Must-see shopping in Tokyo

Sanrio's flagship store is piled high with all the Hello Kitty merchandise your heart could desire, including some pretty blinged-up items of the famous…

This multistorey toy emporium is packed to the rafters with character goods, including all your Studio Ghibli, Sanrio and Disney faves. It’s not just for…

This under-the-train-tracks shopping mall focuses on artisan food and drinks from across Japan, including premium sake, soy sauce, sweets, teas and…

See (and sample) humble beans and rice whipped into pastel flowers at this award-winning traditional sweets shop, in business since 1935. There are blue…

At the top of Yanaka Ginza, Matsunoya sells beautifully simple, handmade household goods, such as baskets, brooms and bamboo strainers.

This consignment shop is stocked with labels loved by Harajuku kids, such as Comme des Garçons and Vivienne Westwood.

This sleek complex, where escalators ascend alongside waterfalls of rock and glass, brims with sophisticated shops. Most notable is the selection of…

The Okuno Building (1932) is of a rare vintage in ever-redeveloping Tokyo; most such buildings have long come down. But a concerted effort by artists and…

Keeping the dream alive for fans of physical music, Disk Union has eight (cramped) storeys of used CDs and records, including whole floors for genres like…

It's not all cheesy Sky Tree swag at this mall under the tower (though you can get 634m-long rolls of Sky Tree toilet paper). Shops on the 4th floor offer…

If you're after something for the kitchen or dining room table, head to Kappabashi-dōri Japan’s largest wholesale restaurant-supply and kitchenware…

Sukajan are silken bomber jackets boldly embroidered, usually with traditional motifs such as cherry blossoms or cranes. They were originally created as…

Mitsukoshi is Ginza's most famous department store, anchoring one corner of the neighbourhood's main intersection. The fashion is mostly from…

This is the flagship boutique from celebrity stylist Sonya Park, whose signature look is a vintage-inspired minimalism in luxurious, natural fabrics. It…

Mansei-bashi Station was Tokyo's original eastern terminus, completed two years before Tokyo Station in 1912. It closed in 1943 and was reborn at long…

The design of Takashimaya’s flagship store (1933) tips its pillbox hat to New York’s Gilded Age with marble columns, chandeliers and uniformed female…

This fascinating neighbourhood of more than 170 new and secondhand booksellers is proof that the printed word is alive and well in Tokyo. Amid tottering…

What started as a linen supplier in Nara (near Kyoto) 300 years ago has evolved into one of Japan's proudest brands, creating beautiful natural clothing,…

This classy mixed-use complex, which opened in 2018, has a good assortment of fashionable boutiques as well as the 11-screen Toho multiplex. Check out the…

Expat and former US diplomat Norman Tolman has been collecting modern and contemporary Japanese print art for 50 years and has authored many books on the…