SOUVENIRS TO BUY ON TOKYO TOURS [4 PLACES FOR SOUVENIR SHOPPING IN TOKYO]
Mitsukoshi Department store is the highlight of Nihonbahi.
Japan is filled with unique items, foods, toys/gadgets, and much more. If you’re joining us on Tokyo tours, you could ask your Tokyo tour guide to take you to one of these places to get your souvenir shopping done. Here are 4 places for souvenir shopping in Tokyo!
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1. Asakusa Sensoji
For the most traditional, and "Japanese" souvenirs, Asakusa's Sensoji Temple is a must. Particularly their Nakamise Shopping Street. Sensoji Temple is Tokyo's oldest temple. Nakamise Shopping Street is one long road with shops on both sides of the road. It leads straight into the Temple's main hall. Along this shopping street you can find traditional arts and crafts, decorative katana swords, and woodblock prints or "ukiyo-e" art. Getting hungry? The shopping street has dozens of popular vendors that people love. On our Self Guided Audio Tour, we feature our favorite food stops such as Kibidango Azuma - delicious chewy mochi sticks, and Ningyoyaki - red bean cakes in the shape of Pagodas!
Nakamise Shopping Street is one of the most popular tourist destinations both domestically and internationally.
2. Nakano Broadway
This is a niche shopping place. If you aren't into animation, manga, games, collectables or looking for a gift for someone who is into it, this might not be your spot. Akihabara is often known to be "the spot" for this niche. While this is true, and we highly recommend stopping by Akihabara too, Nakano Broadway is the TRUE treasure trove for this. It's a multilevel building dedicated to this craft. Even if you aren't into it, it's a unique visit just to see all the "otaku" goods. Some of our favorite finds were old game consoles, anime figurines, and the 8-scoop ice cream cone in the basement of the building.
You’ll find the most unique and rare items in Nakano Broadway
3. Nihonbashi
Nihonbashi is home to Mitsukoshi, the first ever department store in Japan. The main road, Chuo Dori is lined up with Mitsukoshi buildings, Coredo (another department franchise) and Takashimaya (a luxury department store). What will surprise you are the stores hidden within the department store or even next to them. Nihonbashi used to be the center of Tokyo. It’s where Tokyo’s biggest fish market used to be. So naturally, some of the stores from the Edo period (1603-1868) stuck around. Our favourites include a 500-year-old Japanese paper shop, a dashi shop operated by the store owners’ 9th generation, and Mitsukoshi’s “depachika” or basement floor where you will find hundreds of small booths selling luxury Japanese sweets and snacks for souvenirs.
A massive wooden sculpture inside the Mitsukoshi Department Store
4. Tokyo Hands/Loft
Tokyu Hands and Loft is a franchise store specializing as a “one-stop shop”. You can find almost anything here ranging from unique DIY goods, kitchenware, cosmetics, stationaries, travel accessories, toys/gadgets, and much more. Tokyu Hands and Loft can be a bit different, and depending on which one you visit they can differ quite a bit. But, they are both cool stores to find a unique gift for someone back home! Their stores in Shibuya are one of the largest ones and offer endless amounts of cool and trendy items. We recommend visiting just to browse!
Tokyu Hands is a green colored store while Loft (not pictured) is a yellow colored store.
Interested in visiting one of these places? Make sure to join us on our food tour! Contact us below!
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