Denim shops in Tokyo

[Analyst]

That`s damn right !! I tried the freshness burger.....amazing ! I would go to Shimokitazawa just for that.

Not to derail the thread, but there are plenty of Freshness Burger joints all over the city. Also went to the shops in Harajuku and Shinjuku. Very tasty...

Here is the Harajuku spot...

[callejeros]

Any references abour prices of denim?

[Seething Tortoise]

Oh, just to add one thing about the staff at americaya in Ueno. They let me try on their worn pairs of jeans so i could pick a pair from how theyd fit once they'd been washed and stuff.

[ikwhy]

Any references abour prices of denim?

pretty much what you see on rakuten... with japanese tax...

but without postage and handling...

[Analyst]

Any references abour prices of denim?

PBJ-003 at Hinoya was 18,600 yen.

[jaspar]

That's hilarious. I felt the same way when I actually found the shop I was looking for. Anyone been to the Flat Head store? Any pictures or details? I ran out of time and didn't get a chance to find it.

I went in November:

(they won't let you take pictures inside the store). The dude working there is super-helpful and, like most Japanese shop proprietors, is shockingly knowledgeable about his product and proud of his job. It's about 1/2 mile from Jiyūgaoka Station, on Tōkyū Tōyoko Line. I don't remember exactly how to get there, just that it's Northwest of the Station, behind The Gap. Jiyūgaoka is also a cool area, in Setagaya; as I understand it, similar to Shimokita (which I didn't see this trip):

http://kush.typepad.com/jiyugaoka/

[tweeds]

has the fact that there are 3 hinoya stores been mentioned...?

[Analyst]

has the fact that there are 3 hinoya stores been mentioned...?

And they are all located generally next to each other in Ueno, right?

I'm going to try to make it to the Inazuma Festival in October. There's small chance I might be in Tokyo during that time. Chicken, thanks for the reminder.

[Analyst]

I got a couple of PMs asking about the location of the PBJ shop in Harajuku, as it's a little tough to find. Hope this helps....

[NakhedCouTure]

The Pure Blue Japan store in Harajuku was a little tough to find. When you reach Harajuku station, go to the end of Takeshita street and make a left. Keep walking until you reach the first larger street and make a right (close to the Beams store). PBJ will be on your right about150m down the street, across from a parking lot.

I just went to the PBJ store in Harajuku. This post by Analyst is actually very accurate.

"When you reach Harajuku station, go to the end of Takeshita street and make a left. Keep walking until you reach the first larger street and make a right"

After you make that Right, just go on straight, You'll see Chrome Hearts store on your left, then you'll see Freshness burger on your left. Straight on a lil' bit, you'll see Ed Hardy store, and The PBJ store, is just after the Ed Hardy Store.

+rep to Analyst for bein very helpful.

[selaviso]

that shit looks real bomb

[laughter95]

PBJ-003 at Hinoya was 18,600 yen.

jeezzzz us americans are paying an extra 51 dollars for the same pbjs from BIG, minus pocket designs/tabs. shit i wish i knew about jeans when i was visiting tokyo!

[selaviso]

jeezzzz us americans are paying an extra 51 dollars for the same pbjs from BIG, minus pocket designs/tabs. shit i wish i knew about jeans when i was visiting tokyo!

so you never heard of jeans before recently? hahaha.

[laughter95]

well, i didn't want to buy a pair of wickedly expensive jeans when i really didn't know what i was buying at the time and didn't want to make the mistake of paying some really high price on something that would later become unjustified when i learned more about it.

at the time, i really liked evisu (but didn't like the gulls) but now i'm glad i didn't pay the 21,000 jpy for the lot 2001's because i'd rather spend the same amount for a better pair of jeans. so all in all, it would have been best if i knew the product but the second best outcome was that i didn't buy anything.

[theshralpster]

I was in Hinoya yesterday and they had plenty of sugarcane jackets. I got a hickory stripe railroad coat. Im not sure they had that particular one but they did have some brown ones. I also picked up a pair of real mccoys at Americaya. That street is unreal. Its a little tough to find a pair of jeans when you dont speak japanese, the staff did their best with me though.

[frideswide]

I am fairly sure the jacket didn't come like that but has been over-dyed brown with persimmon tannin.

Shokunin specialises in these sorts of dyed goods (although the jacket is not available any longer). You can have a look at their website to see what else is on offer, for example:

http://www.shokunin.com/en/bandana-hanbai.html

[theshralpster]

Im in kyoto now for a couple of days, where do i go? What shouldnt i miss?

[jizzimmy]

Another thumbs up for Americaya from me. They've got a huge selection of denim and the dude working there was super helpful. Ended up leaving the shop with some 3001's for 19,000.

[PandaDenim]

IMO.

Ueno is the one stop place for all denim lovers.

The staff there is also exceptionally helpful even if you can't speak Japanese, they explain the pre and post soak measurements and such.

Jizzimy when did you go to Americaya? I might have seen you there!

[theshralpster]

So, if osaka's the place, where are the denim stores at? I got my denim fill in tokyo, but my girlfriend needs some jeans, and i wouldnt mind perusing some more jeans. im near the train station, where do i look?

[sgt.sugoi]

hi - I'm in Tokyo and found the suggestions in this thread to be really helpful and just wanted to say thanks. I absolutely love Ueno in general and had to go back again, as I was so overwhelmed the first time. I ended my shop with a pair of Sugarcanes (Hawaiian), a pair of Studio D'artisans (SD-003) and a Buzz Rickson L-2 flight jacket. I noted that a few people have mentioned language on this thread and thought I'd share a few key phrases for when you're in Japan. I note that I'm not a Japanese expert, but these should be enough to at least communicate and get some jeans:

Nihongo ga sukoshi [hanasemasu/wakarimasu]. Eigo ga hanasemasu ka?

[said: Ni-hon-go ga sko-shi hanasemas/wakarimas. Eh-go ga ha-na-se-masu ka?

I [speak/understand] a little Japanese. Do you speak English?

Totte mite mo ii desu ka?

[said: Tot-te mee-te mo ii des ka]

May I take this to have a look?

Kore ga hoshii desu.

[said: Ko-re ga hosh-ii des]

I want this one.

Kore ga hoshikunai desu.

[said: Ko-re ga hosh-ku-nye des]

I don't want this one.

Kore ga suki desu

[said: Ko-re ga ski des]

I like this one

Kore ga dai suki desu

[said: Ko-re ga dye ski des]

I love this one

Irimasen, domo arigatoo.

I don't want it, thank you very much

Ikura desu ka

[said: I-ku-ra des ka]

How much?

Chotto haite mite mo ii desu ka?

[said: Chotto hai-te mee-te mo ii desu ka]

Can I try it on?

Motto [ookii/chiisai] no wa arimasu ka?

Do you have a [bigger/smaller] one?

Saizu [number] ga arimasu ka?

Do you have a size [number]?

If someone wants me to run through numbers, let me know.

[brand] ga arimasu ka?

Do you have [brand]?

Nihon jiinzu wa dai suki desu

[said: Nihon jean-zu wa die ski des]

I love Japanese jeans!

Kurejitto kaado wa tsukaemasu ka?

[said: Ku-reg-itto card-o wa tsu-kye-mas ka]

Can I use credit card?

If all else fails, just point at the one you like and say 'o kudasai', which translates roughtly to 'this one please'.

You'll find as well that for styles/cut they are usually described similar to their English counterparts - ie. booto katto (boot cut), sutarato leggo (straight leg), sutrato taito (straight tight) and if you can read katakana you will be able to piece together the labels.

Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

[fre-co]

hahaha nice first post.

[horriblyjollyjinx]

Try this link:

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&ie=UTF8&oe=UTF8&msa=0&msid=105967931293452893179.00000111c4a02d931f779

I made this map of denim shops in Shibuya and Harajuku a while ago and it should be pretty accurate. I don't remember the exact landmarks around the PBJ store but the shop is on the second floor with an entrance on the side, so you need to look for the stairs leading up to the shop.

This is awesome, thanks! Was a great help to me. I've been to almost all of the stores but was not able to find Fabfour and Nepenthes even though I was definitely on the right street/block. Thanks to Analyst as well, PBJ was nice.

What I would recommend for vintage stores is harajuku st, which youll probably walk on when you go to pbj. theres about 10 vintage stores on this street and it takes about 12hrs to really look through them. im going to continue today.

my favourite brand so far is dry bones, extremely nice rockabilly stuff. also found a hairdresser thanks to the dry bones staff.

I also recommend going to Luby's which is in harajuku as well, map on lubys-tokyo.com

Its small but they only have American made stuff, so RRL and a lot of deadstock US stuff like sneakers and boots etc. Found 50s Wrangler Blue Bell there for 30k but didnt buy.

[jselvedge]

The Skull Jeans store in Harajuku closed as of 9/7. I'll post pics of the sign that was posted at the door when I get back to the states. I'm not sure what exactly what it said so if someone could help translate, that would be great. How disappointing.

[lenn]

whaat? that sucks i liked the store, the guy working there was really nice...

is skulls jeans losing it's market share in japan or something? when i was there, he gave me a business card, but he also told me one of the stores listed on the card was already closed down. i asked him why, but he didn't awnser. guess that's just japanese tho.

[midnight]

Maybe they are gonna open a new single store that is quite larger than the others, and they just thought it was pointless to keep the others open? I feel like we would have heard things if they were actually starting to tank, but i guess i'm just optimistic. Maybe kiya knows something?

[jselvedge]

Here are the pics I took on 9/10. I'm still bummed because I was in Harajuku on the 7th but didn't have enough time to find the store. doh

[midnight]

thats depressing. Anybody care to translate the note?

[Pants Jackson]

I was in Japan in December and just wanted to thank jselvedge and atom for the denim info. Ueno was great--thanks to jselvedge's photos, finding Americaya was a breeze. Americaya Ueno is mouth-watering, and I had a pair of Samurai's chain-stitched in about 40 minutes.

The Americaya in Shibuya does not have nearly as good a selection, and I would highly recommend making the trek out to Ueno. It is about a 30 minute train ride from Shibuya.

[herpsky]

thats depressing. Anybody care to translate the note?

it just says come to fabfour flagship in nakame