Must-see shopping in Tokyo

  • Display of fermented foods (soy sauce, miso and amazake) inside Chabara, Akihabara, Kagurazaka & Korakuen.

    Chabara

    Kōrakuen & Akihabara

    This under-the-train-tracks shopping mall focuses on artisan food and drinks from across Japan, including premium sake, soy sauce, sweets, teas and…

  • Street entrance to Baikatei sweet shop, Akihabara, Kagurazaka & Korakuen.

    Baikatei

    Kōrakuen & Akihabara

    See (and sample) humble beans and rice whipped into pastel flowers at this award-winning traditional sweets shop, in business since 1935. There are blue…

  • Street view of Yanaka Matsunoya, Ueno, Yanesen & Komagome.

    Yanaka Matsunoya

    Ueno & Yanesen

    At the top of Yanaka Ginza, Matsunoya sells beautifully simple, handmade household goods, such as baskets, brooms and bamboo strainers.

  • Street view of shop entrance on Cat Street, Harajuku & Aoyama.

    RagTag

    Harajuku & Aoyama

    This consignment shop is stocked with labels loved by Harajuku kids, such as Comme des Garçons and Vivienne Westwood.

  • Disk Union Shinjuku

    Shinjuku & Northwest Tokyo

    Keeping the dream alive for fans of physical music, Disk Union has eight (cramped) storeys of used CDs and records, including whole floors for genres like…

  • Okuno Building

    Ginza & Tsukiji

    The Okuno Building (1932) is of a rare vintage in ever-redeveloping Tokyo; most such buildings have long come down. But a concerted effort by artists and…

  • Solamachi

    Asakusa & Sumida River

    It's not all cheesy Sky Tree swag at this mall under the tower (though you can get 634m-long rolls of Sky Tree toilet paper). Shops on the 4th floor offer…

  • Kappabashi-dōri

    Asakusa & Sumida River

    If you're after something for the kitchen or dining room table, head to Kappabashi-dōri Japan’s largest wholesale restaurant-supply and kitchenware…

  • Ōkuma Shōkai

    Ueno & Yanesen

    Sukajan are silken bomber jackets boldly embroidered, usually with traditional motifs such as cherry blossoms or cranes. They were originally created as…

  • Mitsukoshi

    Ginza & Tsukiji

    Mitsukoshi is Ginza's most famous department store, anchoring one corner of the neighbourhood's main intersection. The fashion is mostly from…

  • A&S Aoyama

    Harajuku & Aoyama

    This is the flagship boutique from celebrity stylist Sonya Park, whose signature look is a vintage-inspired minimalism in luxurious, natural fabrics. It…

  • mAAch ecute

    Kōrakuen & Akihabara

    Mansei-bashi Station was Tokyo's original eastern terminus, completed two years before Tokyo Station in 1912. It closed in 1943 and was reborn at long…

  • Takashimaya

    Tokyo

    The design of Takashimaya’s flagship store (1933) tips its pillbox hat to New York’s Gilded Age with marble columns, chandeliers and uniformed female…

  • Jimbōchō Bookstores

    Kōrakuen & Akihabara

    This fascinating neighbourhood of more than 170 new and secondhand booksellers is proof that the printed word is alive and well in Tokyo. Amid tottering…

  • Nakagawa Masashichi Shōten

    Shibuya & Shimo-Kitazawa

    What started as a linen supplier in Nara (near Kyoto) 300 years ago has evolved into one of Japan's proudest brands, creating beautiful natural clothing,…

  • Tokyo Midtown Hibiya

    Ginza & Tsukiji

    This classy mixed-use complex, which opened in 2018, has a good assortment of fashionable boutiques as well as the 11-screen Toho multiplex. Check out the…

  • Tolman Collection

    Roppongi, Akasaka & Around

    Expat and former US diplomat Norman Tolman has been collecting modern and contemporary Japanese print art for 50 years and has authored many books on the…

  • Shibuya Scramble Square

    Shibuya & Shimo-Kitazawa

    Shibuya's newest mall (opened in 2019) has eight floors of fashion, beauty and lifestyle boutiques (and more floors for restaurants, cafes and gourmet…

  • Axis Building

    Roppongi, Akasaka & Around

    This high-end design complex is filled with galleries and shops selling art books, photographs, covetable homewares and other objets d’art.

  • Ameyoko Rizumu

    Ueno & Yanesen

    For nearly half a century this tiny stall in Ameya-yokochō has been selling recordings of popular Japanese music to the faithful. Its forte is enka, best…

  • Ganso Shokuhin Sample-ya

    Asakusa & Sumida River

    Pick up great souvenirs from this plastic food model manufacturer. Among the examples of freakishly realistic food models are some more tongue-in-cheek…

  • Mita Sneakers

    Ueno & Yanesen

    Ameya-yokochō is widely known as the place to pick up bargain kicks; but among running-shoe fans, it's better known as the home of Mita Sneakers, which…

  • Yubiningyō Shōkichi

    Ueno & Yanesen

    Mitsuaki Tsuyuki makes and sells his incredible hand puppets here – look for lifelike renditions of Japanese celebs and, natch, Elvis. Quick portraits…

  • KITTE

    Tokyo

    This mall, within the restored facade of the 1930s Tokyo Central Post Office, has a partiuclarly good selection of boutiques specialising in homewares and…

  • Tsukiji Uogashi

    Ginza & Tsukiji

    The ground floors of this L-shaped complex house some 70 stalls of wholesalers, all of whom used to operate in the old Tsukiji market, selling seafood and…

  • Pigment

    Odaiba & Tokyo Bay

    This is an art-supply store to make you go weak in the knees: the walls are lined with vials of the crushed mineral pigments used in traditional Japanese…

  • d47 design travel store

    Shibuya & Shimo-Kitazawa

    The folks behind the D&D Department lifestyle brand and magazine are expert scavengers, searching Japan's nooks and crannies for outstanding examples of…

  • Blue & White

    Roppongi, Akasaka & Around

    Expat American Amy Katoh sells traditional and contemporary items such as tenugui (hand-dyed towels), indigo-dyed yukata (light cotton kimonos), bolts of…

  • Yodobashi-Akiba

    Kōrakuen & Akihabara

    This is the monster branch of Yodobashi Camera where many locals shop. It has eight floors of electronics, state-of-the-art camera and audio equipment,…

  • Maito

    Asakusa & Sumida River

    Everything is natural about Maito's clothing and accessories, including the fabrics used (mainly cotton and wool) and the plant-based dyes. Choose from a…

  • Akihabara Radio Kaikan

    Kōrakuen & Akihabara

    Despite its name, Radio Kaikan has nothing to do with radios and everything to do with Japanese pop culture. It was completely rebuilt in 2014 to include…

  • Takatora

    Tokyo

    In an neighbourhood known for its history of craftsmanship, second-generation Takatora produces stencil-dyed clothing and accessories just like in the old…

  • Mandarake Complex

    Kōrakuen & Akihabara

    This is highly debatable, of course, but Mandarake Complex might just be the most classic Akihabara destination for otaku (geeks): eight storeys are piled…

  • Tsuruya Yoshinobu

    Tokyo

    This is the Tokyo outpost of one of Kyoto's more esteemed creators of wagashi, traditional Japanese sweets made of rice flour, bean paste and sugar. While…

  • Ohya Shobō

    Kōrakuen & Akihabara

    In business since 1882 (but with an active Twitter account), Ohya Shobō specialises in books, maps and ukiyo-e (woodblock prints) dating back to Japan's…

  • PukuPuku

    Tokyo

    The shelves of this small antiques shop are stacked with ceramics from the early Shōwa period (昭和; 1926–89), through Taishō (大正; 1912–26) and Meiji (明治;…

  • Kyūkyodō

    Ginza & Tsukiji

    Originally from Kyoto (and in business for 350 years), Kyūkyodō has been producing top quality washi (Japanese paper) and incense for generations (the…

  • Musubi

    Harajuku & Aoyama

    Furoshiki are squares of cloth that can be folded and knotted to form shopping bags and wrap gifts – anything really. This shop sells pretty ones in both…

  • Nuno

    Roppongi, Akasaka & Around

    Nuno's innovative fabrics, incorporating objects from feathers to washi (Japanese handmade paper), have appeared in exhibitions around the world,…

  • Nippori Fabric Town

    Ueno & Yanesen

    If you have a notion to sew, or are looking for some nice fabric, this stretch of shops east of Nippori Station – selling buttons, brocade, kimono fabric…

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