A Wealth of Cute, Unusual Gadgets and Gizmos

Tokyo shops sell all sorts of unusual objects that make them popular browsing haunts for all ages.

For children there are wearables (Miki House children’s clothes, shoes with animal faces, lunch box handbags, etc.), notebooks, pens, pencils and other school and/or office supplies, electronic goods and gadgets, amusing rubber stamps and stickers. Then there are miniatures of everything from sushi to automobiles, knickknacks for curio cabinets and a complete catalogue of objects that only mean to be cute. Cutest of all are toys, sold in astonishing quantity and variety.

Broad Price Range

Japanese “cute” things have a broad price range. A wide selection of inexpensive items, ideal for souvenirs and gifts, are sold in top specialty shops and department stores in fashionable Ginza and trendy Harajuku.

One of the biggest and best of these shops is Kiddyland (6-1-9 Jungumae, Shibuya-ku). Despite its name, this six-story emporium has toys, hobby supplies and other merchandise for sophisticated adults as well as children.

The entrance to this fun house attracts the attention of passers-by with an enormous statue of a primitive hunter, ostensibly from the African jungle.

Just inside, a life-size mechanical grizzly bear gestures a welcome and greets customers with Japanese phrases and little ditties. Background music is a steady stream of Japanese songs in the distinctive style of popular teen-age vocalists who croon about the aspirations and problems of youth.

The first floor shows a forest of unnecessary gadgets perfect for anyone with a sense of humor and a liking for unusual, attention-getting possessions. A wide selection of pens by Pen Nuvo and others cost $3 to $5 U.S. They feature tiny realistic plastic bathing beauties, dinosaurs, he-men, waitresses serving exotic ice cream sundaes, penguins and other fun figures for caps.

Ice Cream Lighter

Cheap watches with colorful bands and funny faces include an unusual model with two hearts revolving under magnifying crystals ($15). An ice cream cone cigarette lighter costs $9; one shaped like Cleopatra sells for $8. One radio looks like an old-fashioned microphone ($130), another is the size and shape of a credit card ($16). Music boxes look like pianos or ballerinas.

For an overview of Kiddyland, take the elevator to the fifth floor and work your way down. On five you’ll find computer, party, sports and card games galore. A game requiring unusual skills features tiny pieces of plastic curry to be extracted with chopsticks from a large pot ($18).

More typical fare includes Japanese editions of Dungeons and Dragons and dozens of miniature computerized games ($7 and up) that beep, burp, whistle and hiccup as you hit baseballs, kick footballs or move heaps of stones from one corner of the screen to another.

The fourth floor has model cars and high-tech radio-controlled racers, model railroads, pre-assembled and do-it-yourself plastic models of everything from dinosaurs to space ships.

Cute and/or high-tech robots sell for $15 and up. Sea Monkeys ($10), an unusual pet set, hatches fish eggs and supports tiny fish that live for about two years. Mighty Mow trucks, sturdy enough to scale walls, are $15. The robot Bank Zenimaru ($20) makes goo-goo eyes while it chomps coins.

The third floor features traditional and novelty dolls. Jenny (Japan’s Barbie) costs $25 and up, depending upon costume. Michael Jackson, Boy George and oversize Godzilla dolls ($20 and up) are popular.

The toddler’s section is filled with gentle toots of tiny choo-choos weaving through the terrain of the Sylvan Family; idyllic tiny dolls in alpine costume ($8 and up), displayed in wee houses with miniature furniture, plus china and pets (rabbits, beavers, bears). There are fuzzy little bears that talk Japanese ($14), rubber ducky rattles ($6), wooden pull horses, building blocks, jigsaw puzzles, books and toddler togs.

Spaceships, Submarines

The second floor has robots, spaceships and submarines that break into office supplies (scissors, staplers, rulers, glue, tape, pen, pencils, erasers, etc.), and other office and tool kits the size of an egg, plus book bags, notebooks and organizers, giraffe-shaped erasers, sewing kits and pen sets the size of credit cards ($13).

Trendy beauty supplies include disposable lip and eye liner sticks and hair clasps of colored wire with pearl ends ($3).

In the basement: party goods, practical jokes, masks and costumes, decorations and games, and household accessories including touch-controlled seashell-shaped lamps ($25), table settings, funny drinking glasses and chopsticks.

Hankuhinkan Toy Park (8-8-11 Ginza, Chuo-ku) has four stories filled with similar paraphernalia, including a wide range of useful miniatures (office and artists’ supplies and home fix-it kits from $5) by Tiny Club and other manufacturers, plus charming stationery sets for baseball fans and other hobbyists ($12), nail enamel in green, yellow and other unusual colors ($3).

You’ll find pill-size checkers sets ($6), Michael Jackson dolls and pets in plush that are also radios ($17), funny fuzzy glitter pins ($2), a family of toy chicks that hatch from eggs ($10), baby dolls of rag and yarn ($6 and up) and those with pretty porcelain heads and hands ($90 and up), Party Queen miniature appliances, pots, pans and dishware for little homemakers ($20 and up per set), and a vast selection of TV games ($20) for fun and/or instruction in languages, math, music, etc.

Well-Known Characters

Mitsukoshi (4-6-16 Ginza, Chuo-ku) and other department stores have Ichigo Plaza or Gift Gate shops featuring well-known Hello Kitty, Twin Star and Catsby Kids accessories (pencil cases for $3; notebooks, makeup and mugs for $9; wallets and tissue paper for $1; pajamas for $20; bath sets from $30, and many items not sold in the United States) that are popular with young girls, plus a similar range of Betty Boop and Felix the Cat accessories, popular with kids and adults.

Several shops in Tokyo’s wholesale toy district retail gadgets and toys at discounted prices.

Nishino Shoten (2-13-3 Kuramae, Taito-ku) sells robot office sets for $2, miniature pool tables and accessories for $9, AM-FM radios that look like jukeboxes for $18, model Honda motorcycles from $13.

Uedaya Shoten (2-13-6 Kuramae, Taito-ku) has an entire wind-up amusement park for $8, cute pen and pencil sets for $3, talking (in Japanese) dolls made of washable terry cloth for $10, funny kiddie banks with fake gold coins carried in armored cars for $5, and dozens of balloons with odd shapes and amusing decorations.

The toy district is off the beaten tourist track so many vendors speak only limited English. Visit these discount shops with a translator, if possible.

Prices quoted in this article reflect currency exchange rates at the time of writing .