Hi cheapos. Not sure if this is the right place to post but ill try anyway.
My parents (60ish) are coming to Japan this December. All they love is to walk, window and actual shopping and eating. Now I know Tokyo but i live in Osaka so perhaps its better to ask someone living there.
What are good places to walk and shop?
What would be a good place to stay?
They are planning to stay at Shiodome but I was initially thinking about recommending Shinagawa since they will be traveling with the bullettrain. You can take the Yamanote line from Shinagawa. I googled for places to shop but Asakusa and Roppongi were also recommended. I can only remember Kaminarimon in Asakusa, is there a shopping district that im not aware of?
First up, I’d say Ginza might suit the more mature shopper, it’s full of fancy department stores and boutiques, plus it’s a pleasant area to walk around. North of Ginza is the Tokyo Station and Nihonbashi districts, both walking distance, and I’d recommend the Mistukoshi and Coredo department stores for some high-end and traditional Japanese shopping.
Next on the list would be Omotesando and Aoyama (we actually have an Omotesando walking tour itinerary here.) This area houses a lot of flagship stores for top fashion brands, as well as containing numerous architectural delights and oddities.
Daikanyama and Nakameguro are great spots for more contemporary, dare I say hipster shopping, we also have an itinerary for this here.
Finally the two busiest shopping districts are Shinjuku and Shibuya, though Shibuya is caters more to the <30 something age group both have a little bit of everything.
Thanks for the swift reply. Yeah I imagined something along those lines.
I know Shinjuku is huge but I have never seen a real shopping district there, I know there is a street with bic camera on the park towers side and then there is kabukicho which if im not mistaken is not a shopping district on the other side, am i missing something?
I would also like to mention Ikebukuro and Ameyoko for honourable mention. You can see shops at Ameyoko peddling things from watches, sports wear, boots, army replica, belts to mentaiko and other foodstuff. Plus there are plenty of food options down there. It does get pretty crowded with tourist but I really like that place.
Ikebukuro also has pretty nice shopping malls even if it is a little dated. Cafes and bistros are also plentiful.
As for staying, I would like to ask where are they landing. Ueno is actually a pretty good location due to proximity to the Yamanote and you can hop onto a shinkansen if need be. A close 2nd would be Ikebukuro, I have stayed in both Ueno and Ikebukuro before.
