My journey to discover all of Fukuoka’s anime & figure stores starts at Canal City Hakata – one of Fukuoka’s largest shopping complexes. With all sorts of Official Stores scattered around the mall, let’s have a look at what you can expect here in terms of anime/figure shopping. Let’s get to it. How Good are the Anime/Figure Shops at Canal City Actually?
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If you want to check out some anime/figure stores around the other parts of Fukuoka, check out my full reviews here!
–Hakata Station–
–Tenjin Station–
–All areas in Fukuoka–
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🗾 Canal City Hakata 🗾
🗺 Map 🗺
https://maps.app.goo.gl/K4j4fLGnAyF8eFeL7
STORE LIST
–Ichiban Kuji Official Store (Canal City Hakata)–
–Bandai Candy Official Shop–
–Bandai Spirits Hobby Shop–
–Banprestore Arcade–
–Gashapon – Bandai Official Shop–
–Tamashii Nations Store–
–Pac-Man Store–
–Capcom Store–
–Donguri Republic–
–Jump Shop–
–Kinnikuman Shop–
–Ultraman World M78–
–The Gundam Base Fukuoka–
–Taito Station (Canal City Hakata)–
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🏢 Bandai Cross Store 🏢
Over at the South Building of Canal City (B1 Floor,) is Bandai Cross Store – an entire floor dedicated to all things Bandai.
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1 – 🏆 Ichiban Kuji Official Store (Canal City Hakata) 🏆
Starting off with my most-visited store this trip – Ichiban Kuji’s Official Store.
If you haven’t played Ichiban Kuji before, it’s essentially a raffle shop – where you buy a ticket, open ‘em up, and get rewards based on the reward tier you got, ranging from little collectibles to figures and statues.
You can actually find a lot of these grand prizes at second hand shops for decent prices, but if you can score one within 4-6 pulls, it averages out to a similar price.
I was extremely lucky to have a new Quintessential Quintuplets banner arrive right before my trip to Fukuoka, and with 3 continuous days of pulls, here’s how the journey went.
Day 1 started off pretty lackluster, with 6 pulls and not a single Grand Prize. For reference, I wanted Nino and Itsuki (Ichika optional), and my brother wanted Miku and Yotsuba.
Since we don’t have the lower-tier prizes yet, we were quite fine with getting them early on. And as long as we get the Grand Prizes later, the cost will eventually work itself out.
Day 2 – Miku sadly sold out sometime between yesterday’s and today’s visit, but after a couple of disappointing pulls, my brother managed to secure our first Grand Prize – Ichika!
Not our first choice, but since she sits at #2 in my tier list, I’ll take what I can. The average prize per figure, on the other hand, isn’t looking very nice at the moment.
Day 3 – The pull rate for today looks rather promising, and we decided to go for a couple more on our final day at Fukuoka.
It’s our most successful day yet, as not only did my brother pulled Nino’s Grand Prize (thanks!), but he also pulled Yotsuba’s Grand Prize for his final pull!
We were well over budget at this point, and as much as I wanted to go for Itsuki (there was like 12 pulls left,) we decided to call it a day and grab Miku and Itsuki at Mandarake some other day.
Was it the best use of money? I mean… we did go over budget and the Grand Prize’s market price at second-hand shops, but where’s the fun in just buying it? Give some Kuji pulls a go – even if it’s just for the fun factor!
Side Note: My brother also grabbed a few Spy x Family Kuji for fun. The odds weren’t as good as the quintuplets, and uhhh… the results speak for themselves. Not the best value-for-money, but adding in the fun factor, it wasn’t too bad.
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2 – 🍫 Bandai Candy Official Shop 🍫
Bandai Candy is the place for all things Shokugan – Candy Toys, wafer cards, and other small collectibles. Compared to a lot of other figures, candy toys tend to be quite cheap, so browse around to see if your favorite series has something here.
I’m a big fan of their wafer cards, and since I had some trouble locating their Quintessential Quintuplets line on my visit to Tokyo, you can bet I grabbed a whole lot of them here. The cards were the real stars, of course, but I have to say… the wafers were surprisingly good!
And if you’re a fan of the Pokémon Scale World line, you can also find them here.
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3 – ⭕️ Bandai Spirits Hobby Shop ⭕️
For non-Gundam model kits, head over to Bandai Spirits Hobby Shop. Here, you’ll find a decent assortment of model kits to choose from, from Pokemon and Demon Slayer, to their Figure-Rise lineup. And for Gundam fans, you can find The Gundam Base right above this shop.
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4 – 👾 Banprestore Arcade 👾
If you want to test your skills with some prize figures from Banpresto, then stop over at the Banprestore Arcade. I’ll go over it more in the arcades zone at Tenjin, but while it’s probably cheaper to buy these figures at some other shop, I recommend trying for at least one prize figure at an arcade simply for the adrenaline rush.
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5 – 🔴 Gashapon – Bandai Official Shop 🔴
Bandai’s official Gashapon shop is lined with hundreds of these capsule toys. With rows upon rows of machines (neatly assorted by series, I might add,) you can easily spend a decent amount of time just browsing their selection. And once you’re ready to play, insert your coins and test your luck.
You can also find their Premium Gashapons – larger, more detailed figures – around the store for ¥800~1,000, or their Flat Gashapon line, featuring… flat items like Bromide Cards, picture frames, and Shikishi boards.
My luck is consistently terrible when it comes to Gashapon, but with a Premium Gashapon line for the Quintessential Quintuplets, I had no choice but to gamble it out. And surprise, surprise! I actually got Nino on my very first try! The figure itself was just alright for ¥800, but the suspense of it all made it one heck of an experience.
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6 – ⭕️ Tamashii Nations Store ⭕️
For S.H. Figuarts, Figurarts Zero, and other action figures – here’s the Tamashii Nations store.
You can find a lot of these figures at places like Yodobashi Camera and Bic Camera, but if you want to buy some at their Official Store, here’s the place to check out.
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7 – 👾 Pac-Man Store 👾
And for Pac-Man merch, here’s the Pac-Man Store. Certainly not the most item-rich store here, but there’s quite a bit of variety to choose from, with shirts, bags, and Gashapon, to an entire Pac-Man Arcade1UP machine. And if you want to play some Pac-Man while you’re here, hop on over to the ‘World’s Largest Pac-Man’ cabinet for some games!
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🏢 Other Areas at Canal City Hakata 🏢
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8 – ⭕️ Capcom Store ⭕️
For Capcom goods, here’s the Capcom Store.
It’s one of the smaller stores at Canal City, but does feature a decent amount of merch – mostly plushies, small collectibles, and stationery – from the various Capcom games. (I really gotta grab some Ace Attorney merch the next time I visit…)
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9 – ⭕️ Donguri Republic ⭕️
Donguri Republic is the place to go for merch of Studio Ghibli’s various shows.
There’s a decent amount of little collectibles here and there, but the main focus of this shop seems to revolve around ‘items for daily life.’ There’s the usual stationeries (pens, notebooks, and clear files) of course, but you can also find all sorts of interesting items as well, from fans, door hooks, and lunchboxes. (Even some really premium items like watches and necklaces.)
Side Note: Donguri Republic stores are always really nicely designed, and this one even has a couple of photo spots to take pictures with. Definitely check the store out – even if it’s just to enjoy the decorations.
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10 – ⭕️ Jump Shop ⭕️
For some merch of Shonen (and apparently some non-shonen) franchises, here’s the Jump Shop.
It’s not too heavy on the figure side of things (read: not at all,) but for little merch like stickers, can badges, and keychains – as well as some shirts, mugs and foldable bags, this place hits all the right spots for any Shonen fan. (My friend bought a Chainsaw Man bag here once, and he’s been using it non-stop ever since.)
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11 – ⭕️ Kinnikuman Shop / KIN29 Shop ⭕️
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12 – ⭕️ Ultraman World M78 ⭕️
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13 – ⭕️ The Gundam Base Fukuoka ⭕️
Heading up a floor from the Bandai Cross Store, you’ll find The Gundam Base Fukuoka (1st Floor.)
I’m nowhere familiar enough with Gundam to go through what they have, but as an Official Store, I’m sure it has just about everything a Gundam collector needs.
Side Note: You might also wanna check out Gundam Park at LaLaPort Fukuoka – featuring a life-sized statue of the RX-93 v Gundam. It’s not really close to a subway station, though, so you might wanna look into taking the bus or taxi.
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14 – 👾 Taito Station (Canal City Hakata) 👾
Heading even further up the 4th Floor (Center Walk,) here’s Taito Station. While not nearly as big as the Taito Station over at Tenjin, this one here covers all the usual features – prize figures, plushies, arcade games, and photo booths. Prize availability can vary, of course, so have a look at what this place offers even if you’re planning to visit the Tenjin store.
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⭐VERDICT⭐
So how good are the Anime/Figure shops around Canal City Hakata actually? Official Shops are really the main focus here, and if you’re looking for some officially licensed merch (that’s not on the figure side) of some popular series, then Canal City Hakata is probably the place to visit.
Ikebukuro in Tokyo is probably the best comparison I have for Canal City, so if you’ve been there and enjoyed their selection, the Canal City Hakata experience should be quite similar.
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🚗HOW TO GET THERE 🚗
Canal City Hakata is located right between the Hakata and Tenjin sides of Fukuoka. By subway, the closest station would be Kushida Shrine Station (Nanakuma Line.) But if you prefer to walk here, it’s a pretty manageable 15-20 minute walk from Hakata or Tenjin Stations.
