Shopping in Tokyo

During my stay in Tokyo, their fashion is what struck me the most. Known as one of the most renown shopping destination in the world, it came as no surprise to me that designers' clothes can be spotted on the street most of the time. The most impressive thing is that each person has their own individuality in fashion sense. Not to mention their concept stores are the most creative stores I have ever visited. There are three main shopping districts you must drop by if you are in Tokyo.

One quick tip of shopping in Japan is that it would be better to buy local Japanese designers than some imported high end luxury brands. Most importantly, always bring along your passport, you can have a deduction of 5% on purchases that are over 10.000 yen for non consumable goods and 5000 yen for consumable good (on condition that these consumable good are unused until you go back to your country).

Ginza

Ginza is known for the destination of mega brands such as Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Celine, Chanel, etc. I would say Ginza has all the high end stores you need to see. However, one of the store that make me visit Ginza is Dover Street Market, which is the concept store own by Rei Kawakubo (founder of Comme Des Garcons). 

Harajuku

Compared to Ginza, Harajuku has more local designer boutiques and some imported high street brands such as Supreme or Stussy. Probably when think of Harajuku, you would imagine seeing Japanese young Otaku dressing in Lolita costumes or cosplaying. However, Harajuku has more than that. For secondhand designers store, Harajuku is one of the must go destination. You must visit Rag Tag or Rinkan, good bargain on designers clothes from Chanel, Celine to Comme Des Garcons can always be found. 

Shibuya 

First thing comes to my mind is definitely Shibuya crossing - The busiest crossing in the world. It took me quite a bit of time to find a good spot at Shibuya Starbucks to find a good view of the crossing. However, the effort was really worth it haha, sat there for almost an hour with my boyfriend, we were drawn into the crown below, hurried on their feet walking across the crossings and some tourists tried to take pictures in the middle of the street as well. 

Back to the topic, shopping in Shibuya is extremely popular for young Japanese and Tourists. Having all kind of stores, from global fast fashion stores like Zara, Forever 21 or H&M to home wares and stationary stores. Shibuya is clearly a shopping heaven. Definitely check out United Arrows for local designers as well as high street designers clothes. Also Shibuya 109 fashion building is one of the most popular shopping destination. 

Thanks for reading guys!

-Anne