Nexa's Guide to Japan!: Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Tokyo - Shopping pt 2

Part 1 here

Harajuku
The Map linked here is a little messy, but it shows all the shops in the area.
This site (in Japanese) has the full listings of shops in whole of Harajuku.

Takeshita dori, located just right smack in front of JR Harajuku stn, offers lots of street food (like crepes) and lots of clothes and accesories.
Here's a detailed map of Takeshita dori, but unfortunately it's in Japanese.
The ones in pink are food places, orange are shopping places, blue is entertainment places and green are services (somehow convenience stores are under services)
I'll try to list out what they are..
anything with (?) means it's what i think it is but may not be right.

1) Is my favourite coffee chain in Japan, Doutor coffee.
2) To The Herbs. It's a Pizza and pasta restaurant.
3) Something called Komusa Store. It's orange and the store description says Fashion, but... searches done seem to bring up a dessert store -_-"
4) Snoopy Town shop
5) and 6) Sports Store
7) Torisutei, I think is a restaurant specialising in chicken. They seem to have Chicken sashimi as well
8) You won't believe it.. it's a swimming school......
9) Family Mart convenience store
10) Fancl
11) Lotteria
12) Mac Donald
13) Sweet Box Crepes
14) It's a Neoprint shop
15) Noa Cafe
16) Mighty Soxer, a socks shop
17) Harada's, fashion store
18) The Silhouette, fashion store
19) This is like a shop that sells hobby stuff or collectables related to sports.
20) Goody House, fashion store
21) Hatch, optician
22) Kusuri no Seijo, drugstore
23) Elleme, fashion store
24) Ootoya, japanese restaurant
25) Cafe Solare
26) Zona Liberata, fashion store
27) SOS Market(?), fashion store
28) and 29) Real Estate
30) Jeans Mate
31) Idol On (?), Idol collectables store
32) Popland (?), Idol collectables store
33) Hanamaru Udon
34) Matsumoto Kiyoshi, drugstore (a must go if you are buying drugstore cosmetics)
35) Spaghetti-ya, Italian food
36) and 37) Travel agents
38) Homeostyle, hairsalon
39) This is a building. 1st floor is Glitzy Chest, a used clothes store, and Stefany, a fashion store.
2nd floor is aJyu, a hair salon. The 3rd floor is somesort of rental space for meetings.
40) Lip Hip, Fashion store
41) Marion Crepes
42) Garage Fine, shoe shop
43) Gal Fit, Fashion store
44) Cafe Crepes
45) SaFaRi, accessories shop
46) Murasaki sports shop
47) Tarim fortune telling
48) Ragtag, fashion store
49) Unison Japan, accessories shop
50) Natural Terra, somesort of natural remedy and herb food shop i think
51) 7-11
52) Labo Labo, Skincare
54) Pants Shop LAA, fashion store
55) Real Market (?), fashion store
56) Aimerfeel, lingerie (webbie is meant for phones)
57) Bell Bell, handphone accessories shop
58) The Body shop
59) Claires (Must go for accessories!)
60) Crossover (?), fashion store
61) Sex pot revenge, fashion store
62) Harajuku shoes
63) 390yen clothes shop
64) Tami(?), fashion store
65) Kuze bag shop
67) Lotteria
68) Tabasa italian restaurant
69) White Essence, spa
70)Tamagami, kids clothes
71) Starbucks
72) Diana shoe shop
73) Book Off, equivalent to Popular book store here.
74) Karaoke 747
75) Chez Lion, hair salon
76) Real estate
77) Umaya no Shokutaku, serves western and japanese food.
78) Fancy Pocket, accessories store
79) Daiso
80) Art gallery
81) Marche, accessories store
82) Continue (?), don't know what store this is
83) Real estate
84) Zen Mall, fashion store
85) Lucia, japanese restaurant
86) Poesie Elf by Amos style, lingerie store
87) Northerly, lingerie store
88) Happy Hearts entertainment centre
89) Wooden dolls, mens clothes
90) Ongle, nail salon
91) La foret
92) Cola-collection, collectables store
93) Kakureya, japanese restaurant

*phew...

The real gems are hidden in the back street and alleys to the east of Takeshita dori.
Cheap ramen and other types of food can be found there.

Further up east is Omotesando, more of a High end brand mall. It's nice to go in and see the interior.. but I'm too poor to afford anything in there!

It's possible to walk to Shibuya from here, but If your sense of direction is bad... just take the train. It's like 2mins by train.

Ikebukuro
This is my favourite place. It has a whole different character to the other 3 places already mentioned.
Here there's the 2 largest department malls in the whole of Japan, Seibu and Tobu. Both of which have also the biggest food department *eyes twinkle*.
Tobu lies to the west and Seibu to the east.

On the east side there are mainly small shops and drugstores, plenty of food in the alleys and Metropolitan Plaza, Marui department mall.
On the west side there is Mitsukoshi, Tokyu hands, Alpa, Sunshine City and Animate, along with the vast number of small shops around the area.
There are plenty of drugstores here, Matsumoto Kiyoshi can be found on both sides of Ikebukuro, Tomods is in Metropolitan Plaza, and there's a Loft in Seibu and Sunshine City.
There's a Uniqlo standalone store on the east side.

Booking Accomodations in Japan

Besides booking directly via the accomodation's own website, there are websites available for Accomodation Reservations.

http://www.japanhotel.net/
- I personally used this a few times, good rates and good service.
http://www.japaneseguesthouses.com/
- This website specialise in Ryokans and minshuku bookings
http://travel.rakuten.co.jp/en/
- Used once before, rates are pretty good.
http://www.itcj.jp/
http://www.itravel.jp/
http://www.jcha.or.jp/english
http://japanican.com/
http://www.ryokan.or.jp/index_en.html
- This is a website where you can book ryokans part of the Japan Ryokan Association
http://www.jyh.or.jp/english/
- This website specialise in Youth Hostels that are part of the Japan Youth Hostel group
http://www.hostel.com/
- You can book minshukus, guest houses and hostels here

If you can read Japanese Jalan.net is a really good option.
In some instances it's cheaper (or equal to) than any hotel booking site in English and has a wider range of accomodations.

Tokyo - Accomodations

Resources: http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2164.html http://www.tourism.metro.tokyo.jp/english/

Where should I stay?
I always recommend a hotel which is a short walking distance from any station on the JR Yamanote Line. This includes Shinjuku, Shibuya, Ikebukuro, Ueno, Akihabara, etc
Why?
Shinjuku, Shibuya and Harajuku, which are the most popular shopping destinations in Tokyo, are conveniently located on the JR Yamanote line.Plus it's easy access to Odaiba bay and Ueno Park.
It's a little tricky to get to Asakusa and Tsukiji area, but it's still very do-able.

Budget accomodations can be found in Asakusa area, Ueno, Ikebukuro and areas slightly off from JR Tokyo station.Shinjuku and Shibuya areas though popular, are relatively more expensive on normal basis.

My personal favourite is Ikebukuro, I'm in love with that place :)

What are my lodging options?
*note that my examples are not recommendations, and are not the full listings.

Business Hotel
The most popular and the most common type.
You can say it's a low-end hotel, but it's still clean and pleasant to stay in.
They do offer breakfast options as well.
A small number of business hotels do not offer private toilet and bath facilities, instead there is a common toilet and bath which all the guests share.
As they actually cater for Japanese Businessmen, they tend to be very close to a train station.

Prices range from 5000 - 18000yen

Examples:

Renaissance Hotel Chain
Hotel Strix　(my personal Tokyo favourite)
Shibuya City
Sunroute Hotel Chain

Hotel
These tend to be on the high end in price.
The rooms are definately bigger than the Business Hotels.

Prices range from 15000yen - 50000yen

Examples

Minshuku
These are family-run establishments. Something like the bed and breakfast concept in the west.
They are cheap and good, but most of them do not have private toilet and bath facilities, instead there is a common toilet and bath which all the guests share.
Prices for rooms are usually charged per person per night, which is also why most places do not offer rooms for just 1 person.
But it's a good option for large groups who want to save money and share a single room.
Rooms are usually done up japanese style.
As the prices get cheaper, they tend to be a little out of the way.

Prices range from 2500yen - 15000yen

Example

Guest Houses and Hostels
These came up as part of the Minshuku concept, but are managed like a Hotel.
As with the Minshukus, they are cheap and good, but most of them do not have private toilet and bath facilities, instead there is a common toilet and bath which all the guests share.
For Hostels, you may not get a private room facility, instead it's a common room with common facilities.
As the prices get cheaper, they tend to be a little out of the way.

Prices range from 1000 - 15000yen

Example

Ryokans
To be honest, Ryokans in Tokyo are few and far between. And are very unlike the ones you watch on Japan Hour.
These are the high end versions of the Minshuku. The rooms are ALWAYS in japanese style and usually offer breakfast as part of the room stay, and sometimes offer dinner (which is different from the usual Ryokans that offer dinner on a usual basis).
Ryokans that offer western rooms or mixed style rooms are usually called Ryokan Hotels.
They are cheaper than the Ryokans you would find in onsen towns and they also would most probably not provide onsens. At the most you'll get a sento.

Price range from 12000 - 40000yen

Examples

Weekly Mansions
These are apartments where you can rent for at least 7days.
The lodgings have a kitchen and living area provided. Housekeeping services are also included, and you will have to pay for electric and heating.
But you won't have any meals, and most of the sites to book from are in Japanese.

Price range is about 3000-12000yen per night for a 7 day stay

Examples

Please check out my post on Accomodation Booking