Figure Skating Merchandise in Japan?

Hello,

Apologies if this is the wrong place to ask, but I will be traveling to Japan this week (Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto). As figure skating is very popular in Japan, are there special places I can find figure skating merchandise in Tokyo, Osaka, or Kyoto - Japanese themed or with famous skaters? (especially Yuzuru!) Does anyone have recommendations for places figure skating fans can visit? I wanted to visit Sendai, but unfortunately I have limited time and cannot go

Hi, I’m not sure what kind of merchandise you are looking for, but the major bookstores like Kinokuniya (the flagship store in Shinjuku is really good) will have a lot of figure skating magazines and books, many of which are devoted to Yuzuru. You should also be able to find a calendar he released recently and his two autobiographies. Major record stores with a section for sports DVDs will likely have the two DVDs he released in stock. You can also find books and DVDs released by Daisuke Takahashi and Mao Asada. Mao has a lot of merchandise such as clothing and clear files based on her programs’ costumes, but I think besides skating events they are mainly sold online.

Yuzuru has collaborations with phiten and Tokyo Nishikawa, they may still have displays with his photos in the stores. The titanium necklace with a blue sphere Yuzuru wears is a collaboration with phiten and is available for sale.

There is also a famous shop, Chacott, that sells ballet, dance and figure skating costumes, training wear and accessories. The main store is in Shibuya and sometimes has figure skating costumes on display. The gold hairbands Elena Radionova wore in her 2014-2015 FS were reported in Japanese media to have been purchased there or in another one of its stores in Tokyo.

If you don’t already have plans to do so, there are two shrines, the Yuzuruha shrine in Kobe and the Seimei shrine in Kyoto that Yuzuru has visited, and are really worth a visit for a fan of Yuzuru

If you stop in an Animate there'll be no shortage of Yuri On Ice goods.

http://yurionice.com/en/goods/

Thanks so much for the tips! I've added those places to my to-do list!!