SEN Dollstore Tokyo Akihabara

Recently I was back in Tokyo for a few days. It was the first time I visited the SEN Dollstore in Akihabara. As this one is a bit harder to find compared to VOLKS (Radio Kaikan Building) or Mandarake (Big Black Building), I thought I'll post some photos here.
The visit was definitely worth it. Tons of Dollfie stuff in store and the japanese store-staff was very helpfull! He speaks english and to my surprise even german.

The store is located here
https://goo.gl/maps/q4CTL5nVFBwf6AkD6
 

 

No SEN sign at the door so I was a little confused if this is the wright building.

 

Take the steps to 2F.

Then elevator to 7F or steps all the way up to the 8F:

 

Before your visit you can look on the website here

http://www.from-sen.com/shopbrand/ct257/

what is currently avaiable in store. Not all the items are on display so you may ask the staff to get the product you want from the the rear room.

 

 

 

Edited May 16, 2019 by MarQ

This is very useful. My first time finding there I’m sure I circled that block for over half an hour trying to find a clue about where the store could be. 

Oh yeah, that place is hard to find but man, they have some truly awesome stuff in there!  We found so many nice cosplay setups there along with tons of cool shoes and accessories.  I wish I would have spent more money there when I visited in 2017.  😄

 

Billy

It looks so amazing, even just the outside. Q_Q I wish there were places in the UK I could walk into and come out with bags full of Dollfie stuff. Although maybe it's a good thing there isn't, for my wallets sake~

Would be awesome to see the inside! But I know you're never allowed to take pictures inside the shops there are you? Such a shame for us Dollfie lovers across the world! :c

I was so delighted by all the dollfie outfits 😃 and so busy with shopping that I forgot to ask if taking pics inside the shop is ok.

But you can see some pics on the left side of the google page https://goo.gl/maps/8tSxNDA29EiniPd47.

 

Edited May 17, 2019 by MarQ

Ahhhh! It looks amazing. I honestly don't think I could control myself in a shop like that. 🤣 So jealous!

That store was tough to find. Was wondering if the address was correct. I circled the block twice when visiting in April.  

Yeah, I guess everyone had some trouble finding this store the first time - myself included.

But now it's actually my favorite shop when it comes to doll clothes. They have a big selection and I'd say the prices are somewhat affordable as well (for doll clothes anyway).

If you plan to visit more than once, ask for a bonus card - you'll get a 300 Yen voucher for your next visit for every 10.000 Yen spent.

 

  On 5/16/2019 at 5:35 AM, MarQ said:

He speaks english and to my surprise even german.

Gotta try that, next time I visit. Always used Japanese there till now...

I wish I found this post when I went to Akihabara in June. It took almost an hour to find the store. Google map wasn't good at telling us which building or floor so we went to each building on that block ha ha. But the store was amazing! Wish I bought more stuff from there.

I recognize a lot of the products on sen's website from Taobao brands! 

I guess there was no one else when you came into that store? Even dentists hidden in the top floor of a hard to find building are easier to find...
It's the kind of store that intimidate me because you know you will be the center of the attention. Each time you touch something it resonates.
The positive thing is that you had the impression of having found a secret place full of treasures.

I also guess they don't really rely on this physical store because it's literally impossible to find without knowing (and even with knowledge it is hard to find). Most likely a workplace/storage that happens to have a public front. Better have an online presence first and an "inefficient" physical store than a well located store with no online store like the ones selling otaku goods in my town but which died after a few years.

Edited September 14, 2019 by Sechs

  On 9/14/2019 at 7:22 PM, Riesz said:

I recognize a lot of the products on sen's website from Taobao brands! 

Yeah they are basically a Taobao reseller but I’ve never checked the markup exactly. The feeling I get when in the store is that it’s pretty high though. For the well known brands on TB I’d likely just proxy instead if interested. But for smaller sellers it can be near impossible to identify what store the outfit originally came from so can’t help the markup in that case.

 

  On 9/14/2019 at 10:10 PM, Sechs said:

I guess there was no one else when you came into that store? Even dentists hidden in the top floor of a hard to find building are easier to find...
It's the kind of store that intimidate me because you know you will be the center of the attention. Each time you touch something it resonates.
The positive thing is that you had the impression of having found a secret place full of treasures.

I also guess they don't really rely on this physical store because it's literally impossible to find without knowing (and even with knowledge it is hard to find). Most likely a workplace/storage that happens to have a public front. Better have an online presence first and an "inefficient" physical store than a well located store with no online store like the ones selling otaku goods in my town but which died after a few years.

I’ve gone to the shop several times and there were always other people in there. Local doll owners go there since after you find it once it is easy to go again. I only go on weekends though.

Ive never found they pay much attention while you browse. It’s certainly not uncomfortable in there. 

I would say the online store is the main focus for them as you say but that’s true for others like Dollce that have out of the way stores with cheap rent. 

Thank you! We are going back next December for Magical Mirai and wanted to try to find new doll shops. I'm super excited that they resell Taobao stuff since there's so much on Taobao I want. This is very helpful

In case anyone else needs to know where doll related shops are in the Akihabara area, here's a map showing most of them.  The large circled area is near Mandarake and there are a bunch of tiny shops there that people have seen dolls at.  I went into one that was nothing but model trains and military models but back over in the corner they had a Saber Extra, Saber Alter and a Yukino V2.  Very odd to see but cool anyway.  😉

 

048 by Billy  Bennett, on Flickr

 

 

 

Billy

"Maid Cafe heaven"...I see what this map is really for. 

  On 9/22/2019 at 6:23 PM, cfx said:

"Maid Cafe heaven"...I see what this map is really for. 

Well, Billy does have his priorities.

Looking at his profile I can only conclude that "8 dolls" means he totally rolled over the forum's doll counter.

  On 9/22/2019 at 6:23 PM, cfx said:

"Maid Cafe heaven"...I see what this map is really for. 

No comment.  XD  Actually, I only went to two maid cafes, both back in 2010 in Osaka when I had my friend there as a translator.  One was very cool and cute while the other was very pretentious and had the feeling of "get them in and get them out" to it.

 

  On 9/22/2019 at 9:43 PM, BeyondTime said:

Well, Billy does have his priorities.

Looking at his profile I can only conclude that "8 dolls" means he totally rolled over the forum's doll counter.

Priorities.…. riiiiight….  😉

As for  the "8 dolls" thing, that just means I've been way too lazy to input any more than that.  But your statement does make me wonder if I put in over 100 if it *will* roll back to zero.  😄

 

 

Billy