Tokyo · Shinjuku
Sunshine City
The complex was built on the site of Sugamo Prison, which was demolished in 1971. In this prison, on 23 December 1948, seven Class A war criminals were executed, among them former Prime Minister Hideki Tojo. Sunshine City opened in 1978 as a small city within the city: offices, shopping and entertainment under one roof.
The Sunshine 60 tower at the center of the complex, 240 meters and 60 floors, was the tallest building in Japan and in Asia when it was completed, until skyscrapers in Seoul overtook it in 1985. Today the tower is only one part of a complex that includes a rooftop aquarium, an indoor amusement park and a Pokémon Center.
Otome Road runs next to the complex, a row of anime and manga shops aimed mainly at a female audience.
Good to know
- The aquarium price changes with the date of the visit and is not fixed, so check the price calendar before you buy a ticket.
- Pokémon Center Mega Tokyo is inside the same complex, on a separate floor from the aquarium and from Namja Town.
- If you come from the regular Ikebukuro Station: take East Exit 35 and then walk about 8 minutes. Higashi-Ikebukuro Station is closer, about 3 minutes.
What is nearby
Approximate walking minutes from the entrance of Sunshine City.
- HereSunshine City
- 1 min
Sunshine Aquarium More to see
A rooftop aquarium, with a penguin tank overhead that makes them look as if they are flying. The price varies by date, ¥2,600 to ¥3,200.
- ~2 min
Pokémon Center Mega Tokyo Shopping
The flagship store in Ikebukuro, inside the Sunshine City mall.
- ~3 min
Namja Town More to see
An indoor amusement park themed on Showa-era streets, with a gyoza area and a dessert area. An entry-only ticket is ¥1,200, and a passport for all the attractions is up to ¥3,700.
- ~5 min
Ikebukuro Otome Road Street
About 200 m of manga and anime shops aimed at women, west of the Sunshine 60 tower, mostly doujinshi and used merchandise, including K-BOOKS
- ~5 min
Animate Cafe Cafe
In Ikebukuro, it collaborates with a different series each period.
- ~8 min
Higashi-Ikebukuro Taishoken Honten Food
The restaurant where Kazuo Yamagishi turned tsukemen, noodles that you dip in soup, into a well-known dish. Today it is run by his successors. Another restaurant named Taishoken in Ikebukuro closed, and this is not it.