Tokyo: what to buy?

[Alesha]

Well seems its my first post here, but there is always a first time, no?

I'm supposed to go on business trip to Tokyo this weekend, and it seems I will have unforgivable amount of free time there (too early to actually use it to party), so I intend to shop around for various curious things. To be honest, never shopped in Tokyo before so I would love to hear some tips if you don't mind sharing. I think I'll go for Japanese designers mostly, so I need some recomendations in terms of places/brands.

1) Brands:

Yohji Yamamoto needs little mention, for its absolute.
Julius - that one I know of, and greatly adore so this is likely where I will start. Got to love the deconstructive nuclear winter chic.

However this is where my Japasavvy ends. What would you recomend to check out in Shibuya after Julius?

2) Shops - what shops (non mono-branded) worth visiting?

[JetLag]

ISETAN MEN'S SHINJUKU (2d floor) is a good start. Then go to a lovely italian restaurant called Lumen, near Kabukicho, and order "Pierre Pasta". After that loose yourself in Golden Gai^^
You probably don't need me to know that JULIUS has his flaship store in Daikanyama (one station from Shibuya)
If you are in Shibuya, go to MIDWEST (2d and 3d floor) but don't forget to take a look at the other stores around.

[theaddict]

Its hare to find that Julius store though, i passed by like 4 times till i found out where it is. Its in the 1 floor of a building and you cannot see anything of it from the street. Just around the corner is Attachment (two stores, one with Kazuyuki Kumagai, the other with regular Attachment)...and of course check out the two lift stores which are imo the best shops in Tokyo (at least from the stores i went to). I didnt like Isetan, Midwest was ok.

[dji]

mike lowrey wrote a fantastic thread about stores in Tokyo and Kyoto

[Alesha]

One thing that I always found curious, how different are julius prices in flagship store to say prices in europe?

Kazuyuki Kumagai, what is that brand like? I haven't encountered that one yet anywhere.

Oh and the threadis indeed wonderful

[theetruscan]

If you don't know what you're looking for, I'd find good ramen. Especially if you haven't been to Japan. Good ramen is something special, as boring as it sounds. A lot of the most fun stores are extremely hard to find, especially without a guide (Backlash comes to mind, with their insane location buried upstairs behind a furniture store down the only piss stained alley I found, behind an unmarked door), and you will waste unreal amounts of time just trying to find places. Lift is fun, though. If you're a foodie, do some kinda kaiseki meal. Maybe try esaki, it's delicious, not too expensive (like $125 for 8 courses).

[Alesha]

I am supposed to have a driver/choffeur so I guess he will have to act as guide. But something tells me that might not help at all...

Well basicly it all came up very suddenly so you are very right. I have no plan at all except buying some Julius and seeing flagship store and later visiting Yohji Yamamoto. However I have this feeling, I'll actually miss on really cool stuff I can't find anywhere else. So to avoid it I decided to use SZ :)

What is this Good Ramen like?

Yeah a Japanese partner of my'ne just confirmed that esaki is a must in email :)

[JetLag]

@theaddict: Ah ah! I had the same problem to find the Julius store. The map was only helpful for the direction.
And I took about 30mn to find the new KKAttachment store as well.
I'm not agree about ISETAN MEN. I think that the 2d floor is a good digest, in particular for someone wondering what is Attachment ;-)

[ddohnggo]

i'm going to tokyo in the summer. so everyone start talking about this shit so i can figure out what we're going to do. ;)

[Alesha]

So finding Julius is difficult? Hmmm what kind of advice can you give to find it?

[Bosozoku]

As addition to the Ramen, I'd take a look out for some Tonkatsu: pork meat wrapped in a crusty kind of coating. Plenty of great restaurants near the Hachiko Exit at Shibuya station.

Didn't spend too much time shopping in Tokyo (there is more in life than spending too much time on consumption), but the side streets of omotesando hide some peculiar little stores (for example SOSU by Mihara Yasuhiro, Gallery Bizarre and Undercover' FlahShip can be found in this neighbourhood).

Personally liked Daikanyama-/Ebisu best, but I guess that area has been covered a shitload of times. Some fantastic little boutiques (of which one was completely stuffed with silver jewellery and faliero sarti scarves) definitely makes this worth your visit.

[Alesha]

Well my first trip to Japan covered majority of sight seeing which included:

(Beyond various traditional tourist places)

- Mirror floor bars (gosh!) Asking Sumitomo guys: "Lets go to most expensive bar in town!" got me there... It took me about half an hour to realise that mirror floor and waitresses was a combo.

- Japanese sauna thing was a blast!

- And a drunken joke my partners played on me by dropping me off in some BDSM club...

All in all Tokyo proved to be wierd enough that I only want to SHOP there for a few hours, throw a presentation and GET THE HELL OUT!

P.S. What did I miss in terms of nightlife?

[theaddict]

Haha, there you are jetlag...i think i have been to the old Attachment store only. When i was there they told me that they would move soon. Is it far from where it used to be?

@alesha, well its on a downhill street and when you are coming from the top its on the left side. Buildings in that area are rather small but the store is in a rather big looking one (relatively seen of course). There is a rather big stairway up to the first floor and it looks like a super little mall entrance from downstairs. There are more shops in that building but Julius is the first one on the left (1.floor). Sorry for the shitty description, back then i had a map, the exact adress, and was accompanied by my japanese speaking friend. Nevertheless i had a hard time, walking downhill and uphill asking people...i thought everyone in Japan knows Julius, but they dont...haha.

@ ddongho What i recommend for food is to go to the fish market and eat a tuna plate. Starting with maguro which is the part of the tuna with almost no fat, to toro which is almost white bc of the fat. You dont have to chew the fish, its so soft...
A decent restaurant to go with a lady is Sakuro (zakuro?). Its a chain, there are 5 of them in japan, but its quite decent though. We had a separee and i ate the best meat and the best oysters in my whole life. Go there and have some shabu shabu, which is my favorite food on earth. Boiling hot pot with the best wagyu-beef cutting in the world (not of japan of course, and its not kobe wagyu!). Since it is a chain the prices are reasonable for tokyo, the cheapest 3 course menu is 10000Yen, around 100Euro per person(alcohol not included of course) Remember this is not one of the superduper expensive restaurants which are easily much more expensive, but for non japanese people it easily makes the impression of being shiper high class. AS my friend told me its the least decent place to go with a girl and eat for dinner.

I would also check out the nice bakeries around the Julius store, if i wouldnt have a egg and milk allergie i would have been all over those little cute cakes and stuff...

and i definitely would go to a japanese hot tub, its so great, you can stroll around with your gf in the japanese yukatas and eat, then go to the sauna, meet again watch tv in the relaxing room...what a blast...and joey, japan is so clean and people so polite...vs. korea...haha

@theaddict: Ah ah! I had the same problem to find the Julius store. The map was only helpful for the direction.
And I took about 30mn to find the new KKAttachment store as well.
I'm not agree about ISETAN MEN. I think that the 2d floor is a good digest, in particular for someone wondering what is Attachment ;-)

[Alesha]

Gosh I just remembered image of my drunken russian partners in yukatas in Japanese tub...

[theetruscan]

P.S. What did I miss in terms of nightlife?

From what you describe, I'd say everything. There's crazy expensive odd shit, sure, but I think that's more for the shock factor than the goodness. One thing I truly love about Tokyo is the combination of giant city and tiny venues.

The best bars aren't giant gaudy mirror floor nonsense, they're 4-8 (MAYBE 12) seat establishments you have to know about, completely unadvertised, usually with a bartender/owner as the only employee. One of the best I know of is in nakameguro behind an unmarked door in a small parking garage somewhere down an alley near the metro. When you find a bar like this, be prepared to pay, and pay well. Your drinks are perfect, and perfection is rarely cheap.

You can do the whole overthetop gaudy thing if you're into it, but there's a reason it's so popular with little kids and not much else. Another thing is, Tokyo is a city of 30+ million. If there's a scene you're into, it's there somewhere, it's just a matter of finding it.

For Ramen, I still love the Ippudo (I know there's one in NYC, fuck it) out in Kichijoji, right by the train station. They do a way better Shio Ramen than Aka ramen. And, yeah, good tonkatsu is fantastic. If you're looking for fancier food with plenty of drink and have no time flat, go to Chez Aburiya. The calf liver sashimi is interesting, but the bellota pork you grill yourself is worth killing for.

For Sushi, Sushi Dai in Tsukiji is fantastic for delicious, no-nonsense sushi. Sukiyabashi Jiro has a well deserved rep as the best of the best in Tokyo (I'd skip Kyuubei).

Just so you can see it, go to Lift.