A DAY IN TOKYO [FAVORITE STORES IN SHIBUYA 109]

In addition to my beauty haul and all the other posts I made I thought it’s time to include a general post about Tokyo, since I spend quite some time there (although not as much as I would hope since the ticket from and to Tsukuba is unreasonably expensive :/ ) I am planning on not going in June but therefore having a huge shopping day on my birthday next month 🙂

The reason why I barely post about Tokyo is simple: First I mostly go to the same areas/stores that I am fond of and second, my DSLR is so heavy that I always decide to leave it at home. However, I got the idea for this post so I went to one of my neighbors in the dorm and borrowed her small digital camera to carry with me for one day so I can get you some snaps of my favorite stores so far in Tokyo, Shibuya 109. These are by far not all, just the ones I was able to take a sneaky picture of – Japanese stores are extremely dislinking taking pictures of their stores/designs/products so please appreciate all pictures since it was not easy to get them 😀

For those of you who do not know Shibuya 109: It is a huge department store dedicated to womens fashion and beauty products on more than 10 floors; stores go up until the 7th floor and down to the basement level B2. I don’t know of the rest of the world, but for German standards this is HUGE. When I first went to Tokyo I didn’t know much about it and dragged my boyfriend right into this „glittering fashion hell“. Coming from Germany, I assumed, a huge department store would have all kinds of different stores – we usually have fashion, drugstores, book shops, electronic etc under one roof and I honestly don’t know of one department store that sells fashion only so this was completely new to me (we are speaking 4-5 years ago). I honestly don’t like the place that much because it is mostly crowded like hell and shopping is not much fun. When I go, I always go around noon in the middle of the week (definitely before 2 or 3PM because after that students begin to crowd the place.) And never, NEVER on Sunday. Or Saturday. Or when its raining. Or.. ever. I actually went there to get Fukubukuro (Gift Bags) after New Year and.. you can imagine. Or maybe not. I certainly couldn’t when I wasn’t accustomed to Japanese lifestyle before so take this advice: If you want to enjoy shopping in Tokyo, go early and definitely on weekdays.

The oh-so-famous crossing in Shibuya. Definitely not as intimidating on weekdays than on the weekend. As you can see, lots of videos and advertisement around. If you look on the left side next to the H&M logo there is a red „9“ which would be the Shibuya 109, you almost fall inside when you leave Shibuya station (and its so huge you cannot miss it.)

Of course, important things first: My favorite store GLAD NEWS! You can see the dress I bought on the mannequin 😀 They had a lot of others items I would have been interested in but unfortunately it is kind of expensive. Please note the amazing design of the store which has a dark cave theme.

Bought my dress! 😀 And please ignore that hideous F21 totebag I was carrying around; I still own no bag and probably won’t get one before I go to Korea. I don’t mind totebags but this isn’t pretty and they are not waterproof which is a problem in Japan when rain time is approaching soon.

With Glad News staff I chatted approx. one hour with. Shop staff in Japan is VERY different from Germany; while most staff in Germany ignores you and is happy to leave you alone in your misery, most staff in Japan is over-motivated to find something that you like (or that they can sell, in a good case it works for both parties.) I noted lately that I get approached a lot more than I was 4 or 5 years ago; the English they try is still bad in most cases but at least a change is happening. You can still feel their relief when they notice that Japanese is perfectly fine with me and I had a really good time chatting with this lovely girl along trying on millions of things.    // GLAD NEWS, Shibuya 109, 7th floor

KOKOKIM is a new store that was just opened in March this year if I am not mistaking. They combine sweet & rock style with lots of pastels, crosses, mixed with black and lace which I do like very much. The style is very unique although it can be borderline childish in my eyes. However, I still adore the overall design of the store and would have loved a dress in icecream colors if I didn’t spend all my money before already 🙂  // KOKOMIN, Shibuya 109, 6th floor

Plaza located in the very basement floor is a beauty store that does sell a lot of brands that drugstores in Japan usually don’t (NYX, BYS, La Diamond among a lot others.) I was surprised to see they got a corner with Etude House products as well (and also a sellsperson handling all the EH products) which they didn’t some years ago. This is one of my favorite places to shop cosmetics because they have a huge range and I just love to browse the ailes and discover something new. They also have big corner for nail art and skin care. For all of you liking the Dollywink line this would be a good place to go.

Snap of the „La Diamond“ corner at PLAZA. As far as I know this brand is not really famous – at least I have never heard or read anything or anywhere about this brand. I also know only two places were these products are sold and it is relatively hard to come by even in Japan. As you can see, they focus on glitter products and all their nail polishes and  Jewel Eyeliners are divine! I have tried both and their products are of very good quality, especially the nail polishes which are very decent priced (680Yen) for the size of the bottle. If you like sparkly things, make sure you get your hands on their product range.  // PLAZA, Shibuya 109, B2F 

PUNYUS is a very new store that just opened this spring and wow, I so love this store! Not only for their design, but for their concept;  The person behind the concept is Naomi Watanabe, a TV talent who is famous for her comedian talent and humor. She does not submit herself to the „standard Japanese skinny one-size“ and sells in her store clothes every woman can enjoy – from free size up to size 6L! (This may not seem as a big shock for everyone from Europe or the US, however, sad reality is that most clothings in Japan are indeed still ONE SIZE. I will never understand who invented the ridiculous system „one size fits all“ because it is not true. At all. And not every Japanese weighs 38 kilo and it is way over time stores with sizing and also bigger sizing become mainstream. Then also, the design is just adorable.

 I did buy a skirt with strawberry print and get compliments every time I wear it. Since they have real sizing the skirt is very comfortable to wear too (my European hips usually prevent myself from fitting into pants or skirts like, at all.) I cannot stress how happy it makes me that a store that actually has oversize found a place in one-size-dominant Shibuya 109. (Naomi Watanabe was actually in store when I went there and I missed the chance to talk to her because I was in a hurry!! When I went back she wasn’t there anymore T__T“)  // PUNYUS, Shibuya 109, B2F

Of course there a lot more shops that are worth a look; as for Shibuya 109 most of the other stores do either a) not have my sizes (especially shoes!) or b) are incredibly expensive or c) are just not my style at all. I usually go to the top floor and start with Glad News and then make my way down and browse through other stores occassionally. 

Hope you enjoyed this little post of mine and I hope I can provide you with some more in the future!

Lots of love,