tokyo & kyoto shops

[newp]

I know this post is a bit old, but for anybody in Tokyo looking for good bars two absolute must tries are:

Ben Fiddich - like a speakeasy in that it's the top of a nondescript office buliding in shinjuku, but the bartender is a cocktail genius. He'll mix e.g. an aperol spritz by blending the underlying herbs instead of pouring Aperol out of a bottle. My qualm with the post-Petraske cocktail world is that it's more show than product, they're tilting two bottles, shaking the mixture and you're not walking out without losing a benjamin. Ben Fiddich is like Death&co/Milk&honey/etc. etc. but done properly.

The Open Book - pretty new bar in the Golden Gai, when I went it was just a business card stuck to a wooden door. But they use a hop infusion tap to mix lemon shandys, there are books everywhere, and the bartender's grandfather was the first person to translate Raymond Chandler novels to Japanese. Laid back, awesome, gotta go.

Thank you! I will save it till my next trip there.

[vah]

Speaking of Ben Fiddich, Lucky Peach quite recently had a feature on the "sanctuary bars of Tokyo" which featured it.

http://luckypeach.com/guides/best-hidden-bars-tokyo/

[TriggerDiscipline]

Speaking of Ben Fiddich, Lucky Peach quite recently had a feature on the "sanctuary bars of Tokyo" which featured it.

http://luckypeach.com/guides/best-hidden-bars-tokyo/

all those bars are not hidden lol, everyone knows bar martha and trench, and these places are normally packed with people

[agentred]

all those bars are not hidden lol, everyone knows bar martha and trench, and these places are normally packed with people

Yeah I think some editor at Lucky Peach who's never been to Tokyo came up with that headline to try and get clicks.

The writer's actual list is decent, Martha and Ben Fiddich may be busy but they're not tourist disasters like JBS has become. I've found that if you go to these bars at odd hours you still get a pretty quiet environment and a unique experience.

[zeebee]

I went to Bar Martha last night and really enjoyed it. Great atmosphere and vibe, great music selection mostly played off of vinyl. Very strict policy of no picture taking. A couple got throughly ripped by the DJ when he spotted them. They were forced to settle bill and leave immediately.

Great place with cool McIntosh amps and vinyl collection.

[dji]

visiting Japan again after 7 years. planning to visit the stores below, any interesting places I've missed?

Tokyo
Shibuya
B'2nd
ID Clothing Heart
Midwest
Royal Flash

Harajuku
LHP
Studious

Daikanyama
Attachment
Gullam
Julius
Lift
Lift Ecru

Ometsando
Boutique W
R&CO

Ebisu
The Viridi-Anne

Meguro
Venom/ Diet Butcher Slim Skin

Aoyama
Rick Owens

Shinjuku
Isetan Men


Kyoto
Bernice
Mindtrive, EM, Bullet
Vektor


Osaka
Minami
Gordini
Fascinate
Jet Park
K's Clothing
LHP
Loom
Royal Flash
Rule 1588
The R
Why are you here?

Umeda
Royal Flash
Rule
Studious

is DSM worth a visit? is l'eclaireur in Tokyo still open?

[TriggerDiscipline]

Tokyo
Shibuya
B'2nd - theres nothing to see here tbh its pretty much a waste of time
ID Clothing Heart - if you want to see like maruyama or julius this could be ok
Midwest - i dont know this store
Royal Flash - this is cool to look at, there is a hidden elevator to the third floor which is nice to look at

bedrock the concept alone is worth looking at


Harajuku
LHP - also not worth looking at unless you want to see julius but its better to look at it at isetan or julius flagship
Studious - no comment but this isnt really SZ clothes

Daikanyama
Attachment - this is ok to look at
Gullam - no comment but I guess worth looking at.
Julius - view above on LHP
Lift - good time to go to lift right now
Lift Ecru - same goes for mini lift

Ometsando
Boutique W - the one stop shop for bbs
R&CO - no comment

Ebisu
The Viridi-Anne - I dont think there is anything here to see unless you want to see the interior, everything is in isetan and lift
Meguro
Venom/ Diet Butcher Slim Skin - is this still up?

Aoyama
Rick Owens - I would go to say hi to Satoru and the store itself is very beautiful.
Shinjuku
Isetan Men - the second and third floor only


Kyoto

dont waste your time looking at clothes in kyoto go do something better than that.


Osaka
Minami
Gordini - sure
Fascinate - sure
Jet Park - I dont know what this is
K's Clothing - this is not really SZ clothing, its more visual kei
LHP - this LHP is really bad.
Loom - I wouldnt go here either, went once but they do not have stock.
Royal Flash - no need to go here.
Rule 1588 - idk what this is
The R - Julius and other visual kei clothing, owner kiba san is very nice guy, much respect.
Why are you here? - idk what this is
AYIN store with the most BBS in japan
24/8 JP for the ladies

Umeda

not worth it



is DSM worth a visit? - yes 100%

is l'eclaireur in Tokyo still open? no


all this with a grain of salt though I guess.

[Faust]

Agree with Trigger from the limited knowledge I have. Honestly, though, don't limit yourself to core SZ brands. The Comme des Garcons and Yohji flagships in Aoyama are a must. DSM only if you have the time, and so are the Undercover and Sacai flagships. At Isetan not only clothes but the incredible food court and Japanese ceramics. In Daikanyama the T-Site is a must for books, and stop for a coffee at Saturday's Surf, have it in their back yard.

[TriggerDiscipline]

Agree with Trigger from the limited knowledge I have. Honestly, though, don't limit yourself to core SZ brands. The Comme des Garcons and Yohji flagships in Aoyama are a must. DSM only if you have the time, and so are the Undercover and Sacai flagships. At Isetan not only clothes but the incredible food court and Japanese ceramics. In Daikanyama the T-Site is a must for books, and stop for a coffee at Saturday's Surf, have it in their back yard.

Those are good options and depending on the route you take all of those are close to Rick so you'll end up passing by those places, including issey miyake. When I mean not worth it it's usually trash brands or just a minimalist interior with no thought process whatsoever.

Like for example the clothes in royal flash is pretty visual kei and sort of trashy rock and roll but the store concept and the visual displays are really nice. Especially bedrock and royal flash, for having its own flair and taste which is real nice. Attachment, LHP, studious, B 2nd for example all have extremely generic interiors. Royal flash, B 2nd and lhp are the same super conglomerate as well (ueno shokai) . I'm not even sure what makes up the B 2nd market I guess people who want to wear guidis with Robert geller and backlash leathers?

[nicelynice]

Lift has good stuff in. Be sure to check out Cornelian Taurus (bags) and Petrosolaum (shoes). Always nice to come to Japan and buy, y'know, Japanese things. Petrosolaum in particular makes fantastic handmade shoes. Araki Yuu and Ansnam are two other great brands that haven't really caught on overseas yet.

Other stores to check out:

Tokyo
Souterrain

http://www.souterrain.jp/

Araki Yuu, Greg Lauren, Ansnam, GBS

Tokyo (Jiyugaoka) I wouldn't come all the way for this store, but this is a nice neighborhood
Carrefour

http://www.carrefour-jiyugaoka.com/

LUC, MA+, Taichi Murakami, Ansnam

Osaka (Umeda), Tokyo (Ginza)
Cathedral

http://cathedral-oj.jp

Kaval, Opus Japan, GBS, Araki Yuu, IS

Kobe
Liberte (my favorite store in Japan outside of Lift)

http://www.liberte100.jp/blog/

Layer-0, LUC, Forme, PR Patterson, Frank Leder

Kobe
Shelter V / Shelter II

http://shelter5.net/

http://shelter2.com/

Petrosolaum (shoes), CCP, MA+, Cornelian Taurus

[dji]

thanks gents, appreciate the advice! majority of the store list is from brand stockist info (TVA, Devoa, etc.), honestly just Lift and Isetan would probably satisfy the shopping itch so we can do more interesting things there haha.

the missus and I will in Tokyo/Kyoto/Nara/Osaka for 2 weeks from mid-November (escaping the US for the Thanksgiving period has become a regular tradition it seems).

[TriggerDiscipline]

thanks gents, appreciate the advice! majority of the store list is from brand stockist info (TVA, Devoa, etc.), honestly just Lift and Isetan would probably satisfy the shopping itch so we can do more interesting things there haha.

the missus and I will in Tokyo/Kyoto/Nara/Osaka for 2 weeks from mid-November (escaping the US for the Thanksgiving period has become a regular tradition it seems).

I think that 24/8 would be really nice for your missus.
also fascinate would be nice for you.

If i were you, I would do Royal Flash/Besdrock just to see some japanese fashion and some craziness. then check out LIFT/Gullam(because its super close to lift) Isetan

and then in Osaka just take a couple of min to go to Fascinate and 24/8 if you like.

[dji]

cheers TD. any info on 24/8? my Japanese Googling skills are not picking anything up.

[TriggerDiscipline]

cheers TD. any info on 24/8? my Japanese Googling skills are not picking anything up.

http://www.24aug.jp/

sorry that was super vague

[dji]

thanks, will check it out!