Shopping In Tokyo

Early morning walks are wonderful

• you WILL wake up at the crack of dawn if not sooner
• keep it low key
• explore the area
• you WILL crash by 10 p.m. local time

Take it all in

Scout the Area

If you’re staying in Ikebukuro (or anywhere really) for the first time, you’ll want to become familiar with all the great shops and services at your fingertips. This is essential to saving you time and money.

Ikebukuro points of interest

Drug Store

One of the first places you may want to venture to is the drug store for health and beauty aids, and any other miscellany you didn’t bring over with you (intentionally or not). The nearest major drug store in most regions is the Matsumoto KiYoshi, and in Ikebukuro is on the main drag of Sunshine 60 Dori. It’s almost like a department store, but not quite. The focus is on health and beauty aids – numerous floors of them.

Matsumoto Kiyoshi

Ladies, make sure you check out the make-up floor – oh so pretty.

Boys, there’s more hair product variety for you here than anywhere else in the world – go for it!  Now is your opportunity to prove you can be stylish.

Supplies

Next, you’ll want to hit up Tokyu Hands, a department store of many many floors that has everything (in Ikebukuro this includes Nekobukuro, in case you miss your cat back home).

Nekobukuro at Tokyu Hands in Ikebukuro

Tokyu Hands is dangerous. Very dangerous. You will want to buy everything. Your agenda for the first day, on the way back from Matsumoto KiYoshi is to acquire supplies. So wander on up to the stationery floor (where I guarantee you’ll come back to time and time again), and pick up some packing tape, scissors and pens. You will need these things for shipping your goods back home. You may also wish to pick up some postcards that you may wish to send to friends and family or just because they’re pretty.

Tokyu Hands

Packing Cart

If you plan on seriously shopping, you’ll need a packing cart to take your very heavy boxes to the Post Office. I once found a great one at Seiyu, the grocery store near the Sunshine City Prince Hotel, upstairs in the hardware section. It was cheap and perfect. While you’re at Seiyu, you might as well pick up some snacks on the main floor before you head back to the hotel and get more organized. If you can’t find a cart at Seiyu, you’ll find one at Tokyu Hands.

Like all the supplies you may buy above, you’ll be abandoning all these items just before you leave Tokyo. So don’t spend too much on these items – but they are necessary.

A cart from Tokyu Hands