For various reasons I've had to give up on the spring trip I was planning, so now I'm starting to work on a fall trip, centering on 3-4 weeks in Japan. I was just reading on another thread about all the great shopping in Tokyo, but I'm totally not a shopper. When I need to buy clothes I often arrange to go with a friend just to make sure I don't put it off.

I travel light, and only buy a few gifts at my last stop, plus maybe jewelry or textiles for myself. I go for scenery (mountains! waterfalls! cliffs!) and culture (architecture, food, religion, crafts). I'm sure I'll have lots of questions about this trip, but to start: While I'll probably visit a couple of department stores (just to look) what I really love are food markets, especially fruit & veg and spices, although I don't actually freak out at dog and rat. I've read about the fish market in Tokyo, are there other markets I should know about? Do I need to get out of the big cities for that?

What I was also hoping for was small craft shops. The thread I was reading mentioned small shops, but then talked about buying bags. What about ceramics, swords, kimonos? Is that more Kyoto than Tokyo? If I do fall in love with some ceramics, is shipping fairly straightforward?

I'm currently reading Fodor's Exploring Japan, and I always use Lonely Planet. Any other guidebooks you especially recommend for Japan? Thanks!

Tsukiji as the fist market is known is very unique and is sure to amaze you. Another place that I enjoy visiting every time I'm in Tokyo is the basement level food section of the department stores in the Ginza. It's called the "Depachika", short for Depaato (department store) and chika shokuhin uriba - basement food place.
They have packaged food as well as fresh food. Sake and various alcohol as well as all sorts of teas, cube shaped watermelons & other fruits, astounding variety of gourmet chocolates and cookies & almost always a superb bakery. They'll also have vaious kinds of gourmet fish, roe, rare varieties of expensive seafood & all sorts of other things. Mitsukoshi department store in the ginza has a good depacika.

Good recommendation on department store basement. Haven't seen any fruits (rather expensive) and spice markets though. Not just the ones in Ginza, but all department stores seem to have one.

Ceramics--Kyoto has good selection of shops. If you're going late April, try Mashiko (you can do a day trip out of Tokyo). Or other cities like Hagi or Imari are known for special kilns. Matsuya department store in Ginza (5F?) had a nice selection of not too fancy ceramicwares. Also nice textile things like kimono fabric bags. Kamakura has superb lacquerware--though rather pricey. You can ask them to wrap well. DH bought a sturdy cardboard box at the post office, sent some small items with extra padding--they arrived safely via surface mail.

Swords--you obviously won't be able to get the real McCoy (needs licensing, probably not able to bring outside of the country) despite what you've seen in the movie Kill Bill. Replica may be possible--just make sure you put it in a check-in luggage ;-)

Kimono--basically two kinds. 1) cheap polyesther tourist stuff which you are very unlikely to wear yourself, 2) expensive antique kimono, which you won't wear either but use it for hanging/interior decoration. We liked Fine Arts Fuji, right in front of Tokyo American Centre. Oriental Bazaar in Harajuku is another option, but wasn't sure if the price/quality was fair. If you go there in early summer (say, late June-July), department store has cotton summer kimono sections.

Other stores that are my favourite are both in Ginza... Kyukyodo near the big Ginza intersection has all kinds of Japanese hand-made? paper (downstaris) and perfume upstairs. Not too expensive, makes good gifts. Can't remember the name but there was a small craft shop south of Sony Bldg. Must be Ginza 7 or 8 chome, along north-south streets on the left side as you walk down Sony Bldg. It could be one or two block west.

Thanks! Dept. store basements sound good - I like to visit Fortnum & Mason when I'm in London. But I was more thinking open-air - maybe not in Japan?

I'm planning for October - would that not be a good time for Mashiko? And I wasn't actually thinking of buying a sword - just looking! I'd be really interested in learning about how they are made.

Many of the big temples have flea markets on their grounds..usually a set day of each month (like the third thursday or such). You'll find lots of old stuff, some antiques, lots of ceramics, some crafts, lots of used Kimono at very cheap prices, and more. Occasionally swords and helmets, but these will almost certainly be reproductions.

Shopping from Japan is simple, but also very expensive. You might consider having items delivered from the shops to your final hotel if you can carry it home. Much cheaper.

There are nice open food markets in many cities. I really like the one in Kyoto which runs on a long covered street. many fresh fruits and veggies, plus fish, meat, flowers and more. There is one in Tokyo outside Ueno station with more permanent stalls...lots of everything from snacks to fish to wallets, although the shoes and bags tend to dominate visually!

I don't have any of my notes with me at the moment or I'd give you more specifics.

The Depato basements are wonderful for fresh fruits, pastries, packaged items, snacks, take-out foods, pickled veggies, wines and more . Very much like a food market, but inside the building and very clean. Priced accordingly, but lots of selection of everything edible. Go at lunchtime to see it in action with lots of samples (and lots of people). We often will buy take out food to eat in our hotel room later.

I use "Gateway to Japan" by June Kinoshita as my guidebook. It is getting a bit dated so prices, etc may not be accurate, but it has very useful listings of markets, guides to all sorts of shopping, and sections on other aspects of Japan, such as culture, history, good hiking areas, architecture, festivals, etc.

Thanks for the book suggestion, lcuy. The Kyoto market sounds just what I'm looking for. I have a feeling Kyoto is more my kind of city than Tokyo. The Ueno market also sounds interesting, and from first impressions I was thinking Ueno might be a good area to stay in.

Ueno market is called "Ame Yoko", a legacy from the days when local merchants sold surplus supplies from GHQ during the occupation period.
Now has lots of seafood and cosmetics. Just be careful with the pickpockets and don't take your valuables. I know at least four people including my mother-in-law who got their wallets or digital cameras stolen.

As for other open-air markets, you can ask about "asa ichi" (morning market), which is like a farmers market. Usually on some Sunday mornings, say 8-10am. Many tends to be in suburban residential neighbourhoods, but there used to be one in Hiroo once a month on Sunday morning.

There is also a famous morning market in Hida Takayama, methinks.

Mashiko in October sounds nice. Actually I like it when it's not the pottery fair (which gets really crowded).

Bonjour Thursdaysd,

The market near Ueno is Ameya Yokocho, and consists of several alleys extending on both sides of the JR railway lines between Ueno and Okachimachi JR stations. Although there's a lot of non food items (and tourists), it is very lively and famous for its seafood and many Tokyoites will go shopping there, especially around new year.

The area around Tsukiji fish market is well worth a visit too, starting from around Kabukiza in Ginza.

There are other food markets in Tokyo, but less easy to find (Yanaka Ginza, for example).

Ueno is a good location to stay, although the area next to the station is quite noisy. If you want to stay there, find a hotel in side streets, behind the park, in Yanaka, or in Asakusa (Yanaka is very nice but a bit out of the way transport wise. Asakusa is more convenient).

As for crafts, there's ample supplies of studios in Tokyo, the tourism offices will certainly help you find them (for example, Asakusa's has a list of famous crafts studios in the district). There are also numerous fleamarkets, not all in temples (there's the monthly Oedo market in Tokyo Forum near Tokyo station, for example). All those are listed in the book "Tokyo for Free", by S. Pompian.

In Kyoto, you already have had a recommendation for Nishiki food market (seconded). There are others, easier found than in Tokyo, and the main fleamarkets all have a food section worth visiting. In addition, outside places like Arashiyama, Ohara, etc. all have markets for traditional foods (pickles, confectionneries, etc.) that make a pleasant addition to any daytrip.

Kyoto has of course lots of crafts and antiques studios and shops (from ceramics to kimono, to bamboo, to stone lanterns, to paper, to ....)

For kimono, there are at least a dozen shops specialized in second hand good quality kimonos at bargain prices in both Tokyo and Kyoto, although Kyoto's are easier to find, and of course you'll find more than you could ever carry in fleamarkets (monthly: 1st Sunday antiques at Toji, 12th in Myorenji, 15th in Chionji - more crafts than antiques - 21st at Toji, 25th at Kitano Tenmangu). Not many "polyester for tasteless tourists", those markets are first and foremost aimed at the Japanese, and you can find a good quality cotton or silk kimono for less than $50.

Good swords (replicas, almost never real antiques) can be found and exported but it takes time. There are still a number of traditional swords makers all around Japan, but they are limited in the number of real swords (read: sharpened) they can make and keep each year, so it makes for expensive and time consuming shopping. It is easier to find "Iaito", that is dull blades for Iaido practice. Some are really excellent works of art that feel exactly and look like a real katana, except they don't cut. Sakura, near the Budokan in Tokyo was famous for those, but I've not been there for years. There are a few good shops in Kyoto.

You'll find addresses through www.jnto.go.jp, www.kyotoguide.com

Thanks for all the great info. I'm just starting to plan, so will probably have lots more questions. Meanwhile I'll head over to the tourist office sites & see if they send free brochures. I did notice in Fodor's that you can buy good knives near the Tokyo fish market, which would be more useful than laito!

Bonjour thursdaysd,

In Tokyo, I know of an few excellent knives shop in Asakusa, on the left side of Nakamise (the alley leading to Asakusa Kannon temple). In Kyoto, Aritsugu, in the middle of Nishiki food market, is justly famous and used to foreign customers. If you can take the time (and in Tokyo go with a Japanese speaker), you can get a knife exactly suited to your way of using it. It will then be sharpened just before you take it and provided you maintain it as instructed, it'll last almost forever.

I knew I'd seen something about markets in Japan ... http://www.bento.com/l1-1.html

Wow Florence, what a wonderful site! Merci tres bien!

Florence...the best series of martket web pages I've yet seen...bookmarked for my coming trip to China and Japan. Thank you!!

Stu T.

It sounds like the Asakusa "Nakamise" is what you are looking for. You can get Japanese things here without paying department store prices. It is a mixture of all kinds of individual stalls (some of which have been in business for generations), clothing stores, traditional Japanese crafts, kimono and accessories, eateries, etc. You will be able to get all of your gifts and souveniers (even things for yourself) here. It may have become a bit more commercial (touristy) in recent years, but it is still worth the visit.

Save your money and just window shop at the department stores. The best way to experience the department store is to show up before the store opens in the morning. When the store opens, the bell rings, and the employees are lined up and waiting to assist you, bowing as you pass by them or just make eye contact, as they recite Irasshaimase! Some stores still have girls in hats and white gloves in the elevators and at the escalators although many have given way to taped recordings. Check out the basement level where all of the food vendors are.

Bonjour Offlady,

Nakamise, and every single temple and sanctuary surroundings in Japan (and arguably in the whole of Asia) have been commercial and touristy since time immemorial ... Given the fact that they were usually the only open public spaces big enough to accomodate markets and fairs, and that the powers that be did all they could to restrict and control the travels and gatherings of the populace (i.e. let them go once a year to a popular pilgrimage/festival/fair), the religious organisations understood very soon the profits there would be from allowing commerce around ...

Notice that they are fantastic businessmen themselves: you really have to admire an organisation that sells you good luck charms (o-mamori), then one year later charges you for their destruction, on the ground that it has accumulated all the bad luck that would have hit you otherwise, and it may hurl it back at you should you keep it past its expiry date.

Wiche makes me think that the writers of the bible didn't really know the meaning of "merchants of the temple" ... ;-)

Love the good-luck charm story, Florence. Sounds like the Jesuits should have felt right at home.

I'm planning to spend 3-4 weeks in Japan, so although I'll definitely visit Tokyo and Kyoto, I'm looking to spend quite a bit of time elsewhere. Any suggestions for places that aren't really big cities?

Love the good-luck charm story, Florence. Sounds like the Jesuits should have felt right at home.>>>>>>

They fortunately didn't have the occasion to find out, or the business with the indulgences would really have become nasty back home ... ;-)

<<<<I'm planning to spend 3-4 weeks in Japan, so although I'll definitely visit Tokyo and Kyoto, I'm looking to spend quite a bit of time elsewhere. Any suggestions for places that aren't really big cities?>>>>

Kanazawa (search for KimJapan's threads), Shikoku (check Emd's and my threads on Takamatsu), Sendai, three moderately sized cities in less visited parts.

The Japan Alps (Kiso valley, Takayama, Shirakawago, ...)

Coastal areas: Ise, Boso peninsula, Seto inland sea, Awaji island, ...

See www.jnto.go.jp (browse by interests) and Nipponia http://web-jpn.org/nipponia/index.html (see back numbers) for many more ideas.

You gotta give credit to those entrepreneurs. I always say, why didn't I think of that sooner?