Ito-Yokado Opens New Shop at Takeshita-Dori Street in Harajuku; Shop Hopes to Attract Young People, Tourists With Pokémon, Mario Character Goods

The Yomiuri Shimbun

15:14 JST, March 6, 2025

Ito-Yokado Co. opened a new store that sells goods based on characters from such popular franchises as Pokémon and Super Mario at Takeshita-dori street in the Harajuku area of Tokyo on Wednesday.

The company hopes the new store, Toylo Mart, will attract young people and foreign tourists.

Ito-Yokado remodeled its clothing store to open Toylo Mart, which measures about 100 square meters. The store is filled with such items as stuffed toys, sundries and video games.

The company has been setting up a Toylo Park, an interactive play area that features digital games and other attractions, at its outlets nationwide since 2021.

Toylo Mart will announce which shops are selling limited-edition goods in an effort to have more customers go to those outlets.

“We believe that if there’s something a customer wants, they will even visit our outlets [in the suburbs],” a company official said. “We would like to use [Toylo Mart] as a strategic base.”

According to the Japan Toy Association, the toy market continues to grow despite the declining birth rate. There is a lot of demand from adults as well. Sales exceeded ¥1 trillion for the first time in fiscal 2023, totaling ¥1.0193 trillion, up 7.1% from the previous year.