Ikebukuro blog — 7+ best places to go & top fun things to do in Ikebukuro

December 29, 2023

During your next trip to Japan, do you already have in mind the places you want to visit? If not, why don’t you try going to Ikebukuro – one of the bustling areas that attracts a large number of tourists beyond areas like Shibuya, Shinjuku,… Joining us to find out places and top things to do in Ikebukuro you can’t miss when you come to visit this neighborhood! So, where to go in Ikebukuro and what to do in Ikebukuro? Let’s check out our suggested 7+ Ikebukuro places to go, Ikebukuro what to see and best fun things to do in Ikebukuro as follows!

Let’s learn about Ikebukuro (# ikebukuro blog)

Geographical location

Ikebukuro (池袋) is a neighborhood located in the northwest of central Tokyo, Japan. It is in the Toshima district and surrounded by other areas such as Shinjuku, Shibuya and Ueno. This is one of Tokyo’s fastest growing areas and has many major routes connecting it to other areas of the city, making Ikebukuro very convenient to get to by subway and JR trains.

History (#ikebukuro blog)

Previously, Ikebukuro had the appearance of an ancient village located northwest of Ikebukuro station. Most of the area where modern Ikebukuro is built was formerly called Sugamo. During the Taishō and Shōwa periods, relatively low real estate prices attracted foreign artists and workers to live and thereby brought modern vitality to the place.

It is known that the name Ikebukuro transliterated in kanji literally means “pond bag” (池袋). Because this place used to have many lakes, it got its name.

Also located near the city center is a small owl statue called Ikefukurō-zō (池梟像), meaning owl statue in the pond. This is a pretty good and interesting play on words because “owl” (梟 fukurō) is the same (homophones) as the word “bag” (袋 fukuro).

Highlights

The Ikebukuro neighborhood is known for the Sunshine City complex – which is a 60-story skyscraper, located in the area. At the time of completion in 1978, this was the tallest building in East Asia and held this title until 1985. Sunshine City was built in the style of a city within a city because it has all the what you need. This is a complex including shopping malls, shops, restaurants, aquariums, museums, indoor amusement parks as well as the Sunshine Prince hotel and offices.

Based on Tokyo travel experience, besides the famous Akihabara area in the otaku community, Ikebukuro also has many stores related to manga, anime and cosplay. Here you can find extremely eye-catching, attractive and attractive models, comics, and self-published novels for mostly female readers.

In addition to visiting the Ikebukuro neighborhood, Japan has many other bustling neighborhoods that you can visit. Each place has its own unique atmosphere, color and quality, such as Harajuku, Shibuya, Ginza and even Ueno area,…

How to get to Ikebukuro?

You can get to Ikebukuro by various means of public transportation, including:

Subway (Tokyo Metro): Ikebukuro is one of the central stations of the Tokyo Metro subway network, including the Marunouchi, Yurakucho, Fukutoshin and Saikyo lines.
Metro (JR): Ikebukuro is one of the central stations of the JR subway system, which includes the Yamanote, Saikyo and Shonan-Shinjuku lines.

Top interesting experiences not to miss when coming to Ikebukuro (# fun things to do in ikebukuro)

Panoramic views of the city at the SKY CIRCUS Sunshine 60 Observatory

Address: Sky Circus Sunshine 60 Observatory, Sunshine 60 Bldg. 60F, 3-1 Higashi Ikebukuro, Toshima City, Tokyo
Opening hours: 12:00-21:00
Entrance ticket: 1200 yen

Come to Sky Circus to stimulate your senses with a 360-degree panoramic view of Tokyo from the observatory located on the 60th floor of the Sunshine City building at a height of 251m.

How to get there:

The Sky Circus observatory is located on the 60th floor of the Sunshine City building in Ikebukuro, Tokyo, Japan. To get here, you can use public transportation to move most conveniently with:

Subway (Tokyo Metro): You can use the Marunouchi or Yurakucho lines and get off at Higashi-Ikebukuro station (exit 6 or 7). From there, you walk about 3 minutes to Sunshine City.
Train (JR): You can use the Yamanote or Saikyo line and get off at Ikebukuro station. From there, you can walk across the crossing and walk about 15 minutes to Sunshine City.

Panorama of the city from the Sky Circus observatory. | Credit: observatory_gram

In addition to the observation area, the space is also decorated with small exhibitions, a mirror area, a kaleidoscope area and even a virtual reality (VR) gaming area for visitors.

You can choose to see a very beautiful and sunny Tokyo or a sparkling Tokyo at night here. | Credit: _hibi_aya

Have fun at Sunshine Aquarium – an oasis in the heart of the city (# fun things to do in ikebukuro)

Address: Rooftop of World Import Mart Building, 3-1 Higashi-Ikebukuro, Toshima City, Tokyo
Entrance ticket: 2400 yen
Opening hours: 9:30 – 21:00 every day.

It can be said that Sunshine Aquarium is one of the most special aquariums in Tokyo when the rooftop of the World Import Mart building was used to build the space here. Not to mention, even the name when translated into Vietnamese, Sunshine Aquarium, sounds so cute!

Sunshine Aquarium has a large campus despite being located on a high-rise building with views spanning other skyscrapers, creating an extremely special feeling for those who have the opportunity to visit here. With about 70 tanks, it is home to a huge number of marine creatures; extensive up to 23,000 individuals representing 550 different large and small species. The most typical include seals, tiger sharks, penguins, jellyfish, otters,…

See penguins swimming right outside with skyscrapers in the background. | fun things to do in ikebukuro

Inside the sightseeing area includes: Sunshine Lagoon is an extremely large tank (with 240 tons of water), Kurage Kukan jellyfish sightseeing area was newly built in 2020 and Sunshine Aqua Ring is a tank built into Round like a ring, placed outdoors with a transparent glass tank so you can observe the penguins swimming freely in the sparkling water in the sunlight. It is truly a rare scene in the busy and bustling city center.

sunshine_aquarium__ikebukuro_tokyo5 — | fun things to do in ikebukuro

sunshine_aquarium__ikebukuro_tokyo4 — | fun things to do in ikebukuro

Animate Ikebukuro

Address: 1 Chome-20-7 Higashi Ikebukuro, Toshima City, Tokyo 170-0013, Japan
Opening hours: 11:00–21:00 (Saturday and Sunday will open 1 hour earlier, ie at 10:00 AM)

Japan is often known as a paradise of anime, manga, cosplay and character figures that many fans do not hesitate to spend money to collect for their collections and in Ikebukuro there is a super large Animate giant store to serve distinguished guests visiting and shopping.

With the successful launch of anime and manga series, places like Akihabara and Ikebukuro always attract a large number of tourists and locals to visit to immerse themselves in a sweet paradise with countless items that you can buy. It may take more than 1-2 hours to go around and see. Animate is a very large building with 7 floors, selling a variety of items such as cartoon characters, manga, stationery related to different manga / anime themes so customers can choose as they like. choose, shop and collect. Among them, typical examples include Chainsaw Man, Attack on Titan,…

In addition to fun and sightseeing places, we also recommend you a few places to rest to enjoy a fragrant cup of coffee and eat typical traditional dishes of the land of cherry blossoms such as:

Mermaid Coffee Roasters Ikebukuro

Address: Ikebukuro Building, 1-23-4 Higashi-Ikebukuro, Toshima-ku, Tokyo
Opening hours: 09:00–18:00 (closed every Tuesday)

If you like to enjoy cafes with the fragrant scent of coffee and a quiet space, a hidden gem hidden in a little-known alley to enjoy quiet moments, you definitely cannot miss Mermaid Coffee Roasters in Ikebukuro area? This cafe received a large number of compliments as well as high ratings on Google, up to 4.8 out of 5 stars; enough to make you understand how satisfied the guests who stop here are.

Kanda Tamagoken Higashi-Ikebukuro store

Address: 102 Higashiikebukuro ISK Building, 1-23-8 Higashiikebukuro, Toshima-ku, Tokyo
Price range: 1,000 – 2,000 yen/person

Omurice is one of the most popular dishes in Japan and is loved by many people because of its deliciousness even though the ingredients only include 3 simple ingredients: eggs, rice and tomato sauce. At Kanda Tamagoken Higashi, the Omurice menu has been upgraded with more choices along with dishes captioned in English so foreign visitors can easily order.

Beef Stew Omurice at Kanda Tamagoken Higashi. | Credit: Internet

This is one of the few restaurants that received extremely positive reviews with 4.3 out of 5 stars from 888 diners who visited. A quite impressive number and also a place worth experiencing. In addition, this place also serves a popular dish called Beef Stew Omurice served with self-salted pickles that look very attractive! In addition, don’t forget to pocket the list of 10 Japanese dishes you must try besides Omurice to enjoy the specialties of the land of the rising sun.

Accommodation in the Ikebukuro area

Here is a list of a few Japanese hotels located near the Ikebukuro neighborhood for you to conveniently stay as well as move around and have fun:

Hotel Grand City (Agoda, Booking)

Address: 1-30-7 Higashi-ikebukuro, Toshima-ku, Tokyo, Toshima, Kanto, Japan
Price: About $91/night

Hotel Grand City is housed in a luxuriously furnished building a 7-minute walk from Ikebukuro Station and 8 km from Tokyo National Museum. All types of rooms at the hotel are warmly decorated and fully equipped for guests to rest comfortably overnight.

The hotel is located right in the Ikebukuro area and only 6 minutes from Sunshine Aquarium and is surrounded by many convenience stores, cafes and restaurants so visitors can comfortably stroll and hang out in the evening to enjoy. Spend time with family and loved ones here.

Hotel Metropolitan Tokyo Ikebukuro (Agoda, Booking)

Address: 1-6-1 Nishi-Ikebukuro, Toshima-ku, Tokyo, Toshima, Kanto, Japan
Price: About $165/night

Hotel Metropolitan Tokyo Ikebukuro is considered an extremely great place to stay for tourists. This luxurious, high-rise hotel is a 6-minute walk from Ikebukuro Station, 2 km from Sunshine City Aquarium and 8 km from Tokyo Imperial Palace.

The room types here have large spaces that are meticulously designed with details that bring a warm feeling to the room and are filled with light, thereby giving guests an extremely comfortable feeling when staying in the room. Rest on the comfortable beds here and at the same time don’t have to spend too much time traveling to visit surrounding places.

Check out more top and best hotels in Ikebukuro on Agoda, Booking.

Conclusion

Ikebukuro is a neighborhood not only filled with modernity and innovation but also full of vitality with countless entertainment venues suitable for trips with close friends or with family and children and loved ones. Immerse yourself in the paradise of cool anime characters, visit a cafe hidden in a small alley or enjoy local specialties when coming to Ikebukuro.

Some best day tours, trips, activities and transfer services, tickets in, to and from Tokyo you can refer to

Are you looking for more Tokyo travel guide and top things to do in Tokyo: Tours, activities, attractions and other things? Read more: Tokyo itinerary 3 days — What to do in Tokyo in 3 days?