HISTORY
It’s been a short 5 years, but we’ve come a long way thanks to you!
Scroll through a visual timeline of highlights in the history of TOM!
2011
March 24, 2011
Facebook Page Launched
Tokyo Otaku Mode started out as a simple Facebook page.
These are the original 6 logo designs we were debating between.
August 2011
1 Million Likes!
A mere 5 months later, our Facebook page reached one million likes!
Wow. We sure weren’t expecting that!
December 2011
2 Million Likes!
2012
April 10, 2012
Tokyo Otaku Mode Inc. is Established!
About one year after the launch of our Facebook page, we registered to become an established company!
July 2012
5 Million Likes and Growing!
March 24, 2012
Japan Expo 2012
Our very first event was Japan Expo, a convention for Japanese pop culture in Paris, France.
The TOM Shop didn’t exist yet at this point, and we printed the TOM logo on can badges and handkerchiefs to bring to the event.
Our “booth” was just a table. Half a table, actually.
2013
January 2013
10 Million Likes!
Our Facebook page hit the big 10 million mark!
This collaborative video was created in celebration, featuring artwork by Japanese illustrator John Hathway (JH Science) and music by artist Kz from the group Livetune.
April 2013
News Website Launched!
With 10 million likes, Tokyo Otaku Mode became the largest Facebook page for otaku culture.
At this point, we launched the official TOM news website.
July 2013
BEAMS Collaboration
We collaborated with famous Japanese clothing brand, BEAMS, releasing a line of Tokyo Otaku Mode T-shirts, mugs, and a variety of merchandise featuring artwork by TOM Special Creators.
The staircase at the BEAMS store lined with Special Creator artwork.
TOM Special Creator tote bags and phone cases.
July 2013
Anime Expo 2013
Our very first year at Anime Expo!
September 2013
TOM Shop Launched!
The birth of the TOM Shop!
This is where the TOM shopping experience you know and love all started.
September 2013
Tokyo Game Show 2013
We tie up with Tokyo Game Show, running an International Lounge where attendees from overseas can chill out, look at art, and get their questions answered.
We also hosted a live-painting panel featuring Japanese illustrator and designer redjuice, best known for the original character designs for Guilty Crown.
October 2013
New York Comic Con 2013
Our first year hosting a booth at New York Comic Con!
2014
January 2014
Alpacasso Enters the TOM Shop
The memorable month when the explosively popular and adorable alpaca plushies, known as Alpacasso, were first sold on the TOM Shop!
We didn’t have a warehouse yet, or even a real office for that matter, and our friend’s basement was turning into an avalanche of merchandise…
February 2014
Our Office Moves to Omotesando!
Finally, we couldn’t fit anymore, and we moved to a new office in the classy Omotesando area of Tokyo.
May 2014
Hatsune Miku Expo 2014
We had the honor of participating in Hatsune Miku Expo in Indonesia as a media partner!
July 2014
Our 3rd Time at Japan Expo
Compared to the half table at our first Japan Expo, in 2014 we had an official industry booth, complete with an art gallery, rows of merchandise, and a proper register.
Two short years sure made a big difference!
August 2014
Hello, North America!
This is when we acquired our warehouse in LA! Whoo!
Shipping to the US became much faster from this point forward.
2015
February 2015
Our Very Own Japan Warehouse!
We finally moved from rented storage space to our very own warehouse in Japan!
The TOM Team came together to assist the move and build our new warehouse together.
Imagine a “factory” where happiness is born and then delivered to fans around the world.
That is the concept upon which our Japan warehouse was built. To this day, our warehouse is referred to as “factory” within the TOM Team.
Another Fun Fact: Our warehouse shares the same subway stop as Tokyo Disneyland!
May 2015
Next Stop, China!
We opened a store on the Chinese shopping site Tmall Global (run by Alibaba, the largest ecommerce company in the world!) as part of our effort to bring authentic merchandise from Japan to fans worldwide.
September 2015
Tokyo Game Show Live Streaming
In 2015 we hosted a Live Stream Hut smack in the middle of Tokyo Game Show, streaming content straight from the event to viewers around the world.
October 2015
The Birth of TOMpacasso
Our very own Alpacasso was born! TOMpacasso has been bringing fans around the world rainbows of joy since then.
2016
March 2016
We Move to Shibuya!
Shibuya is home to the famous Hachiko statue, Shibuya crossing, and now, the Tokyo Otaku Mode office.
April 2016
Skoshbox Joins the TOM Family
Craving candy?
Skoshbox is the original monthly subscription for candy from Japan!
In 2016, Skoshbox joined the TOM family, and we’ve been proudly shipping tasty Japanese snacks to hungry fans ever since!
May 2016
Gin-chan Goes Live!
May 2016
Resident Evil Fan Site
We’re always trying to connect fans with what they enjoy!
In May we launched a special fan site for Resident Evil.
May 2016
One Punch Man at AX 2016
We came a long way since our first Anime Expo.
Check out our gleaming booth and glistening display cases.
This was also the year we offered the new One Punch Man Saitama figure, available first exclusively from TOM!
September 2016
Animaga Expo 2016 × Tokyo Otaku Mode
4 years ago, at our first event, we hosted half of a table.
In 2016, we co-hosted Animaga Expo in Melborne, Australia.
September 2016
TOM Projects Launched!
Your dream is our dream.
We launched TOM Projects, a crowdfunding platform where fans can communicate with project owners to develop the products of their dreams together.
© khara
September 2016
NA Warehouse Moves to Oregon!
Our North American warehouse moved from LA to Portland, Oregon, a change that would help us serve fans better and faster!
Look at all that glorious storage space, soon to be filled with shelves upon shelves of otaku merch.
October 2016
TOM Fan Club Beta Launched!
We launched the Beta version of the TOM Fan Club Facebook group, a friendly community for otaku to interact, share their hobbies, and have their voices heard by the TOM Team.
*The TOM Fan Club has left Beta as of April 2, 2017! Join the club here!
October 2016
ANI:ME in Abu Dhabi
We hosted a booth at anime convention ANI:ME in Abu Dhabi, and we brought the super-jumbo Rainbow Alpacasso with us, too!
November 2016
SAO Ordinal Scale: Official Guild
We hosted the Official Guild for the upcoming SAO movie, Ordinal Scale, serving as a source of news, updates, and exclusive content for fans overseas.
https://otakumode.com/sp/sao-movie
2017
February 2017
Our very first figure: Holo
© 支倉凍砂/アスキー・メディアワークス/「狼と香辛料II」製作委員会
We were proud to have created our very first figure: a wedding dress version of Holo from Spice and Wolf!
We hosted an industry booth at Wonder Festival (the world’s largest figure exhibition) for the very first time, and opened pre-orders for Holo!
March 2017
TOM Goes Premium
At last, we have crafted the supreme TOM experience.
Premium Members can enjoy otaku life on a whole new level, with exclusive content, discounts, rewards and more!
5th Anniversary!
TOM is 5 years old!
We couldn’t have made it here without you!
Thank you for sticking with us for all these years.
Let’s enjoy otaku life together for many more to come!