Things to do in Japan

– Permanent locations –

If you’re planning to visit Japan soon and would like to know where relevant Sailor Moon related permanent locations are in order to plan your trip, we have a handy travel guide that will help you find these places with ease. As of now, these locations are labeled as “permanent” as they are not scheduled to close in the foreseeable future. This list is still subject to changes, but we will update accordingly.

✦ Sailor Moon Store (flagship store)

Located in the heart of Harajuku, this is the main Sailor Moon Store where you will be able to find an ever-changing array of officially licensed collectibles and Store exclusive merch. They also carry items from select collaborations like P-Bandai, Banpresto, Isetan, Sunstar, etc. The store is divided in two sections: The Pink side (with collectible toys, stationary, keychains, DVDs) and the Blue side (with high-end merch, brand name clothing, jewelry, etc). You can watch a video all about the Sailor Moon store, here.

✦ Sailor Moon Store -Petit- (Pop-Up store)

Locations for the Petit store will vary because they could pop-up in different cities around Japan, although the pop-up shop in Osaka is considered semi-permanent as it has been there a long time and there is no closing date. You will be able to find an ever-changing array of officially licensed collectibles and Store exclusive merch. They also carry items from select collaborations like P-Bandai, Banpresto, Isetan, Sunstar, etc. Watch a short video about the Sailor Moon Store -Petit-, here.

✦ Small Worlds Tokyo (miniature museum)

Small Worlds is a miniature museum in Ariake, Tokyo. One of the largest in all Asia with a total area of 7,000 m². As many fans know, Sailor Moon is set in the Azabu Juban district of Tokyo where Usagi and the girls transform into Sailor Guardians to battle against villains. Every famous location of the Sailor Moon Crystal and Sailor Moon Eternal movies is represented in small scale. Far off in the back you can see “Crystal Tokyo”, a future city in the 30th century depicted in the series. It becomes a fun game of discovering different characters in different situations from the anime. Highly recommended for any hardcore fans. SMFN team member, Brooke, posted a video all about the Sailor Moon area if you want to know more.

✦ Toei Animation Museum (animation museum)

The Toei Museum is located in the outskirts of Tokyo. It is not the actual animation studio where they produce their IPs, but a mere sampling of their most popular franchises. Here you will find a small selection of One Piece, Pretty Cure, Dragon Ball and Sailor Moon pieces, as well as a couple interactive screens with info about their series. The entire museum can be seen in less than half an hour, so be advised that the Sailor Moon exhibit is tiny.

✦ Mandarake (used toy reseller)

There are many second hand toy shops in Japan (Hobby Off / Book Off, Treasure Factory, Surugaya, etc.) but Mandarake is the best known for their wide variety of collectible goods ranging from anime, manga, toys, games, movie memorabilia, retro items, etc. While there are many branches all over the country (including the large Akihabara Complex), their first store was established in the Nakano Broadway shopping mall. Any branch will offer some amount of magical girl toys, but we recommend the Magical Girl shop on the third floor of the Nakano mall, which is where we have found the most amount of collectibles.

✦ Toy Town Bandai Museum (toy museum)

The Toy Town Bandai Museum displays carefully selected collections from about 35,000 Bandai items. There are four themed museums: Japan Toy Collection, World Toy Collection, Edison Collection, and Hobby (Gundam). You can learn Japan’s cultural history and enjoy many different exhibits. There is a small magical girl area that includes 90s and 00s Sailor Moon toys.

✦ Mibu Toy Museum (toy museum)

The Mibu Toy Museum is also located in Tochigi. They have a permanent exhibit of vintage toys and collectibles as well as playground areas for smaller children with games, rides and photo ops. Be advised that the Sailor Moon section is tiny (only a glass case), but it’s still an interesting visit if you are in the Tochigi area.

✦ Toei Kyoto Studio Park (amusement park)

The Toei Kyoto Studio Park is both an amusement park with themed activities, restaurants, and exhibits, as well as a working Edo-period style filming set for historical movies and J-dramas. There are rotating anime collaborations, games, rides and photo ops. Inside the main building, Toei has an exhibit of their super sentai shows and animation properties which include Dragon Ball, Pretty Cure and of course Sailor Moon. Be advised that the Sailor Moon section is tiny (only a glass case), but it’s still an interesting visit if you are in the park.

✦ Azabu Juban and Tokyo area guide

As most Moonies know, Azabu Juban is a real life district in Tokyo that inspired many of the locations of the manga and anime. Unfortunately some locations from the 90s adaptation have long disappeared and some were fictitious, but most can still be found. We have put together a list of the most relevant sites to visit in Azabu Juban as well as a few others in the greater Tokyo area.

✦ Sailor Moon Street Finds

The series had its boom back in the 90s, however 30+ years later it has become increasingly difficult to spot any Sailor Moon items out the wild. We’ve created an ongoing list of fun Sailor Moon finds we’ve randomly spot in Japan. Please be warned that some of these may no longer exist by the time you get there because they are constantly renewing.

✦ Entire Google Map of permanent locations here ✦

– Temporary locations –

First published: Jan 10, 2024.
Last updated: March 4, 2024.