Akasaki/Roppongi Area

This area has a great night life. You can shop and dine here too. Tokyo Midtown and Roppongi Hills are major landmarks in this area.

Asakusa/Ueno Area

Get a feel of the old Japan in this area. It is one of the most popular tourist attractions. Enjoy shopping at the ameyoko streets, visit Ueno Park and surrounding museums and shopping malls here.

Ginza Area

Here you can find luxurious shops, hotels, theaters, restaurants, clubs and department stores. It is a high end area where adults can shop and dine.

Shinagawa Area

It is the shopping and entertainment central in Tokyo. Here you can find many hotels situated nearby the JR Shinagawa station. The railway hub can also be found here.

Shinjuku Area

Shinjuku is considered as one of the busiest areas in Tokyo. There are many convenient hotels in the area and it is a good spot to shop and enjoy.

Ikebukuro Area

This is another busy Tokyo district where you can find great entertainment. It has a railway hub, shopping malls, restaurants and theaters to name a few.

Shibuya Area

Just like Shinjuku and Ikebukuro, this busy district is great for shopping and entertainment especially for the younger crowd.

With these descriptions, it is easier to choose what to do and where to stay while you are in Tokyo. Enjoy!

With Jzool-Agent, an online service recently offered by Jzool.com Co., Ltd., anyone from anywhere in the world can directly purchase items from the best online stores in Japan. This is indeed welcome news for those who love all things Japanese! In their press release, they state:

Jzool-Agent (http://agent.jzool.com) is primarily a service that buys domestic Japanese products on your behalf. It will handle orders in English and sends products to most locations in the world.

Users can request a free quote of any product they see on a Japanese shopping site by providing Jzool-Agent with its URL. It’s as simple as that. Jzool will calculate shipping costs, add a service charge of 20% or less and notify the customer of the total in U.S. dollars. At that point the requesting customer can decide whether to go ahead with the purchase or not.

All sites linked from this directory is automatically translated to English, French, Spanish, Korean, Chinese, Russian and Arabic by making use of Google’s translator API, so most users will be able to get most if not all of the product’s details and explanations in their own language.

I like this last feature – translation into the language of the buyer. That is in fact one of the most common complaints that I hear when talking about online Japanese stores. I don’t know too many people who can read Japanese so this will definitely make the shopping experience better. Head on over to Jzool now, won’t you?

Speaking of online shopping, did you know that there are great places online where you could find kawaii items? If you do not know what I am talking about, then you should read my previous post about kawaii, or cute things (loose translation). Kawaii has been around for decades and I am sure that most everyone is aware of it although perhaps not by name.

Anyhow, I found a great article on online stores featuring kawaii items.

Sweet Kitty the Anime Store is located in Kent, Washington. You can visit the store in person at 18111 E. Valley HWY S. #103; otherwise, you can purchase items directly from the store at: SweetKittyAnime.com. The store specializes in Japanese items, and it carries brands from Harajuku Lovers to Hello Kitty. The store has the best selection of Sanrio products in Washington State. The owners love their customers and encourage visitors to come to the store. Below are some of the hot items that are in-demand.

ShopKawaii.com is the web store for both Kawaii Gifts and Kawaii Avenue since April of 2006. However, ShopKawaii.com is dedicated to our imported gifts. You can visit the stores personally at Kawaii Gifts, located at 5413-B Walnut St. Pittsburgh, PA 15232. Kawaii Avenue is located at 5413-A Walnut St. Pittsburgh, PA 15232.

Thanks to Katrina-Kasey Wheeler for these wonderful pieces of information.

As such, one can find most anything in the nomi no ichi – everything that the Japanese people deem reusable can be found here. Flea markets can be found almost anywhere in Japan. They are normally held during on the weekends, from early morning to late afternoon. The venue is usually on temple grounds and shrine grounds. According to the Japan National Tourist Organization, some of the most popular nomi no ichi in Japan include:

*Togo-no-Mori Nomi-no-ichi at Togo Shrine in Tokyo (3-min. walk from JR Harajuku Station); 1st Sunday of every month.
*Hanazono Jinja Nomi-no-ichi at Hanazono Shrine in Tokyo (5-min. walk from Shinjuku Sanchome Station); every Sunday (except May and November).
*Kyoto Temmangu Nomi-no-ichi at Kitano Temmangu Shrine in Kyoto (30 min. by bus from JR Kyoto Station); on the 25th of every month.
*Kyoto Toji Garakuta-ichi & Kobi-ichi at the South Gate of Toji Temple in Kyoto (10-min. walk from Toji Station on Kintetsu Line); Japan’s largest flea market, the 21st of every month, with a smaller market 1st Sunday of every month.

The next time you pay Japan a visit, try roaming these grounds and you might just find something to take home with you!

If you are looking for the newest and hippest place to stay, shop and dine in Japan then you’d better head for Tokyo Midtown. Tokyo Midtown, located in Akasaka was completed just this March. New as it is, it is already very popular and is especially well-known for having the tallest building in Tokyo as well as Tokyo’s newest park and the Suntory Museum.

Tokyo Midtown is as stylish as it can get and is made of six buildings amidst lush greenery. The “town” features facilities such as stores, restaurants, offices, hotels, museums and even its own hospital. It was built with the goal of making the most out of the last remaining 10 hectares of land located in the very heart of Tokyo. It seems that the developers were indeed successful at realizing their goals and has made Tokyo Midtown a place where one can dwell, relax, have fun, shop, and even work. They have indeed created a town of functional diversity.

While it used to be white and black that were considered the base fashion colors, now it is gray that is emerging. As with everything related to fashion, base colors have undergone major changes throughout the decades. They have gone from blue to brown to beige then black. What exactly is a base color anyway? It is defined as the keynote color in a person’s outfit. This means that the base color is the predominant color in a material. There could be other colors on the cloth, of course, but the base color is what sets the tone or the mood of the outfit. The base color, as you may have noticed is usually more low key than bright flashy colors. However, they have a large impact on the overall look of the person wearing the outfit, whatever style it may be.

Fashion experts in Japan state that gray as the new base color is the sign that the casual look is on its way out. They claim that gray radiates innocence and refinement. As such, what we could expect to see this year in the streets of Japan are suits and uniforms in gray.

[tags]Japan, Japanese fashion, base colors, suits, uniforms[/tags]

Harajuku mainly attracts the younger crowd who fill up the place, especially during the weekend. More often than not, you will also see large flocks of tourists frequenting the place. Different areas in Harajuku stand for different things. Fashion boutiques are best found in Laforet Harajuku while the hub of young designers is Ura Harajuku. Omotesando on the other hand is the place to go for the chic and sophisticated. Whatever your taste may be, you will surely find something to suit you in this fashionable place. At the very least, it will be a feast for your eyes.
[tags]Japan, tourist spots, shopping, fashion, Harajuku[/tags]