Sesame Street Market, Japan – Visit the World’s First Official Store in Tokyo! 

Muppet fans, did you know that there is a Sesame Street Market in Tokyo? It’s the world’s first official store with a café and workshop to boot.

It’s perfect for fans of Sesame Street, the Muppets or kawaii characters.  

If you were to look in my childhood photo album, you’d find pictures of me watching Sesame Street in my high chair. 

I was obsessed with the Cookie Monster and have remained a lifelong fan of the show and Muppet characters to this day.

I stumbled upon this whimsical place completely by accident in Tokyo, but what I found was comforting and a beautiful trip down memory lane. 

Here is a complete guide to visiting the Sesame Street Market and whether the café is worth it.

What is Sesame Street Market? 

Sesame Street Market is a shop, café and workshop in Japan dedicated to the most successful children’s TV shows of all time. 

Sesame Street premiered in 1969 in the USA and is now on its 56th season with over 4700 episodes.

During this time, it has won a multitude of awards, including over 222 Emmys and 11 Grammys. This is more than any other children’s show. 

Its powerful educational stories through iconic and funny characters living in New York have a huge fanbase that spans generations around the world.

So, why Japan and not the USA? Well, Sesame Street is popular in Japan due to its adorable range of kawaii characters like Elmo and Big Bird.

The world’s first official Sesame Street Market was born from popular demand in 2023.

It’s been so successful that there is now a store in Lala Port Toyosu, and one in Hanshin Umeda Main Store in Osaka.

Where is the Sesame Street Market in Tokyo?

You’ll find Sesame Street Market in Sunshine City Mall in Ikebukuro. This was my favourite place to eat and shop in Tokyo. 

It’s a huge shopping centre that’s filled with themed character shops and cafés. 

There’s also the largest Gachapon Hall in Japan on the 6th floor in the Bandai-Namco Cross Store. 

The nearest metro stop is Higashi-Ikebukuro Station on the Tokyo Metro Yurakucho Line.

The Sesame Street store is on the ground floor of the mall (1F) right beside the north entrance doors. 

Arriving at Sesame Street Market 

As soon as you step inside Sunshine City Mall through the north entrance, you’ll see Sesame Street Market.

You’ll know you’ve arrived as you’ll find some mascots of the Cookie Monster, Elmo and Oscar the Grouch right outside. 

Even if you don’t choose to go in, these statues make great photo opportunities, so make sure to have your phone ready. 

The outside of the store is so colourful and inviting. It been designed like a traditional New York food market along with a red striped cover. 

Sesame Street merchandise 

The entire store is a paradise for Sesame Street and Muppet fans as they have almost every piece of merchandise you can think of.

There was a wide selection of plushies, plush keychains, t-shirts, bags, stationery and crockery. 

They also have exclusive merchandise that you can only find in this store, like pin badges and tote bags. 

I ended up buying an autumn exclusive plushie of Elmo, as he was pink. I’ve never seen this before, but I had to have him. 

Honestly, I could have spent hours browsing as everything was so creative and high quality. There were also lots of characters to find throughout. 

They even had Sesame Street music playing, which was so nostalgic and made it a truly magical shopping experience. 

But, be warned, the prices are high compared to the other stores. The plushies were almost double what you would normally pay in Japan.

Visit the Sesame Street Café

The best part about visiting the Sesame Street Market in Tokyo is that they have a themed café right next door. 

This has been designed like the set of Sesame Street with striped tablecloths, brick walls, signs and lampposts.

There are portraits of Sesame Street, Fraggle Rock and Muppet characters on the walls, and there’s a huge statue of Big Bird welcoming you inside. 

They have an American-inspired menu with lots of New York specialities as well as Sesame Street character-themed desserts and drinks. 

Do you need a reservation?

No, you don’t need a reservation to visit the Sesame Street Café in Tokyo. You just show up and wait for a table to become available on the day.

It isn’t ideal, but I didn’t find this café to be particularly busy when I visited on a Saturday afternoon. There was plenty of seating inside.

I had my pick of tables and so decided to sit by the one and only Big Bird. 

What is on the menu?

The Sesame Street Café has a US-inspired menu as the show is based in Manhattan.

They have a range of New York sandwiches and pizza on the menu, as well as soups, salads and pasta dishes.

There’s also fried chicken, French fries and bone-in sausage to choose.

If you prefer sweets, there are Sesame Street waffles of different characters’ faces, a range of delectable sundaes and ice cream waffle cones. 

You can also order lattes with foam art of Sesame Street characters, as well as fizzy drinks and ice cream soda floats. 

New York Pizza

As it was late afternoon on my visit, I decided to order an early dinner before an evening of shopping and gachapon in Sunshine City Mall.

I was very tempted by their huge slices of New York Pizza, so I got classic cheese with fries. 

If you prefer, they did have pepperoni, mushroom and tuna corn flavours as well.

The pizza was surprisingly tasty with gooey cheese and had a great crust to crunch. 

The fries were majorly overdone, but I couldn’t stop eating them as I was so hungry. 

To wash it down, I ordered one of their Sesame Street soda floats. This was raspberry and had a marshmallow of Elmo on the top!

It was quite bitter at first, but as soon as you ‘ruin it’ by mixing in the ice cream, it was delicious. 

Sesame Street Donuts

Although my meal was pretty filling, I couldn’t resist ordering one of their creative Sesame Street Donuts as a dessert. 

They had an entire range of Muppet characters, including:

1. Elmo (Raspberry)
2. Bert (Banana)
3. Ernie (Orange)
4. Big Bird (Mango & Passionfruit)
5. Abby (Pink Lemonade) 
6. Oscar the Grouch (Matcha)
7. Count Earl (Blueberry)
8. Cookie Monster (Sugar)

I ordered my favourite character, the Cookie Monster, which was sugar-flavoured.

It was topped with his eyes made of chocolate, a mini chocolate chip cookie and a mountain of blue sprinkles.

It was also glazed to perfection and one of the best doughnuts I’ve ever eaten. I’m not kidding. 

I now dream of this dessert, and it’s permanently embedded in my brain. I would go back to Japan just for this. 

Sesame Street workshops 

The thing that makes Sesame Street Market special is that they have an on-site workshop as part of the store.

I thought that this was going to be about puppetry, but they are mainly cooking workshops. 

For example, in the most recent workshop, you can design your very own Sesame Street character doughnut.

You can only attend a workshop if you apply online, and you can find a list of upcoming events here.

Is Sesame Street Market worth visiting?

Yes, if you’re a fan of Sesame Street or cute characters, then you will love Sesame Street Market.

It was the first official store created in the entire world and a unique place to experience Sesame Street shopping, a café and workshop.

As a lifelong fan since being a toddler, this was a beautiful trip down memory lane for me. 

I stumbled on this place completely by accident, but it turned out to be the sweetest mistake I made!

Sesame Street and the Muppets are my childhood, and seeing all the characters again made me feel at home and my heart nostalgic. 

Even if you’re not a fan, the entire store is so creative, colourful and well-designed that it can’t help but make you smile. 

Don’t skip Sesame Street Market in Tokyo. It’s the perfect place for kids of all ages!

Opening hours

Sesame Street Market is open at Sunshine City Mall in Tokyo from 10 am to 9 pm every day.

The café may close off a little earlier than the store, so make sure to visit around an hour before closing for food to avoid disappointment. 

They do offer their doughnuts to take away if you’d prefer not to sit inside. 

Explore Sunshine City Mall

Sunshine City Mall was my favourite place to go shopping in Tokyo as it’s a paradise for character stores, cafés and experiences.

If you love Pokémon, you must visit the Pokémon Center MEGA and the Pikachu Sweets Café next door. There’s even a Pokémon GO Labs.

There is a Kiddy Land with a Snoopy Town, Disney Store, One Piece Store and Ghibli Store as well.

If you love Sanrio characters, then definitely pop over to the Sanrio Café, where you can enjoy a Hello Kitty burger and doughnuts.

Or, why not visit Chiikawa Park? It’s an exhibition with lots of photo opportunities with Chiikawa and friends. 

You also cannot leave without visiting Japan’s largest gachapon hall on the top floor.

It’s owned by Bandai-Namco and has every capsule toy you could think of!

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Save Sesame Street Market Tokyo for later!