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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.
Serious cosplayers need serious costumes, and this specialty store is where they shop for serious supplies. Anime, manga, video game characters? You'll find them all here, and more—Cospatio shares the fourth floor of its building with a handful of other geeky stores, as well as a maid café.
This small, cluttered souvenir shop in the Nishi-Sando arcade carries antique swords and reproductions and has some English-speaking salesclerks.
Aspiring samurai can learn how to tell their toshin (blades) from their tsuka (sword handles) with help from the staff at this small shop, which has been open since the Meiji era (1868–1912). Items range from genuine antique samurai swords to inexpensive or decorative reproductions.
It's worth slowing down so you don't pass this fascinating shop started by a samurai who couldn't support himself as a feudal retainer and, hence, launched this business selling handmade boxwood combs in 1736. It has been in the same family ever since, and you can still watch as craftspeople create the merchandise.
Workers shape and hone blades in one corner of this shop, which carries cutlery, pocketknives, saws, and more. Scissors with handles in the shape of Japanese cranes are among the many unique gift items sold here, and custom-made knives are available, too.
In business for more than a century, Kyugetsu sells exquisite Japanese dolls that make unique—albeit expensive—souvenirs. Each one is individually handcrafted by an artisan, and prices range from a few hundred to thousands of dollars.
Not one Mandarake store, but nearly 30 of them, each with a distinct focus, can be found in the Nakano Broadway shopping plaza. Nearly every otaku culture need is catered to here. If you want a Kamen Rider figurine, head to Mandarake Special 3 on the third floor. If you're a fan of tabletop role-playing games like Warhammer, make a beeline for the Kojosen branch on the fourth floor. Or, maybe you've outgrown otaku culture, and want to sell your goods? Try the third floor buy-back stand.
“Omote” means “face” or “mask,” and this chic little boutique on the old-fashioned Kirakira Tachibana shopping street a station away from Tokyo Skytree stocks every variety imaginable. The selection includes Japanese-style clown masks and Venetian masks, as well as those from many periods and regions in Japan. There's a broad range of prices too, so you can find unique souvenirs here whatever your budget. Note, though, that the shop is only open Saturday and Sunday from 1 pm to 6 pm.
Another brand with multiple Nakano Broadway outlets, Robot Robot is the place otaku go for figurines and action figures. On the third-floor Robot Robot 1 specializes in Japanese anime and manga characters, such as Gundam, Dragonball, and One Piece, while Robot Robot 2 is packed with U.S. favorites, with heaps of choices from the Star Wars, Disney, and Marvel franchises. Down on the second floor, Robot Robot 3 is a bit more of a mishmash, though it's a good stop for anyone into Studio Ghibli productions such as My Neighbor Totoro and Spirited Away.
This small but pleasant Ginza shop has attractive used kimono, yukata, and other traditional clothing in many fabrics, colors, and patterns. The helpful staff can acquaint you with the somewhat complicated method of putting on the garments. Other locations are scattered throughout the city, including Asakusa, Aoyama, and Shinjuku.
This tiny, somewhat modest looking shop incongruously situated near Ginza's glittering department stores sells expensive antique swords. Staffers can also sharpen your blade for you.
