PARCO was founded in 1953 originally to manage Ikebukuro Station Building but became a department store operator, opening a Tokyo Marubutsu store in 1957. The first PARCO store opened in 1969, with the Shibuya location opening in 1973. It underwent a long renovation and re-opened in late 2019.
Besides the typical department store fare, the Shibuya location is a popular tourist destination with dedicated areas for video game brands such as Nintento and Sega as well as manga.
Let's start on the 5th floor with Doraemon, a blue robot cat from the 22nd century that travelled back in time to help a young boy who was terrible at everything and was bullied by his schoolmates. This Japanese cartoon is immensely popular around Asia with local language dubbed versions. Doraemon has plenty of gadgets from the future to create some interesting adventures.
Upstairs is the video game floor with a huge Nintendo store.
Next door is SEGA, once neck in neck with Nintendo back in the console wars back in the late 1980s and early 90s. Gaming was no longer for young kids, but also a more mature audience as well. In 1990, Nintendo accounted for 90% of the video games sector in the US, only to be eclipsed by SEGA 4 years later thanks to the Genesis game console.
Pokemon is quite a well-known name outside Japan, so plenty of foreign tourists were exploring their dedicated shop on the same floor. This cartoon was created as Pocket Monsters, inspired by the creator's childhood exploring forests and finding all sorts of creatures. The idea was pitched to Nintendo, which accepted and the first game was released in 1996. Players at the time could trade using a cable connecting to each other's Gameboy.
The rest of the department store has outdoor balconies and public spaces with views of the surrounding area.
