Category Archive for Tokyo + Japan
Harajuku shopping guide! Alternative Goth punk rock fashion stores in Tokyo. 6%DokiDoki, drag shops, purikura.
Looks like I got some plastic surgery when I was last in Japan… thanks to the extreme filters of purikura, or sticker-picture-booth machines!
Such is the weird, cute, underground and nonsensical vibe of Harajuku — which remains the center of Japanese subculture fashion and youth culture. As requested, here’s my updated guide to shopping for alt / Goth / kawaii clothing in Harajuku, Tokyo.
Harajuku isn’t as vibrant as it used to be… Many of the indie clothing stores closed down (due to changing trends, such as less interest in Lolita), or were pushed out due to high rents.
Nonetheless, you’ll still see young fashionistas walking around in alt styles such as Decora and Gothic (read on for many more photos).
To get here, take the JR train to Harajuku (or Omotesando Station). Exit Harajuku Station, and you’ll be right at the entrance of Takeshita Doori, which still holds most of the alt and rock shops.
Photographer Joey Wong and I made our way down Takeshita Doori, and wandered through the small side streets. You’ll encounter lots of punk and subculture stores along the way, as well as run into people dressed in wild styles.
If you want to take someone’s portrait, ask for permission first. We loved this teen’s neon decora outfit, which included rainbow hair clips, accessories all over, and colorful eyeshadow.
Contrast her colorful layers with her friend’s all-black J-rock look.
You’ll see every style tribe represented in Harajuku. Here’s a Goth schoolgirl meets jirai kei look with a bat backpack and plaid skirt.
Harajuku has plenty of hard rock / metal / Goth / punk shops, especially along Takeshita Doori. Many of the clothes here a cute twist to them, such as at the affordably-priced AC DC Rag.
You can’t miss the rows of platform sneakers and boots in Harajuku. Yosuke remains the go-to Japanese brand for alternative shoes.
Drag queens make a bee-line to Takenoko, which has been serving up fierce looks for decades.
The interior is a drag queen / clubbing paradise… booty shorts, pentagram harnesses, and glitter everything!
Love how many of the handmade styles have Japanese kimono influences. And those headdresses are to die for.
Yukiro has found quite a few fabulous garments at Takenoko for his drag shows with his Haus von Schwarz (check their Instagram page to see upcoming performances in Tokyo).
A devilish masked look with a gargantuan feathered ruff… yass.
Takenoko is neighbored by a variety of rock shops.
Yellow House is next door, down the steep stairs. It’s a classic J-rock indie shop run by an older lady that designs all the fashion.
She’ll show you her walls of signed photos from famous heavy metal rockers that visited. Quite a few Jrock / Visual Kei icons wear her Yellow House creations.
Another classic “Tokyo Punker” is JimSinn. Lots of punk dandy looks for men.
Fantasy gowns, Lolita boots, Victorian dresses… Harajuku has it all.
And be sure to hit up Closet Child, the secondhand store on Takeshita Doori. Go inside and find these looks for less. (There are Closet Child locations in Ikebukuro and Shinjuku as well.)
Next to the “No Sexual Services” boutique… there’s a bear that wants you to come in! He marks the entrance to 6% Doki Doki, the iconic Harajuku kawaii / experimental boutique founded by Sebastian Masuda.
Go up the pink staircase, which is a great spot for photos.
(I was wearing platform heels by Rojita, and a puff sleeved dress from Shibuya 109.)
When you enter 6%DokiDoki, you won’t know where to look first. It’s a bug-eyed cute sparkly wonderland.
Everything is on the funky, kawaii and eccentric side — like Hello Kitty shoes.
The staff’s personal style lives up to the vibe of 6% Doki Doki.
Lots of nostalgia here: My Little Pony hair extensions, Lisa Frank style plush toys.
Looks like 6% DokiDoki is dealing with a mouse infestation?
Many of Tokyo’s indie boutiques are gone now, but 6% Doki Doki lives on — and keeps the flame of Harajuku culture alive.
Same goes for Harajuku’s LaForet Department Store, which I’ll show you in an upcoming post. For now, I’ll take you to a few more must-see shops in the hood, such as Hypercore.
Take a peek into Dog, the high-end punk/designer boutique loved by Lady Gaga. Also venture into dollar stores like Daiso, and Kinji vintage store. Be sure to stop for cute snacks along the way.
A heavy metal Hello Kitty urges you to Stay Real.
The ultimate destination for kawaii mascot goods is Kiddyland Harajuku.
Kiddyland has three floors of merchandise for every cute character you can think of.
Kirby, the Nintendo cutie, encourages you to shop til you drop.
Of course, you can find Sanrio items like Pompompurin keychains, plushes, and wallets. You can also find Totoro, Peanuts, Moomin…
… and my personal favorite, Miffy the bunny.
Kiddyland has an entire section for all things Miffy Style.
There are also stores dedicated to Doraemon and other mascots at Tokyo Station Character Street, which I’ll share soon.
Finally, swing by the Line Friends store in Harajuku to hug the cute-faced Korean character statues.
The Line store also has BT21 characters (representing the South Korean K-pop boy group BTS).
I’ll end with some Japanese purikura photos, which are rather extreme-looking these days. Harajuku has plenty of arcades or shops filled with booths for you to take sticker photo booth pictures.
After choosing a machine, you snap about 8 photos and then have a limited amount of time to decorate them with drawings and stickers. You can also change your facial features (but the machine does that already, to the extent that you look like a creepy alien…)
Here are our finished purikura pics, which you can print out and get sent to your email. There aren’t as many sticker customization options as before, and the “beauty” face filters are too much. As always, things were better in the 90s and 2000s!
Joey and I did purikura another time… The results weren’t any better. (If my nose really looked like that, I wouldn’t be able to pick it!)
At least there were Halloween background and sticker options, which added ghosts and bats.
While the subculture fashion scene has gotten smaller, Harajuku remains one of the best places on Earth to shop for alt styles and get inspired by the out-of-this-world street fashion.
I hope you found this shopping guide useful for planning a trip. Stay tuned for a look inside La Foret — as well as tours of Shibuya, Yokohama, Koenji, and more. Hail Japan, and hail Harajuku!
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Shinjuku, Tokyo Gothic Lolita kawaii shopping guide! Marui Annex 0101, Sanrio Hello Kitty stores, Don Quixote.
Hello, it’s been a minute! I was MIA because I flew somewhere for a major TV appearance… I can’t talk about it yet, but I’m thrilled to be back to the land of television, and will share the details with you once I can.
Thank you again for the love for “The Little Book of Satanism!”
Featured in Forbes | Publisher’s Weekly | Dazed – The Little Book of Satanism is an accessible guide to Satanic culture, history and ideas. Little Baphomet seems to like it…
See more details about my latest book here, as well as links to many retailers (it’s available worldwide in paperback and digital, and published by Simon and Schuster). Thanks to everyone who read it and reached out — it’s amazing to see my book on the shelves of Barnes and Noble, Powells, and other bookstores!
And more good news… a Spanish version of “The Little Book of Satanism” will be out soon! Some of you asked about translations of my book, and Ulysses Press made it happen.
“A thoughtful, concise examination of the history of the devil [that] cuts through the Satanic Panic myths that are still prevalent today.” – Forbes Magazine. See more info about my book here.
I’m also happy to see that many of you are traveling to Japan once again, now that the country is open to tourism. I was in Tokyo and other areas last August/September, and still have tons to share.
I’ll begin with a cute / Goth / alt shopping guide to Shinjuku, as I hope this might be useful to you when you travel to Tokyo! Read on for a tour of Marui Annex, Studio Alta, Don Quixote, Sanrio stores, and more.
Everyone knows Harajuku is the center of youth / alternative fashion, but Shinjuku has tons of pop culture boutiques as well. Whenever I’m in Shinjuku, I stop by 0101 Marui Annex department store to peruse the latest funky shops — like the Godzilla boutique!
The ground floor pop-up is dedicated to all things “Gojira” and his fellow dai kaiju. Find Mothra t-shirts, Godzilla head statues and other monstrous delights.
The bottom floor of Marui Annex also holds the Cinnamonroll Cafe. It’s a theme cafe dedicated to the cute bunny Sanrio character with long floppy ears.
You can dine on ice cream parfaits and curries shaped like Cinnamonroll’s face, and sit at a table with one of the large plush toys.
The old Marui One Shinjuku was a treasure trove of Gothic and Lolita fashion. Today, this style is less popular and many labels dissolved — but Marui Annex still has a good number of kawaii and Loli boutiques in a single location, such as Milk.
I found a pentagram, Satan silhouette and “Vampires” shirt at Milk Boy. Equally scary is the rack of Miffy socks from the bunny-themed boutique in Marui Annex!
Walk around the multi-floored Marui Annex, and you’ll come across lots of cute mascot goods like these.
An entire store contains merch from lesser-known kawaii characters.
Marui has art displays as well, such as these cardboard anime devil ladies.
You know you’re in Shinjuku when there’s cuteness everywhere you look.
The seventh floor of Marui 0101 Annex is home to multiple boutiques that represent Harajuku, Jpop and Kawaii culture.
These include Emily Temple Cute, which has been around for ages…
… and my personal favorite, Kera Shop. The racks carry a variety of designers, and the fashion leans towards the darker side (Goth, punk, metal).
Even if the subculture is smaller now, the alternative handmade fashion remains inspiring — case in point above.
Mana’s Moi-meme-moitie brand has a presence at Kera Shop on the 7th fl of Marui Annex.
As you can see, the old school Kera Magazine / Gothic Lolita Bible styles are still alive (or undead).
Angelic Pretty is as pink and candyland-frilly as ever.
Alice in the Pirates still brings the fierceness with black and red rock asymmetry.
Jirai Kei is currently all the rage — you’ll see a lot of young Japanese wearing dark girly styles like Amavel.
But there’s something for every type of alternative dresser at Marui, including urban and rave garments.
Speaking of undead vampires… I ran into an exhibition by Hyde, J-rock lead vocalist of L’Arc-en-Ciel in the 1990s.
“Fantasmagorie: The Ghost Show 1799” displays gentleman-meets-Jrocker outfits and videos made in collaboration with Hyde.
Marui Annex is the best one-stop shop for alt fashion in Shinjuku. However, there are many other department stores in the area worth perusing — including Lumine, Keio, and others near the station.
I ran into a Miffy × Samantha Thavasa wallet / bag collaboration…
… and a Samantha Vega x Sanrio characters collab! I was tempted to get this studded black Kuromi tote purse.
Happy to report that Kuromi is dominating Tokyo. You can find her memorabilia everywhere, including in Don Quixote.
Donki is, of course, the giant Japanese “general store” packed with everything from mascot socks to snacks and adult toys.
I always stock up on skincare and other necessities at Don Quixote. The Shinjuku location is rather packed, but has everything including Keroppy face masks. (Go to the Shibuya Donki for a more peaceful shopping experience).
Shinjuku has multiple Sanrio stores. Yukiro and I were a bit puzzled by the Sanrio x Sailor Moon collaboration… they did Sailor Jupiter dirty!
Of course, Sailor Mercury got the Kuromi Goth treatment.
From Shinjuku, you can also easily hop over to Ikebukuro to check out additional kawaii stores in/around Sunshine City. I had to stop by Flower Miffy.
The name says it all. Miffy flower bouquets and other home goods.
I always stay in Shinjuku, as there’s so much to see, eat and do here.
The Kabukicho red light district never fails to please… Who wants to see the BJ Group BJ boys?
This is the area for host clubs and silly host boys like the fellow above.
Studio Alta (across from Shinjuku station east exit) isn’t as funky as it used to be. There are only a few alt stores now, like the one above.
I’m digging this Hello Kitty skirt, beanie and sweater combo.
Oversized sailor shirt with Kuromi in purple, yes please.
And here’s a Satanic bunny with a pentagram and caduceus.
The Hello Kitty store “Gift Gate: Elegant Shinjuku” is another classic stop. Snap a photo with the big Kitty statue outside.
Inside, there are all sorts of Sanrio goods and displays like Hello Kitty in a wedding dress.
I was in Japan right before Halloween, so I got to see slightly odd spooky designs like the above. (Of course, Hello Kitty is the devil while Kuromi is a maid.)
As for food… Shinjuku has it all. The Baskin Robbins next door to Gift Gate has smiling Pikachu cakes, as well as other Pokemon characters.
I’m fond of Coco Ichiban curry, conveyer belt sushi, and takoyaki (there’s a stand near the Godzilla Hotel in Kabukicho).
And don’t forget the many dollar stores and game centers! Wander around and pop into a few arcades — I came across Miffy in this UFO gaming machine.
I hope you enjoyed this updated Shinjuku shopping guide. Let me know if you make it to Japan this year, and what else you’d like to see on my blog! And you can always reach me at @lacarmina social media.
PS – I’m honored to be featured by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government! In this interview, they highlight my work in Japan pop culture and underground journalism.
LA CARMINA
