Archives for posts with tag: shinjuku
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ishop tokyo shinjuku : : a specialty shopping guide for ipad

July 25, 2012 //
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Tokyo is not only one of the world’s great cities, it is also the best shopping destination on the planet.

We’ve just published an e-book guide to the best shopping in Tokyo’s most dynamic district, Shinjuku.

iSHOP TOKYO shinjuku, a NEW iPad e-book published by mapp : : tokyo, is now available FREE on the Apple iBooks store through iBooks on your iPad.

iSHOP TOKYO shinjuku has useful general information on Tokyo, from transport to holidays, it provides Japanese language tips and authentic gift and souvenir suggestions, hotel and dining ideas and general shopping information as well as detailed notes on Shinjuku’s most interesting stores – with address details, maps, pictures and website links.

Published with Apple’s iBooks Author, iSHOP TOKYO shinjuku is compatible with iPad and iBooks 2.0. You can download iSHOP TOKYO shinjuku from Apple’s iBooks store via the iBooks app on your iPad. We hope you like it.

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tokyo’s yamanote line

February 4, 2012 //
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Tokyo is a vast city. Its unique urban ‘center’ is actually a cluster of business and commercial hubs, most of which form a rough circle around the heart of the city: the Imperial Palace, some entertainment districts and well-heeled residential neighborhoods dotted with foreign embassies, temples and parks.

Public transport is part of the ethos of Tokyo’s culture – especially trains and different stations even have their own signature tunes, with Takdanobaba famous for using the theme music of Astro Boy. The city famously has an extensive transport network featuring one of the world’s most sophisticated rail networks, comprising an array of private and public train and subway lines; there are even the mandatory hi-tech monorails. The jewel in the crown is the Yamanote line, Japan Rail East’s loop line, identified by its lime green strip livery and station signage. The Yamanote, or 山手線 – Yamanote-sen, is the line that connects the city’s most important transport hubs, its business and government centers and its top shopping and entertainment districts. It’s the line that acts as a conduit for commuters who feed into it from Tokyo’s suburbs and beyond, using many of its stations as interchanges.

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yodobashi camera : : made in japan

August 13, 2011 //
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Yodobashi Camera, ヨドバシカメラ, with its imposing flagship stores in Shinjuku and Akihabara, is like Disneyland for geeks. This is a store that has practically everything and anything that works with a power cord or batteries. 

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disk union : : pure music

July 14, 2011 //
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iTunes, in less than a decade, has changed our perceptions of music consumption and has been the catalyst for a revolution in the music industry.

Since iTunes was launched in 2003: iTunes has had more than 10 billion downloads, mostly at the expense of CD sales and ‘bricks and mortar’ music stores; 29 percent of the $4.6 billion global music industry is now digital; more than 400 licensed music services like Pandora – which has some 75 million users – have joined the music industry; Justin Bieber’s Baby video has been watched worldwide by more than 430 million viewers on YouTube and Ke$ha’s 2010 single, TiK ToK, sold 12.8 million digital units worldwide that year.

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tokyo at rest : : relaxation & contemplation

May 24, 2011 //
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Japan’s workforce is known for its hard-working ethos. OECD data calculated that the average worker in Japan in 2009 clocked up 1714 hours, but unofficially members of the nation’s full-time workforce put in many more hours than that. Employees routinely work many hours of sābisu zangyo, サービス残業, – or unpaid ‘service’ overtime, workplace culture sees staff idling away evening hours at their desks because the boss hasn’t left the office yet, annual leave days remain unused and karōshi, 過労死, – death from overwork, and suicide are unnaturally common among the working and salaried classes. In Tokyo, the pace is hectic most days of the week, with well-dressed workers running to train platforms, salarymen and women spilling out of station exits and into tower buildings, businesspeople rushing around the city’s streets and working on documents and files in cafes and restaurants.


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christmas, couples & love hotels

December 24, 2010 //
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The streets, office towers, shopping malls and department stores of central Tokyo present a familiar picture during November and December: Christmas trees, Christmas lights and the sounds of Christmas Carols create a beautiful Christmas vibe. In the city’s restaurants and bars the end of year bonenkai parties are equally merry. At home, Christmas trees decorate many living rooms and Santa brings gifts for young children.

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isetan : : his & hers department stores

December 15, 2010 //
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Shopping in Tokyo is an almost surreal experience, where shopping centers and stores in the major commercial hubs merge above and below street level in maze-like configurations. This landscape is also packed with wonderful department stores, and Isetan is one of the biggest and best. The company’s flagship store is a fashion-lover’s paradise that comprises two vast buildings – one for her, one for him – that help define the character of the bustling east side of Shinjuku station. All the enticing department store trimmings are there: the spotless showrooms, the luxurious washrooms and the decadent basement food hall; the immaculately groomed information booth and elevator girls, the courtesy buses and courteous parking attendants; the flawless service – something you would expect of staff who ritually bow to the showroom, their workplace, when entering or exiting at the start or end of their workday shift; and above all, the hip brands and beautiful fashions and accessories that make Isetan an essential stop on any visit to Shinjuku.

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retail icon : : don quijote

December 10, 2010 //
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Shopping is a major pastime in Japan and it’s not unusual for people in Tokyo to describe shopping as their hobby. It’s no secret that Tokyo is a shopping wonderland and the retail landscape contains every imaginable shopping destination from elegant cathedral like department stores to bargain 100 yen shops and weekend flea markets; extravagant luxury brand flagship stores with trappings and service that resemble those of upmarket hotels to idiosyncratic specialty stores and uber-cool boutiques.

Trading hours are civilised: most stores usually open at 10 or 11 am and close around 8, 9 or 10 in the evening, seven days a week. For those who still need more time to get their shopping fix, those who need some party wear, make-up, jewelry or vitamins at midnight, those who get a craving for a designer watch, camera or cheap suit at 3 in the morning, those at a loose end who feel like window shopping at dawn, or those who want to pick up some breakfast supplies before boarding the first train, Don Quijote, ドン キホーテ, – or Donki as it’s affectionately known – is the place to head.

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beams fashion culture

November 5, 2010 //
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The Japan retail landscape is a rich mix of depato, brand stores, specialty stores, variety and lifestyle stores, shopping malls and ‘select shops’ that select and mix coordinated collections of local or imported labels to create a store’s brand identity.

BEAMS, the self-styled culture store, epitomizes the Japanese select shop concept, stocking a range of fashionable local and imported labels. BEAMS, however, is also a successful brand store and adds to the mix a number of BEAMS labels under which home wares, music, art and food are sold, either in dedicated BEAMS brand boutiques or as part of the merchandise in the BEAMS select stores. The company’s emphasis, though, is on men’s and women’s fashion and the various labels’ collections range from sophisticated classic styles to edgy avant-garde designs. The Shinjuku based BEAMS, which is made up of three separate companies, began in Harajuku as a single label and store in 1976. Today, the company is an established part of the Japanese retail scene and has dozens of stores scattered throughout the country, with the greatest concentration of BEAMS shops in Tokyo’s Harajuku and Shibuya areas, and a number of outlets in Hong Kong.

All original images from the BEAMS 2010 A/W CATALOG for iPad : : copyright BEAMS

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authentic retro americana

July 25, 2010 //
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William Gibson, in his 2003 novel Pattern Recognition, which is partly set in Tokyo, writes about an otaku culture in Japan that obsessively reproduces vintage garments such as the famous Buzz Rickson’s wartime jackets – one of which is worn by the novel’s protagonist – for modern consumption, with an attitude so reverential that the original imperfections are reproduced in the remakes by the Japanese manufacturers along with the most insignificant details of the referenced item.

Such idolization of past icons seems a contradiction in a culture where there’s a disregard for the old as witnessed by the easy destruction of old city buildings and the rush to purchase the latest consumer wares to replace the old. Great value is, however, placed on these authentic reproductions and there is a love of Americana among various fashion tribes in this city. In particular, vintage American workwear, classic denim and military gear is highly valued, not only among the devotees of vintage labels; it also finds its way into the wardrobes of many fashionable Tokyoites.

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