Pokemon Centre, Daimaru Umeda Building, Osaka

As a Pokemon fan since the game was release donkey years ago, I had always wanted to visit the real deal in Japan. As soon as I found out there's actually Pokemon Centre which sells all the Pokemon merchandises in Osaka I immediately set as a must visit place despite my cramped schedule.

DSC07983 by zstan, on Flickr

From Umeda Sky Building we then walked back to the train station area and headed for Daimaru Umeda Store. The Pokemon Centre is located on the 13th floor with Uniqlo as one of it neighbours as well. There is already a huge crowd in the shop, probably due to the fact that it's on a weekend, with kids being the majority in numbers here (obviously).

DSC07997 by zstan, on Flickr

It was really exciting to see all the merchandises and stuff which can never be seen back in Malaysia. They even opened up a booth in the store for the kids to try out the new Pokemon X and Y, and boy was the queue to play the game for about 10 minutes crazily long.

DSC07984 by zstan, on Flickr
Initially I thought I could get some toys back as souvenirs but one look at the price tag changed my mind immediately. The merchandises are here are actually quite expensive, especially after factoring in the conversion rate. It is simply not worth it for a general fan like me. Probably hard core Pokemon fanatics would probably buy one or two home. Having said that I must say the quality of each product is exceptional and worthy if you have the extra cash to spend.
DSC07990 by zstan, on Flickr

DSC07991 by zstan, on Flickr

All in all although I didn't buy anything it's quite a good experience to actually see a Pokemon centre and all the lovely Pokemon figurines. Only regret was not trying out the Pokemon X & Y on display. Childhood dream fulfilled!