Tokyo is the best place to shop in the world! You can find anything and everything! There are many areas you can go and trying to conquer all of them will kill your feet so choose wisely!
Some tips when shopping in Japan:
Always ask before you try as you may not be allowed to try some items
You can generally ask for TAX-FREE in most shops so make sure to take your passport with you and you will pay the price on the price tag without the added consumption tax! awesome!
Japanese people are AMAZING at gift-wrapping! if it's a gift, ask them to wrap them even if it's a pair of socks!!
If it rains, don't worry, the staff will cover your shopping with plastic bag so that your new items won't get wet! and don't forget to wrap your umbrellas in umbrella bags at the entrance so that you don't wet the whole shop!
Ladies - do use face cover when trying on clothes - it is ALWAYS provided in dressing rooms, to prevent make up marks.
If you need to go to bathroom during your shopping spree, stop by any convenient stores or train stations for super clean (not like Paris or London ;) toilets!
If you need to pull out cash, go to 7/11 as it's the only convenient stores that accept foreign cards.
Alright - now you are good to go! Let's start with my all-time-favourite area!
OMOTESANDO
Get off the Omotesando station to find the Omotesando-dori where you will find all the high-end flagship stores such as Prada, Celine and Burberry. And if you go towards Nezu Museum and go off on the backstreet (off Prada), you will also find beautiful flagship stores of more progressive brands like Acne and James Perse, as well as local brands like Issey Miyake and Come des Garcons. At the end of the road, you will hit CONVERSE AOYAMA - first Converse clothes store EVER as well as C.E - one of the most uniquely Japanese streetwear brands!
If you get tired, take a break at 246 Commune, a lively collection of food trucks, or have a cafe latte at hip Cafe Kitsune or sit for a salad at beautiful Nicolai Bergmann cafe.
HARAJUKU
Once you've conquered the Nezu side of Omotesando, come back to station and walk down the main Omotesando dori towards Harajuku and head to CAT STREET - Here you will probably come across the trendiest Japanese people, amongst many tourists. The shops are hip, some selling vintage clothes, and WHITE ATELIER BY CONVERSE where you can customise your converse!! Make sure to make a pit stop in NOAH CLUBHOUSE - a shop with a gallery, library etc to understand the true Japanese shopping experience. Continue onto STUDIOUS - a select store with only Japanese brands. And if you LOVE luxury street brand, continue on to find UNION TOKYO.
The must-do in Tokyo is to walk down Takeshita Street from Harajuku Station, always crowded with teens from all over Tokyo. My suggestion is to go on Sunday, probably the most crowded day but this is when you'd likely see dressed up Japanese teens! The stores along the street sells ridiculous costumes (probably useful if you have a themed party or going to Burning Man;) to punk T-shirts to sweet crepes.
If you have kids who love Japanese anime and characters such as Pikachu, make sure to stop by character goods galore Kiddyland.
Harajuku (& Shibuya) is also a Mecca for sneakers. Some of my favourite shops are ATMOS (there are multiple in the area), ABC-MART - the biggest one can be found at GRAND STAGE Shibuya Center-gai (They regularly offer discounted kicks), and KICKS LAB. has a beautiful store!
SHIBUYA
Nobody goes to Tokyo without experiencing Shibuya - especially the view of the Shibuya crossing from Starbucks (first floor bar seating!). But Shibuya obviously has a lot more to offer. Firstly, you must stop by LOFT and TOKYU HANDS to find anything and everything that you thought you never needed but now can't live without.
The epitome of Shibuya is definitely SHIBUYA 109 - a fashion complex for young women with more than one hundred boutiques on ten floors.
Don't forget to stop by PURIKURA NO MECCA to take sticker photos with costumes, different backgrounds, and doll-eyed Japanese kawaiii makeup!
And for those looking for more hip, not so kawaii, progressive, trendy shops, head over to BEAMS and SHIPS in Shibuya. You will see these shops all over Tokyo as they are Japan's select store institutions. Beams is more casual and SHIPS is more chick. Both offer awesome selection and their own brands' basics are very decently priced. You'll also find other cool Japanese select stores such as FREAK'S STORE and NANO UNIVERSE in this area.
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