Vol.18: FASHION FORWARD TOKYO

Welcome to TOKYO BEAT – a special series by your trusty Tokyo Tourism Representative (New York Office) that aims to provide you with story ideas and inspiration. With the 2019 Amazon Fashion Week Tokyo (March 18 – 23 at Shibuya Hikarie, Omotesando Hills, and other venues TBA) coming hot on the heels of the balmy spring weather and dazzling cherry blossoms, the streets of Tokyo will be teeming with designers, buyers, and influencers seeking inspiration in one of the most influential fashion destinations in the world. Tokyo is home to countless flagships, ateliers, boutiques, vintage shops, and more – and here are some of the best places to start any fashion tour.

The Latest Trends on the Street Tokyo is famous for its eclectic styles, which embrace the vintage, the bohemian, and eccentric. This may be best represented by the neighborhood of Harajuku, which still impresses with its brightly dressed characters and wonderfully weird and cute shops along its main street Takeshita-dori. Furugiya – second hand stores – like Kinji are also widespread here, as they have their fingers on the pulse of street fashion – buyers can find not only vintage clothing from T-shirts to denim, but also the latest looks for a steal. To feel like even more like a fashion insider, it’s time to head to the bohemian neighborhood of Shimokitazawa. Most comparable to a pre-gentrification Williamsburg, Brooklyn, Shimokita (for short) is like furugiya heaven, thanks to shops like Stick Out and the collection of stalls at Shimokita Garage Department. But no expedition here is complete without shopping, eating, and imbibing at Shimokitazawa Cageevent space, especially at its weekly Wednesday Night Market. If being a ‘hipster’ anywhere is going to have a positive connotation, it’s definitely in Shimokita.

The Indelible High End Experience Online shopping has made it easy to get one’s hands on virtually anything. But it will never replace the experience of shopping at the finest stores in the world, and Tokyo is often considered the benchmark for service, atmosphere, and selection. For generations, the legendary Ginza neighborhood features many of the world’s top high fashion brands and is still one of the best places for upscale department store shopping. Classics like Ginza Mitsukoshi and Ginza Wakohave been selling luxury clothing for nearly a century, but the recently opened Ginza 6 is setting new standards for the future. Also breaking new ground is one of Japan’s first department stores, Takashimaya, which recently unveiled a sprawling new building at its landmark Nihonbashi Takashimaya S.C. location, as well as Tokyo Midtown Hibiya, a new luxury shopping development that opened last year to much acclaim in the neighborhood of Yurakucho. The shopping mecca of Roppongi Hills in the Roppongi neighborhood is so sprawling that you can easily spend days there exploring its selection of upmarket brands. Finally, at the edge of Shibuya is the famed Aoyama / Omotesando area, a mandatory shopping destination that features top fashion houses prominent and obscure. But for the widest collection of clothing stores, head to the district’s Omotesando Hills complex, which houses a slate of local and global brands that will impress label hunters and one-of-a-kind seekers alike.

For more information about the latest fashion destinations in Tokyo,, contact press@tokyo-nyc.com or call 917-200-4887. For general information on traveling in Tokyo, head to TokyoTokyo.jp and Gotokyo.org/en/