Shopping In Japan is paradise, but some of the best Tokyo City shopping is a hidden secret and cannot be found in tour books.
Tokyo Shopping means high-end department stores, designer boutiques, flagship stores of almost every brand, tiny traditional shops, and second-hand stores. Each shopping area in Tokyo has its own unique flair – Ginza, Omotesando, Roppongi, Shibuya, Shinjuku, Akihabara.
Electronics and Gadgets
Tokyo’s worldwide famous and iconic Gadgets Area – Akihabara. Cameras, computers, watches, CDs, DVDs, video game software, game consoles, and mobile equipment. More than 6 city blocks of shopping heaven! Find out why many of the stores unique to Tokyo City have the latest and most up-to-date Gadgets in the world. Things you’ll see in your home country only a year or two from now. As a tourist in Japan, you can buy in the duty-free shops that allow you to claim back the tax.
See More: Akihabara Area Guide
Sony Building in Ginza – 3 floors of the newest products by Sony- high definition televisions, cameras, mobile computers, mobile phones and Play Station are all displayed in the showrooms for all gadget lovers to try.
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High-End Japan Clothing
Omotesando Street is ‘Tokyo’s Fifth Avenue, an elegant boulevard lined with elm trees, designer shops, and small cafes. It’s a great place to stroll, do some window-Shopping, and enjoy a chic ambiance while avoiding the heavy crowds of Midtown. The Best international fashion designers have put up a store in Omotesando: Christian Dior, Louis Vuitton, Tod’s, Prada, and many more.
Shopping In Japan doesn’t get any better than this.
See More: Omotesando – ‘Tokyo’s Fifth Avenue’
Ginza Tokyo: Most fashion brands you can think of-Louis Vuitton, Dior, Chanel, Prada Gucci and Coach-have stores in the area. Well-off Japanese women and Geishas with their supporting businessmen shop here. Best department stores in Tokyo are here: Wako, Mitsukoshi, Matsuzakaya, Seibu, Hankyu, and Mikimoto pearls, the inventors of cultured pearls. Nearly all department stores have excellent basement food courts. Great if you want to take home some Traditional Japanese Foods.
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Affordable Tokyo Fashion
The Huge department stores in Shibuya sell trendy, high-quality Japanese fashion for an Affordable price: Parco, Seibu, and Tokyu Hands, all have reasonable prices compared to Ginza or Omotesando areas.
See More: Shopping in Shibuya
See More: Best Tokyo Shopping Areas
See Also: Tokyo Fashion Districts: Shopping And Trends
Cheap Shopping In Japan
100 yen shops – huge shops offering everything, really everything, for 100 Yen. You can stock up on Japanese pots, teacups, and bowls for taking home, Cute toys, Japanese erasers, and exotic Japanese food.
One of the largest 100 yen shops in Tokyo is Daiso Harajuku in Takeshita Dori, just a few steps from Harajuku Station.
See More: Best Tokyo Shopping Areas
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Shopping For Kids
KiddyLand – THE toy store in Tokyo, for the young at heart, and not just for children. Heaps of the stuff that Japanese girls love to call “kawai” = cute. Three floors of Hello Kitty, Puca and other brands on everything from lunch boxes and towels to mouse pads and notebooks. The sweetest things you have ever seen. (Update-the store has been moved to an alley off Omotesando called Cat street, across the street from Omotesando hills).
See More: Kiddy-Land Omotesando
Hakuhinkan Toy Park, Ginza is one of the oldest and largest toy stores in Japan (first opened in 1899). (South end of Ginza-dori by the elevated highway),
See More: Things To Do With Kids In Tokyo
Second-hand shops
Great deals can be found in the many second-hand shops in the small streets surrounding the Shinjuku subway station. Japanese women, which are very fond of designer labels also get tired of them quickly. Designer bags sunglasses and jewels at unbelievably low prices can be found in these shops around Shinjuku station.
See More: Shinjuku Japan Guide