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| Tezuka Osamu World: Hatsudai | |||
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If you are looking for Astro-Boy goods, the place to go is the Tezuka Osamu World Entertainment Square in the basement of Tokyo Opera City. While it carries a whole range of goods from many characters by the father of Japanese manga and anime, Astro-Boy is definitely the most popular.
Long before Miyazaki Hayao, Tezuka's little superhero robot Astro-Boy introduced generations of US and European children to the joys of Japanese animation. Even now, 40 years later, the bestselling items are the way-cool t-shirts and sweatshirts, accessories and bags featuring 3D holographic images of Astro-Boy. The crockery and bento-boxes aren't bad either - although the neckties are nerdish in the extreme. There's a bookstore with German, Korean, French and Italian editions of the manga, and a DVD store with Japanese box-sets of the animated features and TV series such as Black Jack, Metropolis, Kimba the White Lion, Pheonix and Astro-Boy himself. A limited-edition, large tin toy of Astro-Boy goes for 50,000 yen, while an Astro-Boy music box (with serial number and certificate of authenticity) costs just 12,800. Other goods include figures and phone straps, original anime cels and art, cookies and candy in attractive tins for between 300 and 700 yen. There's even a cafe next door where you can taste Astro-Boy curry rice. Unfortunately the food is all rather conventional - no secret ingredients such as Astro-Boy's favorite foods or spices. Tezuka Osamu World even has its own line of designer brand clothing! For about 15,000 yen, you can buy jeans and denim jackets in pink snakeskin and camouflage patterns. Look closely and you can see Astro-Boy and other characters hidden in the designs! by Richard Jeffery |
Tezuka Osamu World
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