japan :: tokyo :: general

[herpsky]

NO ONE

[SSchadenfreude]

what is a busan?

[ken shinoda]

A city in Korea. My first time visiting as well.

[conqueror]

haven't copped a whole lot yet but as usual i'm constantly amazed at the level of customer service in tokyo. ironically, one of the few pieces i've bought so far was something from gip store; i've been a huge fan of wtaps for years and was kinda surprised and disappointed to find how useless/rude the staff were. my only negative experience in 3 tokyo trips thus far.

Edited October 22, 2014 by conqueror

[frasier oiseau]

one of the few pieces i've bought so far was something from gip store;

 

Finally copped the MA-1?

[Warakia]

haven't copped a whole lot yet but as usual i'm constantly amazed at the level of customer service in tokyo. ironically, one of the few pieces i've bought so far was something from gip store; i've been a huge fan of wtaps for years and was kinda surprised and disappointed to find how useless/rude the staff were. my only negative experience in 3 tokyo trips thus far.

I had the exact same experience, I literally had to convince the dude that I wanted a size 2 and not 3 and getting the actual piece of clothing from the back seemed to be the toughest and most annoying thing he ever did, by the looks of his attitude. Honestly contemplated leaving without buying the service was that shit back then, especially since I'd spend all day shopping around Harajuku/Aoyama/Shibuya and it was the only place where I had that experience. 

Edited October 22, 2014 by Warakia

[conqueror]

any suggetisons of where i can cop a black, leather zip wallet for under 30kish yen? cdg, vis and head porter are all sold out in black.

[frasier oiseau]

any suggetisons of where i can cop a black, leather zip wallet for under 30kish yen? cdg, vis and head porter are all sold out in black.

 

They didn't have the cream zip wallets at WTAPS? You can still pick one up in Australia <$200, I'd imagine they're even cheaper in Japan

http://aptmnt.myshopify.com/products/cream-wallet-2

[conqueror]

They didn't have the cream zip wallets at WTAPS? You can still pick one up in Australia <$200, I'd imagine they're even cheaper in Japan

http://aptmnt.myshopify.com/products/cream-wallet-2

 

its too small and doesn't have a coin compartment.

 

 

Finally copped the MA-1?

 

 

sorry, didn't see this. i actually ended up buying one of the new buzz ricksons in sage green ($400ish); i saw the wtaps one at hoods in osaka, but the ribbing and zipper hardware are pretty shitty considering how much costs. from memory fycus (?) said the same thing in the ma-1 thread.

Edited October 24, 2014 by conqueror

[herpsky]

like their website says "with extreme prejudice" they mean to farrin pipo

[beatplusmelody]

moving back to japan next April as part of a scholarship program. living in tokyo for 6 months. Second time living in Japan so looking forward to it.

[pompadork]

http://www.mrporter.com/journal/the-portfolio/tokyos-finest/99

 

 

Zzz but some okay places to eat mentioned in the answers for the last question. 

[frasier oiseau]

God, what bullshit. How is a streetwear company owned by IT that's been around for two decades still "cool" and "subversive"?

[conqueror]

back in australia and overall i think went to about 10 different coffee joints and 5ish burger spots. i'll write an in-depth post in a few days but omotesando koffee definitely lives up to the hype and was an incredible experience.

 

went to tons of stores as well but only really copped 2 significant things which were a wtaps lab jacket and a buzz rickson ma-1.  i kind of surprised myself by not buying anything from beams as i was expecting to get lots; there was this dope yellow button up cardigan that i found in one of the osaka stores and figured 'oh, i'll get it back in tokyo' but i never saw it again which sucks. optimistically wanted to grab some vis boots or manhunts but my sasquatch feet meant i was out of luck.

 

the pool, dsm, army gym and eliminator were probably my favourite store designs although i bought nothing from any of them (except a keyring for a friend). this was the first time i ever handled uc and i found everything really overpriced and completely underwhelming in terms of quality. 

 

i found hankyu to have a way better selection than isetan and i was eying a nice junya coat but unfortunately i don't think i will ever be able to justify paying that kind of money unless i get a more baller job. i mentioned earlier but i feel that maybe as i'm getting older i care less about fashion and am just happy wearing the same basic oxford etc. overall i ended up spending most of my money at tsutaya books and could have easily had spent 3x more if i had the baggage space.

 

i didn't really understand why/how there are so many united arrows' all over the place...i walked into a few and they all seemed to stock the same stuff which was nothing special. the nanamica and yaeca stores were also disappointing. on that note, i honestly have no idea how some of these stores stay open as several had way too many staff working and that's even if you factor in japanese expectations of customer service.

 

went to museum of contemp art (3rd visit), hara and 21 21 design sight. 21 was incredible and blew away my expectations, whilst hara is in a beautiful location/building but is really out of the way to get to and i would only recommend if you are super interested in it. also saw keiji haino and a few others play at superdeluxe (my favourite venue) which was great as well.

 

decided to finally give the new york bar a go to say i've been; 2 cover charges, 2 drinks (1 non-alc) and nuts were about 15k yen but it was totally worth it. interestingly i saw a lot less motorbikes (did see some bosozoku though) than last time but there seems to be way more porsches on the streets than i ever remember. 

 

tokyo seems slightly more expensive than 5yrs ago (guess that's the same everywhere though) but is still considerably cheaper than australia in almost every single aspect. unfortunately i ran out of time and didn't see everyone and everything i wanted, but i'll try and go back in 2016. 

 

met up with mapclub briefly one night to see arto lindsay play at blue note (no homo) and he is mad handsome (pause).

 

i definitely met an awesome girl and somehow caught v serious feelings in a 3 week time period.

 

my favourite meal was probably anago soba at watanabe on miyajima.

 

s/o to herp and breams for the recommendations.

Edited November 1, 2014 by conqueror

[cchen]

why was nanamica disappointing? going around Christmas and hoping to kop the denim cruiser jacket

[herpsky]

It's probably the 8% tax. 

 

Nanamica store is pretty lame. For whatever reason, their stock is mostly comprised of random americana e.g. JPN champion, TNF purple label, orcival, and etc. They do stock some house labels but they don't really have many collabos or really insane pieces that we keep running into online. 

 

It's funny that you caught feelins. One of my wypipo friends who works in IT went to JPN and I sent him to some spots that I hang out at. Exact same shit happened to him. LAL.

 

I don't know what the New York bar is... If you are spending that much money, I'd go to those super artisanal cocktail bars run by award OG meisters. Japanese bars are no fucking Willyburg hipster mixology bullshit. I went to some super classic bars back in June and my standards have been redefined. Seriously puts upscale American bars to shame (obviously). When I say bars, I'm talking specifically about bars where bartenders are suited up or wearing white coats with slicked back hair. Only small snacks. No food served.

 

 

Bar Eas Mor, Bar Benfiddich, El Laguito, Star Bar and alike. I forgot the name of the place but I went to this one fancy bar in Akita.

I had a gin&tonic made with Beefeater (LOL) and Wilkinson. I dunno. The best G&T I've ever had in my life. 

Edited November 2, 2014 by herpsky

[conqueror]

its famous because it was the bar featured in lost in translation. i don't even drink, but i thought it would be cool to finally go - was expecting it to be full of foreigners but the majority were japanese.

[DaBestSpoona]

I didnt buy any jawns either, even though this is the first time I've been before the holidays and shops are fully stocked.  I think I'm just bored and I am in Japan pretty often, so I dont have that urgency to impulse buy.  Also most of the stuff I see at iseitan men's I can buy fairly cheaply in NY during sales.  Well I did buy 3 pairs of camo socks and some curry from Kitano Ace which has the biggest selection of package curry in Tokyo.

 

I really wanted to cop a new rice cooker that simulates a kamado. Saw one thats only 3.5 cup for Y111,800.

 

Also beside the united arrows shops, how do the marunouchi shops stay in business they're pretty dead.

[herpsky]

Yeah, I just try shit on at Ron Herman and etc and try to cop in the states. Plus, I'm not really into Japanese fashion brands any more. I try to buy Japanese 別注 of Western brands when I'm there but that's about it. CdG, especially Junya and Ganryu, are worth copping while in Japan because some pieces are pretty hard to find outside of Japan. 

[Method]

only one day left in tokyo. wasn't here long, but as always really enjoyed my time. did a lot of random and unplanned shit but for the most part things worked out. 

 

i dont know why but it always surprises me how much more casual fashion is here. i guess when compared to san francisco its a night and day difference but a lot of high end fashion or even lower end options are just so much more accessible in tokyo. in so many instances i would just walk into a random store and see labels of the brands popular on sufu/styleforum etc like its no big thing. lots of very normal looking people in the shops too and plenty of foot traffic unlike stores in the bay. i like that a lot about it here.

 

with that said, it was hard for me to cop much since everything goes cheaper in states, and anything that I really wanted was already sold out. I wear common sizes for japanese standards which is prob why. Did pick up some UC, attachment, and other random shit, but not a whole lot compared to what i was planning for. domestic brand prices are much nicer here and the only things worth getting. but it was a joy being able to handle so many different labels and pieces and reminded me why instore shopping is so much more enjoyable than online. plus the presentation and architecture in many of the stores were a completely other level.  

 

halloween was pretty nuts in tokyo and was not expecting that at all. streets of shibuya had so many people, and then i partied in roppongi after, which was equally a cluster fuck. randomly met A$AP josh’s girlfriend while out on halloween and got invited to his bday the next night, so two nights of staying out till the sun came out. actually didn’t even know who A$AP josh was, apparently he does some fashion for A$APmob. had pretty meh time tho tbh, was expecting a much bigger party with models and fashunz people and shit, since we were up front of the club table service. ended up being just a pretty chill night. someone needs to show me the party scene in tokyo next time I’m around. 

 

food was of course amazing. appreciate all the recs in the thread, although i feel like in tokyo food quality standards are so much higher in general that its hard to go wrong unless you being really picky. had a little bit of everything - chuka-ya, so-called mexican food, high end/low end sushi, next level tonkatsu, all the popular ramen shops, etc etc. coffee, as its already been pointed out, was very mediocre. i frequent cafes in portland/seattle/sf too often to call any of the coffee i had here great but ometesando was interesting if not a bit bizarre. 

 

anyway ill be coming back in dec for a month and looking forward to it. trip really opened my eyes to the possibility of moving here, its always been between tokyo and nyc for me but being in tech sticks me to silicon valley/sf. i should quit my job and be a freelance app maker live the dream lol 

Edited November 3, 2014 by Method

[FatCook]

this reminds me, back when i visited Tokyo - Osaka in July nearly every store was playing the soundtrack for Frozen. It was nice maybe for the first 5 times or so damn....

 

Absolutely missing good ramen. Also the cheap booze, alcohol tax here is murder.

+ loving how some of the bigger electronic stores have their own jingle 

 

Planning already for checking out the northern parts like Hokkaido and possibly climb up Mt. Fuji around winter 2016, please confirm if this is a good idea or not (you know, radiation, and running into the odd yuki onna or 2 up at the mountains)

[conqueror]

okay, a few coffee reviews. i have only ever had coffee in AUS/UK/JP so have no experience or comparison to how things are in the states (likewise with burgs which i can write about later). the biggest annoyance with lots of these places is that they don't open until 11 or 12 which is completely mindbogglng to me.

 

on the flipside, the majority of them have amazing setups which are super unique from each other and are bursting with character. honestly, going to all of these different spaces was almost equally as fun as trying the coffee as as most cafes in australia look identical with no thought put into them whatsoever and where sitting on milk crates whilst drinking out of bell jars is still seen as 'edgy'.

 

omotesando koffee (also went to the kyoto 'branch' in united arrows): definitely my favourite, even lining up (for half an hour in my case) is an awesome experience and the latte was probably the best i've ever had...miles better than anything i've had in australia or england. sounds lame but the whole thing was very 'zen' like and i wish i had the time to go back. the owner/barista is also pretty good looking. yes homo.

 

cream of the crop (went to both locations): the main branch in kiyosumi-shirakawa (where the roastery is) is rarely visited by tourists but was one of my favourite spaces and is worth dropping by if you're going to the museum of contemporary art. the barista who's name i've forgotten is very friendly and can speak some english. they only do drip coffee and i was the only person there when i visited.

 

nozy: interesting space that's spread across two levels, but weirdly has almost no seating whatsoever considering how big it is. my latte was maybe a tiny bit too cold but that was my only gripe. the 3 people i saw working were all girls which was nice to see as coffee places in japan seem to be full of mostly dudes.

 

fuglen: i had the 'daily aeropress pick' and it was far too fruity and acidic for my liking, but seemed to be a popular hangout with lots of foreigners sitting around which i was surprised by. tons of art/design/architecture magazines to flick through as well.

 

little nap coffee stand: i got completely lost trying to find this as yoyogi park is closed. tiny spot but i can imagine it would be amazing to visit in summer. had the iced coffee which was good and came with some of the most crystal clear ice cubes i've ever seen. has seating for about 4-5 people and a few outside.

 

link: this is in shinsaibashi, osaka. place stinks of smoke and the barista (owner?) is middle-aged but dressed immaculately and cool to watch. lots of old, kinda sketchy dudes in sunglasses sitting around in dead silence. you basically pick what bean you want, a 'strength' level (strong, medium or light) and he does the rest. my brew was really strong and served in a dainty old lady teacup kinda thing.

 

be a good neighbor: one of my favourites and another one i wanted to go back to. tiny spot that only has standing space for about 4 people but the latte was delicious and the barista actually asked if i liked it which has never happened to me before.

 

streamers: amazing latte art which was to be expected, but maybe slightly too big and milky as others have pointed out. also had some sort of 'army donut' which was dope.

 

taste & sense: directly opposite 1ldk and is really nice to sit outside if the weather permits. had the double espresso which was thick as tar and incredibly bitter. staff seemed to speak some english and were friendly.

 

bear pond: i guess my biggest surprise was turning up at 12pm on a sunday and being the only person there. i wanted to try the espresso but katsu is the only one 'allowed' to make them and he was waiting for a taxi with a suitcase. his wife and some other dude were working behind the machine so i had a fantastic latte which was probably only behind the one i had at omotesando. the wife came across as kind of stand-offish but they've had that rep for years now. also copped a cupcake across the street from ny cupcakes which was out of this world.

 

on the corner: went late in the evening and it has some nice lighting but it was super loud with 'too cool staff' and setup like an old diner which i didn't like but the americano was decent. bear pond is miles better as you can probably imagine.

 

filbert steps: iced coffee was okay but a little watery. the menu was confusing and difficult to decipher but i was jet lagged (or i could just be a moron).

 

good morning cafe: located on a fairly quiet and v nice leafy street. friendly staff and decent coffee/breakfast (english menu!) as well but maybe a little too 'soccer mom' for my liking. i appreciated that they were one of the few coffee joints who were actually open in the morning.

 

cafe obscura: part of the 'maach ecute' strip (basically an old train station converted into small shops) which is an awesome idea and seems to have been executed well. the latte was bigger than most others but surprisingly was not too weak or milky. v smooth.

 

sarutahiko: tried to go twice (admittingly on a weekend) but it was too busy and i cbf waiting.

Edited November 14, 2014 by conqueror

[FatCook]

^ I wish i had this as a reference when i went, but then again organizing places to go with 8 people was horrid as it is.

 

checked out be a good neighbour, was absolutely pleasant despite the 30ish degree heat, long trek, and humidity. Taste wise it was good but hard to enjoy with sweat dripping and exhaustion after a day's worth of walking.

 

Had a first hand experience of Japanese hospitality and helpfulness, something that is fairly rare in most western countries I visit. Some lady, her husband and their chihuahua showed us the way to the nearest JR station and proceeded to walk with us halfway there.

 

Tried out Ogawa Coffee the Cafe down at Kyoto station. Looked like your typical starbucks-ey coffee joint but was surprised to find aeropress. Had a pretty good Panaman there.

 

Ran into Turret Cafe down at Tsukiji, first "western" style coffee place I tried after 10 days worth of vending machine & 7/11 coffees (which has its own charm). Decent but was a bit light for my taste flavour wise.

 

wanted to check out Caffe Fresco at Minami Asagaya but like you said, they open at about 12 and we had a schedule. First trip to Japan and all that shiz.

[djrajio]

Oh hai guyzzzz.

 

http://www.fashionsnap.com/inside/sawhney-interview/

[pompadork]

People lined up outside h&m overnight for alexander wang lol. 

[DaBestSpoona]

ppl lining up for that shitty popcorn everywhere is retarded.

[Method]

lol those lines were ridiculous. always funny how american concepts are marketed in jpn. "chicago popcorn tradition". 

 

that portland inspired muji ripoff was funny too. 

[DaBestSpoona]

which portland inspired muji ripoff? cainz?

[herpsky]

??? That Scandinavian muji thing that's like around the corner from Royal Host in Omotesando?

[Method]

I think it opened this past weekend, you can see adverts for it in the harajuku station hallway. It was called something like "Tokyo and..." with the ellipsis actually in the name's ending.  

 

pretty sure its on meiji doro between shibuya & harajuku but again dont remember exactly

Edited November 6, 2014 by Method