Tokyo Shopping Excursion – From Shibuya To Harajuku

While we have already presented guides for Shibuya and Harajuku, there is a lot happening in between the two areas, which we explore in the next chapter of our Tokyo shopping guide.

You can easily walk from Shibuya to Harajuku, as the two are connected and only one train stop away from each other. Some places are easier to find than others, but there are so many great shopping areas in the city to explore and we would not want to miss a single one of them.

Check out our store checks that we did on the edges of the two shopping districts, featuring some retailers that you have already heard about many times here on Highsnobiety.

The full review after the jump.

GIP-STORE Shibuya – This is the new flagship store of WTAPS. After we could not check out Blackflag, we were happy to check out this new retail venture by the brand. A beautiful store interior, all vintage military inspired, perfectly fitting the general look of the brand. Every detail, both outside and inside was right. The store carries only WTAPS products and the other line by WTAPS creative director TET, FPAR. A must visit in Tokyo.

The details of the GIP Store are just great.

DULTON Shibuya – Because the GIP store had not opened yet, we strolled through the area around it and came across the Dulton flagship store, mostly carrying Dulton metal furniture, Tolix chairs and a fantastic range of home accessories. Mostly vintage American inspired, the store was full of small goodies for your home and a great find.

SHOE & CO Shibuya – This is the lifestyle flagship store of Japanese classic shoe company Regal. It is located just down the street from the GIP store and was also a welcome surprise. Small, yet with a great built out, the store carries all collaborative product of Regal shoes, as well as specials. They had some beautiful new camo brogues on preview, which will come to the store in the following weeks. Nice store details included tools from the shoe making process and more.

If you want good quality, classic footwear from Japan, go to Shoe & Co.

You walk below the train bridge and you are already in Harajuku….

HYSTERIC GLAMOUR Harajuku – Hysteric is one of those Tokyo classics that we also had to check out. Unfortunately we are not too excited anymore about the brand’s current direction and releases. The store looked alright, but again, nothing too special.

ATMOS Harajuku – In our Harajuku review, lots of you asked how come we did not feature atmos. Well, here it is. A clean, well designed and well equipped sneaker store with lots of collaborative product. The problem with sneakers is, unless its a collaboration, you can most likely find them anywhere in the world, as such, the atmos visit was not too shocking in terms of offering.

UNIQLO UT Harajuku – The t-shirt store by Uniqlo is certainly impressive. Fully equipped with vending machines spitting out the latest designs that they are offering, the store feels like a visit into the future. It does not only carry the tees, but much more than a regular Uniqlo store in the city.

The line-up of vending machines looks great.

MADHECTIC Harajuku – We were quite surprised by the massive madHectic store. It was sitting right next the Tommy shop and offered the full madHectic and Masterpiece collections. In general they stick to their hip hop inspiration also in store.

GRANIPH Harajuku – Everybody always goes on and on about Graniph, so we also checked that out. They carry tons of graphic tees and are very well known for their t-shirt design contest. Beyond the tees, the clothing was not very interesting. So, if you are looking for t-shirts, check it out, otherwise you can pass it.

THE NORTH FACE STANDARD Harajuku – This is a special project store by The North Face. A great and clean build out, the store spans over several smaller floors, carrying everything from the regular TNF collection to the Purple Label goods, eYe Junya Watanabe collaboration, tents and more. A great premium outdoor goods store, that we have not seen like that before anywhere else.

BASE STATION Harajuku – Here comes the Japanese American Apparel, if you want to call it that way. The main different being that you see Stussy collaborations in there and more. In general some dope basics, always with that extra twist, that extra Japanese touch. It is not as well priced at AP, but compared to other prices in the city certainly not bad. We also loved the smaller non-clothing accessories that they offered.

So, this is it from this part of town – more of course to follow!

Photography: Highsnobiety