Nerdy Nagoya

I’ve decided to switch gears for a change and talk about some of the more interesting stores I’ve been to in Nagoya. I’ve been talking only about Magic stores lately, but there are also people who come to Nagoya for quality anime and other hobby goods. Today I’ll be talking about two stores located in the Osu area:

Mandrake and Wondergoo

Mandarake

Mandrake in Osu

Mandarake (I pronounce it Man drake, but that’s me) is an all around hobby store and holds some really unique goods inside. Ask you can see from the picture, they specialize in anime, toys, CDs, video games, and a lot more. But these just aren’t the types of things you can get at any old store. No, Mandarake has rare, premium goods at their store. They sell a lot of old games that are hard to find, have a huge collection of anime DVDs and CDs, and have scores of figures. I’ve only been inside twice, but I absolutely love going to the 2nd floor to browse through their action figures. Most notably, their awesome collection of Transformers.They have the original Transformers, Beast Wars, the movie Transformers . . . their shelves are absolutely PACKED with them. It feels like I’m a kid again when I look through their stock.

Robots in disguise, at Mandrake

On the 3rd floor of Mandarake, they have a collection of cosplay products, as well as some ‘adult’ cosplay things. Mandarake isn’t exactly a family friendly store, but if you feel like checking out some premium and rare goods, check it out. The prices might be a little high, but window shopping has never been so much fun. It’s definitely worth a visit.

In order to get to Mandarake, go the same way you would go to get to Wondergoo/ Hobby Station Osu. From Nagoya station, head to Sakae station on the Higashiyama (yellow) line. From there, transfer to the Meijo (purple) line and head towards the next stop, Yabacho station.  From there take exit 4 and go up to street level. You should see an expressway in front of you. Walk under the expressway and cross the road. Once you get across the street, take a right and walk up the hill, following the expressway. Once you get to the stop light, you should see Big Magic on your left. Cross the street and turn left, so that you are on the same side as the McDonalds. From there, walk straight for a few minutes until you see a 7/11 convenience store. You’ll see the giant red sign on your right that says “Akamon Dori” in Japanese (and English too if my memory serves me correctly). Turn right there and walk down 2 blocks or so then take your second left. Go straight and within a minute or so you should see Mandrake on your right side. Look for a building like the one in the picture.

Wondergoo

Wondergoo in Osu on Akamon street

If you’ve been to Hobby Station Osu already, then you’ve  already been here. Hobby Station Osu (the card shop where you can play Magic the Gathering amongst other games) is located on the 4th floor of this building. What I didn’t cover in that previous post is what the rest of the store contains. While it’s not really my thing, I’ll do my best to let you know what kind of things you can find in Wondergoo. While Mandrake was a place to get vintage toys and games, Wondergoo is where you’ll find the latest anime, manga, and their goods. To get here, use the SAME DIRECTIONS you used to get to Mandrake above, except instead of taking a left just keep going straight. You’ll some computer and audio shops near it. Please continue reading for a floor by floor breakdown.

Wondergoo’s Manga floor

The first floor of Wondergoo is entirely full of Manga. It’s in Japanese, so unless your Kanji and vocab are up to snuff, you’ll just be looking at the pretty pictures.

Anime-based goods on Wondergoo’s 2nd floor

The 2nd floor of Wondergoo is devoted to anime meda. This is mostly CDs and anime, along with a few goods.

Cosplay and anime goods on the 3rd Floor at Wondergoo

The 3rd floor is really the only floor I’ve actually walked around in. There are anime specific tables/corners with accessories and goods, featuring popular animes such as One Piece, Gundam, and Bleach. The back part of this floor is full of cosplay costumes, wigs, and accessories if you’re big on the Cosplay scene. Nagoya was actually host to the World Cosplay Summit in the past, and continues to have a strong cosplay scene.

If your hobby is Anime and cosplay, then hopefully this post was useful to you. There are still tons of places to check out in Nagoya, so be sure to come back and read up on them in the future! Thanks for reading.