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Tokyo is Japan's showcase. The crazy clothing styles, obscure electronics, and new games found here are capable of setting trends for the rest of the country—and perhaps the rest of Asia, and even Europe and America.
Part of the Tokyo shopping experience is simply to observe, and on Saturday especially, in districts like the Ginza and Shinjuku, you will notice that the Japanese approach to shopping can be nothing short of feverish. You’ll probably want to resist the urge to join in the fray, especially since many of the wildly trendy clothes and accessories for sale will already be "uncool" by the time you get home. But shopping in Tokyo can also be an exercise in elegance and refinement, especially if you shop for items that are Japanese-made for Japanese people and sold in stores that don't cater to tourists. With brilliantly applied color, balance of form, and superb workmanship, crafts items can be exquisite and well worth the price you'll pay—and some can be quite expensive.
Note the care taken with items after you purchase them, especially in department stores and boutiques. Goods will be wrapped, wrapped again, bagged, and sealed. Sure, the packaging can be excessive—does anybody really need three plastic bags for one croissant?—but such a focus on presentation has deep roots in Japanese culture.
This focus on presentation also influences salespeople who are invariably helpful and polite. In the larger stores they greet you with a bow when you arrive, and many of them speak at least enough English to help you find what you're looking for. There's a saying in Japan: o-kyaku-sama wa kami-sama, "the customer is a god"—and since the competition for your business is fierce, people do take it to heart.
Horror stories abound about prices in Japan—and some of them are true. Yes, European labels can cost a fortune here, but did you really travel all the way to Tokyo to buy an outfit that would be cheaper in the designer mall at home? True, a gift-wrapped melon from a department-store gourmet counter can cost $150. But you can enjoy gawking even if you don’t want to spend like that. And if you shop around, you can find plenty of gifts and souvenirs at fair prices.
Japan has finally embraced the use of credit cards, although some smaller mom-and-pop shops may still take cash only. So when you go souvenir hunting, be prepared with a decent amount of cash; Tokyo's low crime rates make this a low-risk proposition. The dishonor associated with theft is so strong, in fact, that it's considered bad form to conspicuously count change in front of cashiers.
Japan has an across-the-board 8% value-added tax (V.A.T.) imposed on luxury goods. This tax can be avoided at some duty-free shops in the city (don't forget to bring your passport). It's also waived in the duty-free shops at the international airports, but because these places tend to have higher profit margins, your tax savings there are likely to be offset by the higher markups.
Stores in Tokyo generally open at 10 or 11 am and close at 8 or 9 pm.
This two-story boutique sells an incredible range of chopsticks, from traditional to pop motifs, and wooden to crystal-encrusted sticks that can be personalized. Children's chopsticks and dishes are housed in their own boutique behind it, but it's a must-see no matter your age.
This tiny textiles store in charming Kagurasaka sells items made of vintage textiles from different regions in Japan and transforms them into contemporary fashions and gifts. Look for tote bags made from kendo and judo uniforms, fabrics off the roll, handkerchief squares, and silk scarves crafted from high-quality kimono fabric.
Established in 1908, this family-run bamboo crafts shop on a traditional shopping street offers the wares of three generations of bamboo artists. Look for insect cages (with bamboo bugs), flower baskets, chopsticks, cups, lotus-root coasters, and lunchboxes. The shop is located near the base of the staircase on Yanaka Ginza's shopping street.
You might not expect to find classic crafts in the vicinity of trendy Harajuku, but this charming boutique specializes in traditional furoshiki cloths, which are beautifully decorated squares of cloth used to wrap anything and everything (but they also just make great gifts in themselves). You'll find up to 500 different cloth options here made from a variety of fabrics and featuring traditional, seasonal, and modern designs. They even offer workshops on how to use the cloths in different ways.
This chain carries a wide and varied assortment of goods, including hobby and crafts materials, art supplies, and knitting and sewing materials, as well as jewelry, household goods, stationery, even cosmetics. There's a café and exhibit space on the seventh floor with an ever-changing selection of small goods from local artisans for sale. It's not unusual to see Japanese hobbyists spending an entire afternoon browsing in here.
With a spacious, airy layout and lovely lacquerware goods, this fashionable shop is a must for souvenir hunters—and anyone else who appreciates fine design. Rice bowls, sushi trays, bento lunch boxes, hashioki (chopstick rests), and jewelry cases come in traditional blacks and reds, as well as patterns both subtle and bold. Prices are fair—many items cost less than ¥10,000—but these are the kinds of goods for which devotees of Japanese craftsmanship would be willing to pay a lot.
Located in a renovated area under the train tracks just north of Akihabara Station, this hip collection of 50 some artisanal shops is a great place to hunt for high-end gifts made by local artists and designers. Most shops have a single specialty: paper, ceramics, leather bags, even umbrellas combining traditional techniques with modern design. On weekends some of the shops offer workshops, demonstrations, and other events.
This tasteful four-floor shop allows you to complete your souvenir shopping in one place. The store carries traditional handicrafts—including ceramics, toys, lacquerware, Noh masks, fabrics, and lots more—from all over Japan.
Completely remodeled in 2015, this huge paper emporium is brimming with locally crafted and imported stationery, much of which is designed to translate traditional motifs onto contemporary office tools.
North of Roppongi, near Aoyama-itchome Station, this store shows the best craft work from all over the country, from paper to tools to pottery. Some of the prices in the shop can be deservedly high, but this is an excellent place to find one-of-a-kind, high-quality items. In addition to the gift shop, the center houses rotating crafts exhibits and hosts workshops and demonstrations.
Kyukyodo has been in business since 1663—and in this spacious Ginza location since 1880—selling wonderful handmade Japanese papers, paper products, incense, brushes, and other materials for calligraphy.
The selection of lacquerware, ceramics, and antiques sold at this Kappabashi shop is modest, but Soi displays the items in a minimalist setting of stone walls and wooden floor planks, with up-tempo jazz in the background.
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