A NEW shop and café is set to open in York that will delight lovers of Japanese culture.

Anime Gallery and Totoro Coffee, a joint venture, is set to open in the former Cooperative Bank building in Feasegate - hopefully before Christmas 2024.

The shop will be the second venture for Maggie Yang – who has run Anime Republic, a shop selling Japanese animation themed goods, in Edinburgh’s Waverley Mall for 11 years.

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As a celebration of all things Japanese culture and anime – a style of animated cartoon art specific to Japan – the gallery will feature a variety of different products and manga comics.

In addition to the downstairs store, Anime Gallery will also feature a themed café upstairs called Totoro Coffee – named after the title character from popular animated film, My Neighbour Totoro, and comparable to themed cafes that can be found in Japan.

The café will feature a forest canopy with figures of well-known Studio Ghibli characters, such as Totoro, Kiki and No Face, dotted around the area, and featured themed drinks.

On what brought her to York, Maggie said: “Reason we decided open in York is I love this city; it is filled with a captivating cultural atmosphere. When I first arrived in York, I immediately felt that this was the perfect city for our store because we are also looking for a place with a similar vibe.

“I believe that people who come to York or love York will be our customers because we share the same pursuits and tastes.”

For those interested in working in the Anime Gallery, CVs and cover letters can be sent to animegallery_york@hotmail.com