The first official merchandise shop of "Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon," a globally popular Japanese animation series, will open on Saturday in Tokyo, toy maker Bandai Co. said Wednesday.

Bandai said it hopes to attract both local and foreign fans to the Sailor Moon Store, which will have a 53 square-meter space in a shopping complex in the Harajuku district, known as a fashion and cultural center.


(Naoko Takeuchi / 武内直子/ PNP / Toei Animation)

While there have been pop-up stores or sections of retail stores selling goods pertaining to heroines with magical powers, the specialty shop is a world first.

The shop in blue and pink will be adorned with a chandelier. The interior design will change every season.

Bandai said the shop will provide more than 280 items including snacks, as well as goods that can be purchased online and those only available in the store, such as key holders, handkerchiefs and iPhone cases.

Bandai will run the store together with Toei Animation Co., which broadcast the Sailor Moon television series in the 1990s and has the copyright to the hit animation, and Kodansha Ltd., publisher of the Sailor Moon comic books.

The outlet will open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.

The anime has spawned a successful franchise that includes toys and video games, and has been a hit not only in Japan but elsewhere in Asia as well as in the United States. The comic books have been translated into English.

The story revolves around a group of young women who transform into heroines to fight evil.


(Naoko Takeuchi / 武内直子/ PNP / Toei Animation)