Features// Gamer's Travel Guide: Namco Namjatown

Have you ever wondered what would happen if you mixed video games, chinese dumplings, ice cream and cats together? If you’re touring Japan’s eclectic capital city of Tokyo, then you need look no further the Namco-owned Namjatown amusement park to satisfy your curiosity. Situated within the Sunshine City complex in the Ikebukuro district, this feline-friendly place is advertised as the largest indoor theme park in Tokyo.

Name: Namjatown
Location: Tokyo, Japan
Directions: Ikebukuro JR Station, follow road signs to Sunshine City, 2F
Price: ¥500 Entry, ~¥3000 Adult Passport. Additional Tokens may be required.

For the first thing you see - even before you reach the ticket gates - is a statue of a little debonair cat called ‘Najungwu,’ the park mascot. He wears a cute little monocle and a twee little waistcoat, along with a pocket watch that reminds me of the rabbit from Alice in Wonderland. Similarly designed cartoon cat mascots are dotted around the venue, collectively called ‘Namjarians’.

After passing some crazy decor in a plush corridor you arrive at the lobby area, which features a gift shop bearing all sorts of merchandise. Cat plush toys, cat rulers, cat cookies, cat gloves... there’s even a giant UFO catcher with mascot plush toys to be won, and the opportunity to have a photo taken with a chap in a Najungwu costume. Nyan.

Namco also holds the record for the biggest jukebox ever constructed, back in 1996. The Guinness World Record certificate has been given pride of place within the lobby as well, but I never actually managed to find the jukebox itself. Still, it’s official and all that. It must have been true at some point!

Although Namjatown is full of cute little mascots, their appearance can be deceptive of the content that can be found throughout the amusement park. There is no one single theme here, it’s a delightful mish-mash of different ‘worlds’ crammed claustrophobically next to each other.

Hallowe’en was still in effect when I visited, so a large part of the first floor contained decorations that were fit to put the creepers on anyone caught ‘trespassing’ through the area. Cute undead-looking cats swung side to side from the ceiling in formation, while traditional Japanese Jizo statues were given a horrific twist as their heads were raised up by stacks of human heads.

A large part of the appeal of Namjatown is its food, glorious food, and there are several zones that are famously dedicated to this delicious past time. Gyoza Stadium is a world of narrow winding labyrinthine corridors, decorated with ancient Japanese wooden doors, lanterns and paper chains. Naturally, it’s known for its large number of restaurants offering meaty dumplings to anyone with the appetite and the money - but there’s room for other treats too, like a Persona 4 themed dessert I noticed.

There’s a huge food court offering other types of cuisine on the upper floor, including the infamous Ice Cream City. Here, you can buy all kinds of different lollies and scoops from a variety of colourful vendors, and even read up on the history of the dessert all around the world. But you can’t call it an Ice Cream City experience without tasting some of the exotic flavours available in the zone’s flagship store.

Flavours range from traditional ¥250 pots of vanilla and chocolate to the more adventurous salt and wheat variants, before bordering on the insane. Have you ever had garlic-flavoured ice cream before? How about squid? Ox tongue? Viper came at the most expensive, with a ¥1020 asking price. I opted to try Charcoal and Sharkfin & Noodle (don’t ask), which you can watch below.



On the same floor lies a huge arcade area full of games like Taiko no Tatsujin, Lets Go! Jungle and UFO catchers filled with Pokemon and anime figurines. Next to a hall of mirrors was another themed area that was under construction when I visited - dedicated to Level-5’s popular Inazuma Eleven series, and tying into an upcoming feature-length movie based on the franchise.

Namjatown really is as vast as its marketing promises, and in a way this is at the expense of space for actual sit-in rides - a lot of the games here involve ghost hunts around the venue using Star Trek-style tricorders, treasure searches using devices in the shape of a large egg-like character or dashing through various zones and interacting with curious devices in an open area environment.

One zone was industrial themed, with an out-of-place graveyard area to the side. Three statues were lined up with big red buttons in their mouths - pressing them would trigger all kinds of surprises. One statue shot compressed air through the mouths and into my face, scaring the crap out of me and making me extremely wary of the other two. One produced a fake ‘earthquake’ through the metal floor panels that I was standing on, and the other... didn’t seem to do anything. Or maybe that’s what I was supposed to think.

Ultimately, like most indoor theme parks in Tokyo, the price of admission really depends on how much you want to get out of it. If you don’t want to spend £20-odd on entry and rides, you can simply pay ¥500 (£4) and freely wander the place and admire the decorations. Ice Cream City and Gyoza Stadium will still require additional payment regardless of whether you get a day Passport, and if you feel left out you can always pop a couple hundred yen in a box and get some tokens, which can be used to enter certain attractions.

Namjatown is a great place to see if you’re a gamer and like cats, really. And if you’re worried about only spending a couple of hours in a place like that, you can easily enjoy the surrounding area of Ikebukuro for the rest of the day thanks to a number of arcades and entertainment stores (such as Book Off, a second-hand retail chain that I became obsessed with during my time in Tokyo).