Out of the 9 days in Japan, 5 days were spent in Tokyo. In hb’s words, “The Queen dictated where we went, shopping, craft stuff, Wawa (Chihuahuahua) stuff, cute stuff…” While he still got to pick what he wanted to eat for some of our meals 😝
Shopping was centred in the vicinity that we were staying in; Shinjuku. Takashimaya, Lumine and Tokyo Hands were about a 15 min walk from the Hotel. Japanese Fashion wasn’t something I was interested in, however I was more keen on their handmade culture of accessories, and there were number of pop up shops for handmade accessories that were peppered across in the various departmental stores that we visited.
Okadaya Shibuya was the other store worth visiting, if you are like me, love handmades and are looking for fabric notions like buttons, yarn, ribbons, embroidery patches, accessories findings. We depended on Google Maps to find our way around, especially for the Okadaya store in Shinjuku that was located in an obscure hidden alley.
While Lumine the other departmental store that is trendy and carries merchandise that the other departmental stores don’t for the younger set. In Lumine 2, there is Kiwa Products which is a specialty store selling jewellery making supplies. It was at this place where I stumbled onto a made-in-Japan raw material that I am still working on to create accessories with it.
A month ago, I read a news article that mentioned that Lumine will be opening a branch in Singapore. I think it will be interesting to see what merchandise they are planning to bring here.
There were many other places we wanted to explore like Ginza and Shibuya, but we only managed a couple of hours to check out Harajuku, had some Ramen for lunch, and walked on the world’s most crowded junction; Shibuya Crossing, and chanced upon an artsy hipster street in Shibuya trying to navigate walking from one place to another.
I was thrilled when we stumbled upon Character Street in Tokyo Station when we made our way there to take the Shikansen to Kyoto. When in Japan, cutesy characters memorabilia is something that one cannot miss out. From Hello Kitty, Studio Ghlibi, Rilakkuma, Doraemon to Pokemon Memorabilia.
Dog Culture
In Japan, there are likely more pets than children. With the large variety of merchandise available for dogs in Japan, even with dog clothes being more expensive than some children clothing, it’s worthwhile for any dog owner to take the time to visit these shops.
I have to confess that I never planned in dressing up dogs until I saw how adorable the Japanese and Korean small dogs look in clothing 😬. But I caved in and bought a couple of summer tees and officially after this trip to Tokyo, I am a convert.
Bibi and Tess in their costumes from Tokyo
Other posts from this trip;
