is a building complex located in East

Ikebukuro is a commercial and entertainment district in Toshima, Tokyo, Japan. Toshima ward offices, Ikebukuro station, and several shops, restaurants, and enormous department stores are located within city limits. It is considered the second larges ...

Toshima is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. It is one of the eight central wards of the Tokyo Metropolitan area. Located in the northern area of Tokyo, Toshima is bordered by the wards of Nerima, Itabashi, and Kita in the north and Nakano, Shinjuku, ...

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.46 ...

, Japan. It has the 240-metre tall

Sunshine 60 is a 60-story, mixed-use skyscraper located in Ikebukuro, Toshima, Tokyo, adjoining the Sunshine City complex. At the time of its completion in 1978, the 239.7 m (786 ft) building was the tallest in Asia, a title it held until 1985 wh ...

skyscraper at its centre. Sunshine City consists of four buildings: Sunshine 60, the main and tallest building, which includes corporate offices as well as restaurants; the Prince Hotel; the World Import Mart; and the Bunka Kaikan building. The complex sits on land that was once occupied by

Sugamo Prison Sugamo Prison (''Sugamo Kōchi-sho'', Kyūjitai: , Shinjitai: ) was a prison in Tokyo, Japan. It was located in the district of Ikebukuro, which is now part of the Toshima ward of Tokyo, Japan. History Sugamo Prison was originally built ...

. The lower floors of the complex cater toward passerby and customers with a large

shopping mall A shopping mall (or simply mall) is a North American term for a large indoor shopping center, usually Anchor tenant, anchored by department stores. The term "mall" originally meant pedestrian zone, a pedestrian promenade with shops along it (that ...

and numerous restaurants, while the higher floors tend to include corporate offices and hotel rooms. The complex, which was opened in 1978, contains numerous attractions including an observatory (observation deck) located at the top of Sunshine 60 called Sky Circus, the Ancient Orient Museum, an aquarium, a

planetarium A planetarium ( planetariums or ''planetaria'') is a Theater (structure), theatre built primarily for presenting educational entertainment, educational and entertaining shows about astronomy and the night sky, or for training in celestial navi ...

, the Prince Hotel, a Namco-run indoor amusement park, a convention centre, and a theatre. When it was opened, Sunshine 60 office tower block was reputed to be the tallest building in Asia. It is an early example of a "city within a city", a self-contained area with places to live, work, and shop all within one area. Since Sunshine 60's Sky Circus observatory was opened, other observation decks have opened in Tokyo, such as at

Roppongi is a district of Minato, Tokyo, Japan, famous for the affluent Roppongi Hills development area and popular night club scene. A few foreign embassies are located near Roppongi, and the night life is popular with locals and foreigners alike. It ...

and the Tokyo Government offices.

Attractions

Sunshine Aquarium

Sunshine Aquarium is an aquarium located on the top three floors and rooftop of the World Import Mart building in Sunshine City. It features around 80 tanks with 37,000 fish representing 750 species. The Aquarium was renovated and updated in 2011.

Ancient Orient Museum

The is a small private museum in Sunshine City at the 7th floor of the Cultural Center (文化会館), specializing in artifacts of the ancient

Near East The ''Near East''; he, המזרח הקרוב; arc, ܕܢܚܐ ܩܪܒ; fa, خاور نزدیک, Xāvar-e nazdik; tr, Yakın Doğu is a geographical term which roughly encompasses a transcontinental region in Western Asia, that was once the hist ...

and

Central Asia Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes the fo ...

. It has a collection of

Greco-Buddhist art The Greco-Buddhist art or Gandhara art of the north Indian subcontinent is the artistic manifestation of Greco-Buddhism, a cultural syncretism between Ancient Greek art and Buddhism. It had mainly evolved in the ancient region of Gandhara. The ...

Gandhara Gandhāra is the name of an ancient region located in the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent, more precisely in present-day north-west Pakistan and parts of south-east Afghanistan. The region centered around the Peshawar Val ...

, and several pieces pertaining to the art of

Palmyra Palmyra (; Palmyrene: () ''Tadmor''; ar, تَدْمُر ''Tadmur'') is an ancient city in present-day Homs Governorate, Syria. Archaeological finds date back to the Neolithic period, and documents first mention the city in the early secon ...

and

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

. Image:Palette.JPG, Gandhara stone palette Image:PalletteFragment.JPG, Fragment of a Gandhara stone palette Image:PoseidonGandhara.JPG, Gandhara

Poseidon Poseidon (; grc-gre, Ποσειδῶν) was one of the Twelve Olympians in ancient Greek religion and myth, god of the sea, storms, earthquakes and horses.Burkert 1985pp. 136–139 In pre-Olympian Bronze Age Greece, he was venerated as ...

Image:GandharaTriton.JPG, Gandhara

Triton Triton commonly refers to: * Triton (mythology), a Greek god * Triton (moon), a satellite of Neptune Triton may also refer to: Biology * Triton cockatoo, a parrot * Triton (gastropod), a group of sea snails * ''Triton'', a synonym of ''Triturus'' ...

Namco Namja Town

Namco Namja Town (ナムコナンジャータウン lit. ''Namuko Nanjā Taun'') is an indoor theme park in the second floor of the Sunshine City shopping complex. The park was opened in 1996 by

Namco was a Japanese multinational video game and entertainment company, headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo. It held several international branches, including Namco America in Santa Clara, California, Namco Europe in London, Namco Taiwan in Kaohsiun ...

, a Japanese company best known for producing

video games Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This feedbac ...

, although the park itself does not completely focus on those games. Instead, it features themed dining, carnival-style games, a haunted house, and a line of character mascots exclusive to the park. Various promotions related to video games exist as well, often on a rotating basis. Namco developed two games based on the park; the first of which, ''Nakavu no Daiboken: My Favorite Namja Town'', was released in 2000 for the PlayStation in Japan only, while a second game, simply titled Namja Town, was released for iOS in the early 2010s. Namco also ran J-World Tokyo, a manga-themed park which opened in 2013 on the third floor immediately above Namja Town. J-World Tokyo closed on February 17, 2019 due to poor attendance.

References

External links

*
Japan-Guide: Ikebukuro
*
Namja Town website
*
Namja Town Guidemap PDF

(English) {{Authority control Ikebukuro Buildings and structures in Toshima Tourist attractions in Tokyo Mitsubishi Estate 1996 establishments in Japan