Harajuku
Tokyo
Copyright: noina/Shutterstock.comHarajuku
Catering to a similar crowd to Ginza, the colourful street Harajuku has more of an edge. As well as the familiar Prada, Dior and Burberry, if you walk just around the corner you’ll find the funky teen stores of Shibuya. One of these, the 109 store (2-29-1 Dogenzaka), is said to inspire the mad and consistently madder styles seen on the Shibuya streets. At 109 and others like Laforet Harajuku (1-11-6 Jingumae), young women’s wear is packed to the rafters.
Useful Information
- Address: Harajuku, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo
Shopping
Shopping in this city has become more of an art than a simple pleasure. If you’ve got cash to spend, this is the paradise of all shopping paradises. Shopping malls and department stores abound and specific areas are often devoted to certain wares to make life easier. Roppongi is more than just hundreds of shops; it is a mini city of restaurants, clubs, cafés, cinemas, hotels, and museums. This is where the expat crowd, in particular, party, eat, drink, shop, and hang out and it is about as far from traditional Japan as possible. Roppongi Hills, a mall comprising most of the above, is at the centre of this hive of activity and attracts a good percentage of Tokyo’s serious shoppers. Housing high street, boutique and designer brands, you can safely expect to find everything you’re looking for. If you want to avoid more mainstream bookstores and spend some time looking for some hidden literary treasures, Kanda is where to go. Browse among the second-hand shops that line Yasukuni Dori and you’re bound to stumble upon a few gems. Good Day Books is Tokyo’s oldest and most famous used English bookstore and you can spend hours here among the 40.000 second-hand and new copies.