DISCOVER BEST TOKYO SHOPPING SPOTS FOR FUN PEEPS!

Hot tip: Insider’s Guide to the Best Tokyo Shopping Adventures

Here is our list of the very best of the best places to go shopping in Tokyo!

One more addition to the list would be Ueno Market Street, Ameyoko Shopping District.

Enjoy!

1. ASAKUSA SHOPPING STREET NAKAMISE-DORI

Despite being a very crowded tourist destination, popular with cruise boat day trippers and bus tour operators, Asakusa is one of the best spots in Tokyo to buy authentic Japanese souvenirs such as:

Ninja dress up clothes
Sumo souvenirs
wooden Japanese kokeshi dolls
handmade Japanese crafts
waving Maneki Neko cats
Otedama juggling balls
phone charms and keyrings
Japanese paper balloons
Kendama toys (Japanese sword and ball toy)

Nakamise Dori street also has ALL the Japanese food souvenirs you could ever want to buy – senbei crackers, mochi, and Japanese food gift boxes too.

Hot tip: Don’t miss the Asakusa Kibi Dango shop. THIS IS my favourite food stall in Japan, bar none.

2. DAISO HARAJUKU

Daiso Tokyo in Harajuku is THE spot to buy affordable souvenirs in Japan.

Most things here are 100 Yen.

But you’ll be surprised by the quality.

There’s plenty of super cool Daiso souvenirs and gifts, including Disney licenced products, that you can’t buy elsewhere.

Look for Japanese snacks, Japanese ziplock bags (the cutest designs ever!), party goods, ceramics and Japanese bowls, and stationery too.

Plan at least an hour here.

But you could stay much longer!

3. MUJI AND LOFT, SHIBUYA

MUJI Japan

MUJI is hands-down my favourite homewares store in Japan, and that’s saying something as I’m a diehard IKEA fanatic (yes, I’ve even stayed at the IKEA Museum in Sweden.)

MUJI has a natural clean-cut aesthetic and their products are made mostly from timber, bamboo, cotton, and white plastic.

Pick up a pair of Japanese slippers, a waffle weave quilt cover, bamboo dinner trays and something from their MUJI food range.

If you adore all things Japanese, like futons and tatami mats and shoji screens, you’ll love MUJI too.

(You’ll find a range of their products in Family Mart and Lawson convenience stores too)

LOFT Japan

LOFT is next door to MUJI in Shibuya.

LOFT is an upmarket department store featuring everything from cute stationery, art supplies, kitchenware, sweet homewares, and more.

If you like one of a kind Tokyo souvenirs, this is the spot.

I never ever walk out empty-handed.

4. NIPPORI FABRIC STREET

If you are a sewer, or seamstress, or fabric craft fanatic, or a maker who loves to potter around trying all the crafts, or you simply adore fabric and can’t get enough, THIS IS THE SPOT FOR YOU.

I have never seen so many fabric stores in one place in all my life.

(HOT TIP: The blog post has been recently updated with LOTS more insider pics!)

You’ll find every kind of fabric including:

traditional Japanese crepe fabrics
flower prints
Liberty prints
indigo dyed fabric
Japanese sachiko fabric
Japanese fabric patterns
Japanese sewing patterns
Sachiko mending guides
Japanese apron patterns
Japanese aprons
Japanese kimono sewing patterns

Happily, I even spotted Japanese knot bag sewing patterns too.

Japanese Sewing Notions

And notions!

All the notions.

Tassels
iron on transfers
buttons
cotton threads
embroidery threads
sequins
bias binding
decorative clasps
beads
yarn
coloured rope
braided cord, decorative cord, waxed cord

Plus every kind of craft tool and Japanese art supplies you could ever imagine – paper, pens, manga comic markers, paintbrushes, craft kits, and more.

5. YANAKA GINZA SHOPPING STREET

One of my newest finds in Tokyo is the Yanaka Ginza Shopping Street.

It’s a small, off-the-beaten-track shopping district in Tokyo but one I’d now put at the TOP of my list of places to go in Tokyo to shop.

And to visit.

It’s like a smaller, local version of Nakamise Dori, selling traditional Japanese souvenirs and goods.

Yanaka Ginza street is well known for its’ family of local “cats”…. so be prepared for many a cute cat souvenir.

This is also one of the best spots for Japanese chopsticks, chopstick rests, Japanese kokeshi dolls, and those fabulous Japanese hand towels, so useful for bathroom visits.

Yanaka Ginza street food

Plus, it’s a Japanese food street.

You’ll find:

cute cafes
curry
takeaway bento meals
freshly made senbei crackers
Japanese parfaits (yum!), and
Japanese bakery treats.

Look out for the Yanaka Shippoya cat tail donuts!

Sweet Potato Snack Shop Yanaka

Try the Freshly Steamed Hot Sweet Potato.

It’s YUM!

(Shop is on the right side, about half way down the street.)

6. KAPPABASHI KITCHEN TOWN (KAPPABASHI KITCHEN STREET)

Kappabashi Kitchen Street is very close to Asakusa – an easy and flat 15 minute walk from Sensoji Temple and Nakamise Dori street mentioned above.

Kappabashi Kitchen Town is the number one place to go in Tokyo for Japanese knives, without doubt.

But anyone wanting Japanese kitchen products should not miss this place.

The street is shop after shop after shop full of Japanese ceramics, Japanese nabe dishes, Japanese kitchen curtains, sake cups, Japanese tea sets, Japanese aprons for men and women, and more.

The list is ENDLESS.

Look out for the traditional Japanese bento boxes made from wood. Mage-wappa, or Magewappa bento box, made of sugi, Japanese cedar wood.

It’s one of the only places I’ve ever seen them.

7. TOKYU HANDS DEPARTMENT STORE

The first time I visited Tokyu Hands was in 1988.

And I can’t stop going back.

It’s truly one of the best stores in Tokyo for creative people who love design, stationery, craft supplies, stamps, sewing goods, cute zakka homewares, aprons, Japanese kitchenware, and cute bento boxes.

But there is SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE.

Do not miss this shop. (It should be first on the list.)

8. ODAIBA SHOPPING MALLS

Did you know there’s over 46 fun things to do in Odaiba Tokyo including LOTS of shopping malls.

Yes, you can even have your caricature done!

All the museums and interactive galleries have design stores inside where you can find really unique souvenirs in Tokyo made or created by local artisans and Japanese designers.

Not the stuff you find anywhere else.

9. TOKYO DISNEYLAND AND TOKYO DISNEY SEA

Tokyo Disneyland merchandise

Tokyo Disneyland is home to the new Beauty and the Beast ride and my gosh, it’s magnificent!

Of course, you can now shop all the Disney Beauty and the Beast souvenirs there including:

Gaston statue glasses holder
Gaston tshirts
Beauty and the Beast Mickey Ears
Beauty and the Beast lanterns
Beauty and the Beast popcorn bucket
Beauty and the Beast plush dolls
Beauty and the Beast cups, mugs, pillows
Beauty and the Beast themed foods – Mrs Potts cookies, Storybook chocolates

My favourite was a red hand towel packaged up as a rose!

Or, for something really unique, head to the Tokyo Disney silhouettes shop and have your portrait cut.

Just like the one above, but with YOU!

Mickey Mouse Foam Soap Dispenser

But the winning Tokyo Disneyland souvenir is definitely the Mickey Hand Soap Pump!

It spits out foam shaped as a Mickey head!

There’s a jeweller too, under the castle.

I splurged and bought a silver Mickey Mouse ring with stone for my birthday treat.

So pretty!

Tokyo DisneySea merchandise

Tokyo Disney Sea is a completely different shopping experience too.

Look out for the Tokyo Disneysea Duffy Bear.

Duffy and Friends toys and gifts, particularly ones featuring the ever popular Stella Lou are the souvenirs of choice from Disney Sea theme park.

You won’t find a range of Duffy the Disney Bear like this anywhere else!

10. SUNSHINE CITY IKEBUKURO

There’s at least 10 epic reasons to head to Sunshine City in Ikebukuro.

Set aside a whole day.

It’s not just for kids.

There are FOUR shopping malls and you’ll find all kinds of Japanese souvenirs and treasures to take home, including:

Japanese kitchenware
Japanese homewares
Japanese chocolate
Japanese candy, and
Pokemon!

Just a couple of stops away on the green Yamanote Line from Shinjuku and Shibuya, you’ll be surprised to find you are one of the very few tourists or travellers here.

Ikebukuro is a local’s secret and few foreign visitors put it on their Tokyo itinerary which means you get to explore and shop at leisure without the crowds.

11. CHARACTER STREET TOKYO STATION

Tokyo Character Street in Tokyo Station is THE spot if you want to find all the best Japanese character brands in one spot.

It is a narrow shopping aisle full of individual stores dedicated to their namesake.

You’ll find:

Hello Kitty
Rilakkuma
Nameko and Rascal
Snoopy Town
The Moomin Shop Tokyo
Pokemon Store Tokyo Station
Miffy Style

Plus, the

Plarail Store
Tomica Shop

AND MORE!

If you have kids in tow, plan to spend a few hours here.

There is so much to look at, and so many souvenirs you won’t want to pass by.

Tokyo Station itself is a day trip full of things to do.

Read our guide to the best things to do in Tokyo Station here.

12. TOKYO TOY MUSEUM

If you adore natural toys, or are looking for unique gifts for kids in Tokyo, such as puzzles, wooden Steiner toys, Montessori toys, Grapat toys and nins, wooden spinning tops, stacking toys, traditional Japanese games, and more, this is the spot.

The Tokyo Toy Museum gift shop here is worth the trek, even if you don’t need to visit the museum.

BONUS TIP: SANRIO PUROLAND TOKYO

If you adore the Japanese characters My Melody, Little Twin Stars and Lady Kitty (Hello Kitty), you should NOT miss Sanrio Puroland in Tama.

I wouldn’t miss it anyway, as it’s seriously one of the most beautiful indoor theme park settings I’ve ever visited and I’d go just to see that, but the Japanese kawaii shopping here is not to be missed if you love Japanese stationery, sweets, plush toys, and cute food to boot.