Korea's Only Official Chiikawa Store

Chiikawa began in 2020 as a comic that the Japanese illustrator Nagano posted on X: a small, round, anxious creature doing its best in a world of chores, monsters and tiny victories. A short TV anime followed in 2022. In Korea the series aired as Meonjakgwi, a contraction of meon-ga jakgo gwiyeoun nyeoseok, roughly "something small and cute." Ask a Korean fan about Meonjakgwi and you'll get the same answer as Chiikawa.

The Chiikawa Shop in Yongsan opened on February 27, 2026, as the country's first official, permanent store for the characters. For its first two weeks, entry was by Naver reservation only. Since then it has run as a regular shop with walk-in queuing. Fans have a nickname for it, Yongchima, short for "Yongsan Chiikawa Market."

You'll find it on the third floor of IPARK Mall's Living Park wing, inside the character zone called Dopamine Station. The mall is joined to Yongsan Station, so you can walk from the platform to the shop without stepping outside. Hours are 10:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day.

The crowd skews older than you might expect. A September 2026 Korea Herald report described the crowd as largely fans in their twenties and thirties. Cultural commentators quoted in the piece put it down to characters that feel adorable and relatable at once: small figures who work, worry and keep going. That mix is why the queue looks less like a toy shop line and more like a concert entrance.

How the Waitlist Works, and When to Go

The line outside the shop isn't the line into the shop. It is the line to reach a waitlist tablet. You register there, get a number, and are called back when it's your turn. Once you have a number you're free to leave, so the real game is getting registered early.

Demand jumped after the Chiikawa movie opened in Korean cinemas on September 30, 2026. In mid-October, Korean media reported more than 290 groups on the list by 9 a.m. on a weekday, with an estimated wait of around three hours. The mall said the shop was serving roughly 1,050 purchasing customers a day. Registration has been closing around lunchtime, and people arriving after about 1 p.m. have been turned away for the day.

Some fans now queue from the night before. You don't have to. A workable plan looks like this:

• Go on a weekday. Weekends and new-stock days draw the longest lines.
• Arrive early in the morning. Take an early train to Yongsan and head straight up to Living Park's third floor. The earlier you register, the better your number.
• Check the official channels the night before. On restock days the shop can move the registration point or change the start time, and it posts those changes on its official social accounts.
• Keep your phone charged and on. You'll want to hear when your number comes up while you're elsewhere in the mall.
• Have a card ready. Paying by card keeps checkout quick on busy days.

If the list has already closed when you arrive, don't write off the day. The shop is permanent, so a weekday morning later in your trip works just as well.

What's on the Shelves After the Movie

The shop carries the full spread you'd expect: plush toys in every size, key rings, phone cases, stationery and small homeware featuring Chiikawa, the cat-like Hachiware and the hyperactive rabbit Usagi. Random-draw items, where you don't know which character you'll get until you open the box, are a big part of the appeal. They have also built a small trading culture among fans who swap duplicates to finish a set.

The film is what turned a steady favorite into a citywide rush. Chiikawa the Movie: The Secret of the Mermaid Island opened in Japan on July 24, 2026, and reached Korean cinemas on September 30 in both subtitled and Korean-dubbed versions. It passed 700,000 admissions in its first six days. Movie-themed goods, including the island's new characters, have been the most sought-after stock since.

The craze reaches beyond the shop. Korea's three big cinema chains, CGV, Lotte Cinema and Megabox, released Chiikawa popcorn tubs and limited goods tied to the film. The characters have also appeared in Korean collaborations with fashion labels Spao and Wacky Willy, rain-gear brand W.P.C. and the LG Twins baseball team.

Popular lines sometimes come with per-person limits. Read the signs at the entrance before you fill your basket. If you're also browsing elsewhere, the character shelves around Hongdae, including Miniso's Hongdae branch, carry Chiikawa items too. When you see a restock there, it's worth picking up on the spot.

Spending the Wait in Yongsan

A three-hour wait sounds long until you realize where you're standing. Yongsan is one of Seoul's easiest neighborhoods to fill a morning in, and most of it is within a few minutes of the mall.

Stay in the mall. IPARK Mall itself is a destination. The CGV multiplex upstairs houses an IMAX auditorium widely described as the largest IMAX screen in Korea. If the Chiikawa film is still showing, you can watch it there while your number climbs. The Living Park floors around the shop are also full of rotating character pop-ups and goods stores.

Go one stop for the museum. Ichon Station is one stop away on the Gyeongui-Jungang Line. From there it's a short walk to the National Museum of Korea, where the permanent galleries are free. You can see a gold Silla crown and the museum's famous pensive bodhisattva room in under two hours.

Walk to Yongridan-gil for coffee. The low-rise streets between Sinyongsan and Samgakji stations have become one of Seoul's busiest cafe and bakery strips. It's a short walk from the station, and a better place to wait than a mall bench.

If you love the pop-up culture side of the trip, Yongsan pairs well with Seongsu-dong, where brand and character pop-ups rotate almost weekly. Do Yongsan in the morning and Seongsu in the afternoon, and you'll have seen both sides of Seoul's character-goods scene in a day.