Im Visiting Tokyo soon. Any shop recommendations?

[The Lost Cowboy]

Those are hard to find nice stuff, but you can try Second Street, Ragtag, Bookoff, Kindall and similar chains. They are not bargain basements but 90% of what's inside is either designer, streetwear or modern casual clothes. I have seen the occasional Lost Worlds, Vanson, Schott, etc. but on their online stores. Going into their store is much more of a crapshoot so you'll probably be setting yourself up for disappointment, especially if you have limited time.

If you're after the brands and type of clothes you'd often see on this forum, buying secondhand online on Japanese sites is a better bet.


What I think would be a better bet is to buy Japanese domestic brands at decent prices, combined with the favourable exchange rate.

For denim my favourite is probably Sugar Cane, they are priced reasonably and have good cuts, you can find them in Hinoya with tax free and a bunch of other stores as well. In Harajuku you have a whole bunch of stores like Flat Head, RMC, Tools Infinity (carries a bunch of brands including Toyo, TCB)

If you are interested in footwear, Asakusa is the best place to go, they have Rolling Dub Trio / The Boots Shop, Wheelrobe, Skoob, Brother Bridge.

I suggest making a Google Maps saved list and plan your days out on the area, like in Ebisu you can check out Jelado, Warehouse and Toys McCoy all within walking distance.

Thanks so much for this info. I'll only have three full days in Tokyo so I'll need to plan my time wisely - all these tips are very helpful.

I am looking to make only one or two purchases (unless I find some really good deals) - probably one jacket and a pair of denim trousers is my budget.

What I am really interested in is just familiarizing myself with different makers, materials and patterns. I've never even handled heavy denim, for example, or Shinki leather, or any top leather makers except Lost Worlds.

Thanks for the Sugar Cane reminder - I am also very interested in that brand.

 

[The Lost Cowboy]

I just got back from a week in Tokyo, it was spectacular. Got to see and handle a lot of the legendary brands everybody on this forum loves.

I can perhaps speak most to vintage shopping as much of my time was spent checking out second-hand and vintage versus new.

Overall, Japanese vintage is priced fairly to extravagantly high, however, I feel that Tokyo may be the best place in the world for vintage shopping (or one of the best). They are absolutely obsessed with vintage there. There are an absurd number of well curated (and not so well curated) vintage shops littered around everywhere. If you’re on the lookout for specific pieces it’s likely you’ll be able to find them at reasonable prices given enough hunting.

Some big areas for second-hand / vintage to check out are Koenji, Kichijoji, and Shimokitazawa (also Harajuku). Each of these areas have rows of curated vintage shops. I’d also recommend checking out any 2nd Street and Mode Off / Hard Off stores you come across as gems can usually be found and these stores are generally lower priced compared to vintage-focused stores.

Vintage Stores focusing on Heritage/Americana/Workwear/Military:

Marvin’s, Harajuku - This place is absolutely incredible, had to mention it. Racks of vintage and deadstock crammed into a very tiny space at very high prices. Still worth going to (it’s across the street from Real McCoy’s). Mountains of Levi’s, wool, and more. I nearly pulled the trigger on an incredible Langlitz Columbia from the 80s here but the fit was too short. Great selection of engineer boots as well for more reasonable prices.

Fake Alpha, Harajuku - in the same vein as Marvin’s. Many grail pieces at high prices but absolutely worth to go if just to window shop.

D Clothing, Koenji - Excellently curated true vintage at high prices, many grail pieces here. Great, though small, selection of vintage jackets and boots. The owner is very friendly and knowledgeable about his wares. Operating hours vary day-by-day, check his IG @dclothingkoenji for updates.

Whistler (Chart), Koenji - Incredible place with a massive vintage shoe collection. Excellent outerwear selection crammed into the upstairs area. There’s a second location located around the corner from the first. Some finds/deals to be found here but expect high prices.

2nd Street, Koenji - This 2nd Street location focuses on men’s vintage Americana / Heritage at mostly reasonable prices! 100% worth going here, I picked up a nice, heavy suede western shirt for $20. Very decent selection of leather jackets here too, I spotted a sz 40 HH Aero Highwayman for $180 I think?

Gasoline, Koenji - moto wear focused vintage. Great vibe, a small leather jacket collection here.

Zool, Koenji - Good selection of vintage. Helpful and talkative staff. Some deals to be found here. Spotted a Tauber’s cowhide pullover sz 40 for $170.

Florida, Shimokitazawa - Nice place, good selection. Mostly good prices. Scored a vintage wool hunting jacket for $30.

Vintage Honorable Mentions:

- SUNTRAP, Koenji
- Slut, Koenji
- Saler’s, Koenji
- Mode Off, Kichijoji
- Flamingo , Shimokitazawa, Harajuku
- Alaska, Shimokitazawa
- BIG TIME, Shimokitazawa, Koenji
- Desert Snow, Shimokitazawa
- Pigsty, Shimokitazawa
- 2nd Street, Harajuku
- ECO Town (cluster of Hard Off, Mode Off, etc. stores), Hachioji

Non-Vintage Store Recommendations:

オーティー・アンド・エモーショナル 吉祥寺店, (OT&Emotional), Kichijoji - Really cool store focusing on repro menswear, lots of denim, good selection of button-ups at reasonable prices.

Iron Heart, Hachioji - What can I say here? This place is about an hour by train + 30 minute walk (or bus ride) from Shibuya. Staff are incredibly helpful and talkative. Worth every minute!!

Trophy Clothing, Shibuya - Trophy Clothing is underrated in the Tokyo heritage menswear scene IMO. Their pricing has not yet creeped to critical levels like some of the bigger Japanese brands and they have excellent stuff. They have a great shop in Harajuku with very friendly and helpful staff.

And so many more of course, but most have already been mentioned.

Amazing write up. Thank you so much, this is incredibly helpful. I look forward to updating this thread after my trip.

 

[Destruct]

Amazing write up. Thank you so much, this is incredibly helpful. I look forward to updating this thread after my trip.

Absolutely! Hope you enjoy your time in Tokyo

 

[MattieXMoto]

This post needs to be a sticky or something. I will dream of this tonight

 

[Blackadder]

In stead of Fake Alpha, you can visit Berberjin's other shops. Fake Alpha caters to the die hard vintage crowd. Most items are really old like 30-50s collectibles. Berberjin however has a wider selection of denim and sweatshirts etc.
On a side note, I ran into Jason Momoa there early Dec. In fact, saw him at Inazuma Festival then again at Fake Alpha the next day.

 

[theeprimitivesound]

I just booked a trip to Tokyo for the end of January, really looking forward to emptying my bank account hahaha.

 

[The Lost Cowboy]

So I just spent two days shopping for leather in Tokyo. I visited shops in the Ueno, Shinjuku and Harabuku districts. Here is my brief review:

General note: If you are size 36-42, shopping in Tokyo seems worthwhile. I didn't see very much that was bigger than that.

UENO:
In Ueno, there is one street with three excellent leather shops. If you exit the Uena Station south entrance, there is a Uniqlo store immediately across the street. As you face the Uniqlo store, the street you want is the first one on the left.

The three stores are:
-General Garden: a good showing of Rainbow Country, Jelado, Vanson, Schott and Aero.
-Hinoya: is next door to General Garden and has Buzz Riskon A-2s.
-Hakuraido: across the street from the other two. This one has the best new leather jacket selection of any shop I saw in Tokyo. Here they had Freewheelers, Double Helix, Vanson, Lewis Leathers, Schott, 666, a number of lesser-known Japanese brands as well as the ubiquitous Avirex and others that I'm forgetting.

In this area of Ueno (called Ameyoko) there are lots of other denim or general workwear shops selling leather and high quality denim. But the three I mention had by far the biggest selection.

SHINJUKU:
I HATED Shinjuku. Imagine the biggest pedestrian shopping area you can, then multiply that area by five and stack each one of those on top of the other. Then fill the entire area with as many people as humanly possible. It was SO HARD to find anything. It was impossible to walk down the street and look at the shops because I had to watch where I was walking the whole time (because there were so many people). And I was there on a Monday mid-day!!

There is apparently a Freewheelers shop somewhere in Shinjuku but I actually left before I made it that far. I tried 4 or 5 shops but just navigating the shops was so damn hard because of so many people. And there just wasn't anything of value in any of the shops.

I can't imagine what would ever motivate me to return to Shinjuku. Even the train station is a nightmare.

No recommendations at all in this area.

HARAJUKU:
Harajuku is just south of Shinjuku but a much more relaxed environment. There is a lot less crowding in the area but it does feel very yuppified and trendy. I'm not generally inspired by such locations and Harajuku was no different. Of note in this area:
-The Real McCoys Tokyo: worth a visit. I was able to handle a number of famous items and they put on a nice display. The staff were cold and yuppified and not personable at all, but whatever.
-Marvins: just across the street from The Real McCoys. A tiny little shop stuffed to the ceiling with jackets and jeans. Way overpriced but you can find some interesting items. It is very very tight in this store and I was lucky I was alone for most of my visit. Anything of any real value will be very expensive, but it was good to handle a number of famous brands and examine the leather first hand.
-The Fake Alpha: by far the best vintage shop I saw in the three areas I visited. Also far too overpriced imo but he has a lot of space so you don't feel claustrophobic and he has a lot of variety in his collection. This is all vintage leather and I was really impressed by what I saw, but it was just too expensive ($2000 US for a 1950s Buco J-21; $2500 for a Cal, etc.).

Of course there are other little shops with leather jackets all over the place, but this is the list of shops I found worthwhile visiting. I actually think Ueno Ameyoko is the best area for leather shopping, especially if you have only one or two days. It's much smaller, it's cheaper, the people are WAAY nicer and more down to earth, and there was just more variety here than I saw anywhere else.

But if you want international, hip and fashionable, visit Harajuku.

Skip Shinjuku all the way around unless extremely crowded and inaccessible is something you can actually cope with.

As far as a cities go, I have found Tokyo to be a bit too introspective. Stores, cafes and bars look uninviting from the street. I always felt as if I had done something wrong here. Not an oppressive feeling, but I really felt like I needed someone to introduce Tokyo to me. The people aren't mean like in London, or cold like in Berlin, but it just isn't inviting like Manhattan.

Or Bangkok. Now Bangkok is a VERY inviting town, with cafes, restaurants and bars all open to the street. You can hear laughter and excitement all over the place. It is a city full of heart and healing. Tokyo weather might be better (and the Tokyo people are not unfriendly, just to be clear) but Bangkok is far more inviting.

I'll stop now. Tomorrow I do the tourist thing and visit Edo Castle, then fly home.

I hope this helps someone. Here is a shot of me in a ramen bar in Ueno. The ramen bars are definitely worthy of their reputation.

 

[Will Zach]

Nice writeup. As far as you could tell, was the crowd in Shinjuku mostly locals or tourists? When I stayed there 5 years ago it was busy but not terribly so. I think tourism is now booming in Japan due to cheap yen. Yeah, Tokyo takes some time getting used to. A bit forbidding initially, but you can really enjoy it on repeat visits. I am missing it. Regarding vintage American jackets in Japan - they are being bought up and exported in containers to be marked up and resold in specialty stores there. So deals are very hard to come by. A Cal for $2500? You can still buy one in the US for $400 every day of the week. But they are common. Bucos less so, so you gotta be patient. Or pay a premium in Japan...

 

[The Lost Cowboy]

Nice writeup. As far as you could tell, was the crowd in Shinjuku mostly locals or tourists? When I stayed there 5 years ago it was busy but not terribly so. I think tourism is now booming in Japan due to cheap yen. Yeah, Tokyo takes some time getting used to. A bit forbidding initially, but you can really enjoy it on repeat visits. I am missing it. Regarding vintage American jackets in Japan - they are being bought up and exported in containers to be marked up and resold in specialty stores there. So deals are very hard to come by. A Cal for $2500? You can still buy one in the US for $400 every day of the week. But they are common. Bucos less so, so you gotta be patient. Or pay a premium in Japan...

The crowd at Shinjuku was mostly Asian. How much of that was non-Japanese, I don't know. I saw a fair number of Westerners as well.

The Cal that was on offer was right at 300,000 Yen (which is 2000 US, sorry, not 2500) and was the brand before it became Cal. I wrote Cal because I can't remember what the first brand was (Star something?). It was in very very good condition, but as you say, I have seen Cals on offer on eBay for much less.

BTW, I passed on a beautiful new Vanson crosszip for just under 1000 USD because I can get the same thing for $300-400 on eBay in good used condition.

In other words, as an educational experience this trip was right on. As a deal finder, no way. I didn't find any deals here unless $200 for a pair of Samurais is a deal (I don't think so, but it's not too bad either). Again, for deals, shop Bangkok.

 

[Will Zach]

The crowd at Shinjuku was mostly Asian. How much of that was non-Japanese, I don't know. I saw a fair number of Westerners as well.

The Cal that was on offer was right at 300,000 Yen and was the brand before it became Cal. I wrote Cal because I can't remember what the first brand was (Star something?). It was in very very good condition, but as you say, I have seen Cals on offer on eBay for much less.

BTW, I passed on a beautiful new Vanson crosszip for just under 1000 USD because I can get the same thing for $300-400 on eBay in good used condition.

In other words, as an educational experience this trip was right on. As a deal finder, no way. I didn't find any deals here unless $200 for a pair of Samurais is a deal (I don't think so, but it's not too bad either). Again, for deals, shop Bangkok.

Yeah, it was Star Glove, Cal's predecessor. Worth much more than a Cal. Currently size 44 for sale on TFL for just north of a grand.

 

[The Lost Cowboy]

Yeah, it was Star Glove, Cal's predecessor. Worth much more than a Cal. Currently size 44 for sale on TFL for just north of a grand.

Star Glove, yes. In excellent condition: $2330 (edit: it was $2000). Ouch.

 

[Will Zach]

Star Glove, yes. In excellent condition: $2330. Ouch.

Makes sense. They need to price it about $1000 more than it's worth to pay for overhead and to turn some profit... Which is fair tbh. You can wait years for one to show up on the open market and then hope it's your size and in good condition, or you can pay a grand more and walk out with it.

 

[The Lost Cowboy]

Makes sense. They need to price it about $1000 more than it's worth to pay for overhead and to turn some profit... Which is fair tbh. You can wait years for one to show up on the open market and then hope it's your size and in good condition, or you can pay a grand more and walk out with it.

I would have paid a grand more for an excellent condition 50s Buco and walked out with it if I'd had the $1000 more. The one I showed on the other thread was the beat-up one: he had a beauty for $2000.

Alas, I also have to eat. To misquote some famous guy, "Man shall not live by leather alone."

 

[LuddGang]

So I just spent two days shopping for leather in Tokyo. I visited shops in the Ueno, Shinjuku and Harabuku districts. Here is my brief review:

General note: If you are size 36-42, shopping in Tokyo seems worthwhile. I didn't see very much that was bigger than that.

UENO:
In Ueno, there is one street with three excellent leather shops. If you exit the Uena Station south entrance, there is a Uniqlo store immediately across the street. As you face the Uniqlo store, the street you want is the first one on the left.

The three stores are:
-General Garden: a good showing of Rainbow Country, Jelado, Vanson, Schott and Aero.
-Hinoya: is next door to General Garden and has Buzz Riskon A-2s.
-Hakuraido: across the street from the other two. This one has the best new leather jacket selection of any shop I saw in Tokyo. Here they had Freewheelers, Double Helix, Vanson, Lewis Leathers, Schott, 666, a number of lesser-known Japanese brands as well as the ubiquitous Avirex and others that I'm forgetting.

In this area of Ueno (called Ameyoko) there are lots of other denim or general workwear shops selling leather and high quality denim. But the three I mention had by far the biggest selection.

SHINJUKU:
I HATED Shinjuku. Imagine the biggest pedestrian shopping area you can, then multiply that area by five and stack each one of those on top of the other. Then fill the entire area with as many people as humanly possible. It was SO HARD to find anything. It was impossible to walk down the street and look at the shops because I had to watch where I was walking the whole time (because there were so many people). And I was there on a Monday mid-day!!

There is apparently a Freewheelers shop somewhere in Shinjuku but I actually left before I made it that far. I tried 4 or 5 shops but just navigating the shops was so damn hard because of so many people. And there just wasn't anything of value in any of the shops.

I can't imagine what would ever motivate me to return to Shinjuku. Even the train station is a nightmare.

No recommendations at all in this area.

HARAJUKU:
Harajuku is just south of Shinjuku but a much more relaxed environment. There is a lot less crowding in the area but it does feel very yuppified and trendy. I'm not generally inspired by such locations and Harajuku was no different. Of note in this area:
-The Real McCoys Tokyo: worth a visit. I was able to handle a number of famous items and they put on a nice display. The staff were cold and yuppified and not personable at all, but whatever.
-Marvins: just across the street from The Real McCoys. A tiny little shop stuffed to the ceiling with jackets and jeans. Way overpriced but you can find some interesting items. It is very very tight in this store and I was lucky I was alone for most of my visit. Anything of any real value will be very expensive, but it was good to handle a number of famous brands and examine the leather first hand.
-The Fake Alpha: by far the best vintage shop I saw in the three areas I visited. Also far too overpriced imo but he has a lot of space so you don't feel claustrophobic and he has a lot of variety in his collection. This is all vintage leather and I was really impressed by what I saw, but it was just too expensive ($2000 US for a 1950s Buco J-21; $2500 for a Cal, etc.).

Of course there are other little shops with leather jackets all over the place, but this is the list of shops I found worthwhile visiting. I actually think Ueno Ameyoko is the best area for leather shopping, especially if you have only one or two days. It's much smaller, it's cheaper, the people are WAAY nicer and more down to earth, and there was just more variety here than I saw anywhere else.

But if you want international, hip and fashionable, visit Harajuku.

Skip Shinjuku all the way around unless extremely crowded and inaccessible is something you can actually cope with.

As far as a cities go, I have found Tokyo to be a bit too introspective. Stores, cafes and bars look uninviting from the street. I always felt as if I had done something wrong here. Not an oppressive feeling, but I really felt like I needed someone to introduce Tokyo to me. The people aren't mean like in London, or cold like in Berlin, but it just isn't inviting like Manhattan.

Or Bangkok. Now Bangkok is a VERY inviting town, with cafes, restaurants and bars all open to the street. You can hear laughter and excitement all over the place. It is a city full of heart and healing. Tokyo weather might be better (and the Tokyo people are not unfriendly, just to be clear) but Bangkok is far more inviting.

I'll stop now. Tomorrow I do the tourist thing and visit Edo Castle, then fly home.

I hope this helps someone. Here is a shot of me in a ramen bar in Ueno. The ramen bars are definitely worthy of their reputation.
View attachment 681041
View attachment 681043

Thanks for such a detailed write up, that’s incredibly helpful. I’ll be in Japan in the summer, but as a size 44 it sounds like finding any decent bargains are unlikely and probably not worth spending a day of the trip on.

 

[The Lost Cowboy]

Thanks for such a detailed write up, that’s incredibly helpful. I’ll be in Japan in the summer, but as a size 44 it sounds like finding any decent bargains are unlikely and probably not worth spending a day of the trip on.

I saw maybe three jackets total size 42 or 44. There just isn't a market for them in Japan. I could be wrong but that was my experience. The Real McCoys was different though - they did have a wide range of sizes. That one is worth a visit and maybe Marvin's across the street.