Where to Buy Anime Figures in Tokyo: New vs Secondhand, Shop by Shop
Decide new or secondhand first — it changes which street you walk down. New (AmiAmi, Kotobukiya, Tamashii Nations) clusters around Akihabara's Radio Kaikan; secondhand (Mandarake, Surugaya, Lashinbang) is where rare and out-of-print kits actually live.
Start here: new or secondhand?
Almost every wasted afternoon in Akihabara comes from browsing the wrong kind of shop. Figure retail in Tokyo splits cleanly in two, and the split decides your route:
| You want | Go to | Why |
|---|---|---|
| A currently-selling figure, sealed, in perfect box | New retailers — AmiAmi, Kotobukiya, Volks, Tamashii Nations | Current catalogue, factory-sealed, straightforward tax-free |
| Something out of print, older, or cheap | Secondhand chains — Mandarake, Surugaya, Lashinbang | The only realistic place an out-of-print figure exists |
| To not decide yet | Akihabara Radio Kaikan | Ten floors, both kinds in one building |
If you only have one afternoon and no specific target, start at Radio Kaikan directly outside Akihabara Station's Electric Town Exit — it's the highest density of figure shops per step in Japan, and you can sample both halves of the market without walking.
New figures
- AmiAmi Akihabara Radio Kaikan (11:00–20:00) — the physical branch of the online retailer most foreign collectors already know. Figures, character goods, plastic models and trading cards. Tax-free available.
- Kotobukiya Akihabara (11:00–20:00) — the manufacturer's own store. Kotobukiya original kits and figures you won't reliably find elsewhere, plus official VTuber goods.
- Tamashii Nations Store Tokyo (10:00–20:00) — Bandai's own brand store for S.H.Figuarts, Chogokin and METAL BUILD, with store exclusives and a rotating display gallery. Note this store is not registered for tax-free, so budget the consumption tax in.
- Volks Akihabara Hobby Tengoku 2 — anime figures alongside model kits, paints and tools; the place to go if you also build.
Secondhand figures
Secondhand in Japan is not a compromise. Stock is graded, boxes are usually kept, and prices for out-of-print pieces are often far below overseas resale.
- Mandarake Complex Akihabara — the flagship. Secondhand figures, vintage toys, doujinshi and manga across multiple floors. Tax-free, and ships overseas, which matters more than it sounds (see below).
- Surugaya Akihabara Honkan (10:00–21:00) — opens earlier and closes later than most of the street; useful for a first or last stop.
- Lashinbang Akihabara (11:00–21:00) — used figures and small character goods; tax-free, but does not ship overseas, so buy here only what you can carry.
- Trader Akihabara (11:00–20:00) — anime and tokusatsu figures alongside games; ships overseas.
- Mandarake Nakano (12:00–20:00, year-round) — worth the 5-minute train from Shinjuku for rare figures, sofubi and vintage. See the Nakano Broadway guide for the floor layout.
The two facts that decide your budget
Tax-free is per shop, not per city. Tax-free registration is a property of the individual store. Verified as registered among the shops above: AmiAmi Akihabara, Mandarake Complex Akihabara, and Lashinbang Akihabara. Tamashii Nations Store Tokyo is verified as not tax-free. Everywhere else, ask at the register rather than assuming — and read the tax-free guide first, because the rules changed in 2026.
Overseas shipping is also per shop. Mandarake and Trader ship internationally; Lashinbang does not. If you're buying a 1/4-scale figure, the shipping question should decide where you buy it, not just how you get it home. Full options in how to ship figures home.
Outside Tokyo
Osaka's Den Den Town has Surugaya Nipponbashi Honkan (10:00–21:00, ships overseas) and Mandarake Grand Chaos (12:00–20:00); Nagoya's Osu has Jungle Nagoya for tokusatsu and robot-anime collectibles and Mandarake Nagoya (tax-free, ships overseas).
자주 묻는 질문
- Should I buy figures new or secondhand in Tokyo?
- If the figure is currently in production, buy new — AmiAmi, Kotobukiya, Volks and Tamashii Nations all carry current catalogue stock, sealed. If it's out of print, secondhand is not just cheaper, it's the only realistic option: Mandarake, Surugaya and Lashinbang are where discontinued figures actually exist. Japanese secondhand stock is condition-graded and usually boxed, so the quality gap is much smaller than overseas buyers expect.
- Are figure shops in Akihabara tax-free?
- Some are, some aren't — tax-free registration belongs to the individual store, not the district. Among the shops in this guide, AmiAmi Akihabara, Mandarake Complex Akihabara and Lashinbang Akihabara are verified as tax-free registered, while Tamashii Nations Store Tokyo is verified as not tax-free. Ask at the register rather than assuming, and bring your passport.
- Which Tokyo figure shops will ship a figure home for me?
- Mandarake and Trader Akihabara both ship overseas; Lashinbang Akihabara does not. This is worth checking before you buy rather than after, because for a large-scale figure the shipping option can decide which shop you should buy from. If your shop doesn't ship, see our guide to shipping figures home from Japan for forwarding and courier options.
- Where do I go if I only have one afternoon?
- Akihabara Radio Kaikan, immediately outside Akihabara Station's Electric Town Exit. It stacks around ten floors of figure and hobby retailers — including AmiAmi — in one building, covering both new and secondhand without walking between shops. If you still have time afterwards, Mandarake Complex is a few minutes away on foot.
