8-flavor soft cream
On the 1st basement, there are food stores and a supermarket and a 100 yen only discount shop. Parking spaces connecting to the elevator with wheelchair access is available on this floor.
1st basement of the building
Nakano Broadway has become a very unique building after the lapse of fifty years. You may say that it is attractive for wheelchair users to enjoy the ambiance of subculture concentrated in one building, unlike Akihabara. Although the wheelchair accessibility is not perfect such as the availability of elevators and the multipurpose restrooms due to the aging building, it is worth visiting because you can immediately realize the trend of Japanese subculture. There are so many things that you cannot recognize within one day, so how about visiting?
