Harajuku
I thought I'd start talking about one of my favorite, and one of the most unique neighborhoods of Tokyo, HARAJUKU! Harajuku is any hibitual shopper's gold mine. If you love makeup, fashion and Japanese kawaii culture this is your place. It's definitely more for girls than guys, but there are plenty of men's items up for grabs here too. One of my guys friends ended up spending 300+ dollars on a nice leather jacket and designer boots in Harajuku, so I promise guy's can love it too.
One of my favorite stores was Wonder Rocket. There are three separate Wonder Rocket's on Takeshita Dori Street, the most famous and most well-known street in Harajuku. Why they have three stores, I don't know but if you start at the beginning of the street and go towards the end each Wonder Rocket gets bigger and bigger. The last one was four stories tall. You can find this store by looking for a mannequin with a rabbit head outside the store. This store has the most adorable dresses and skirts, as well as very trendy fashion items. I love the typical, cutsie Japanese skirts so I was obsessed with this store. It's said to have Mori girl fashion, but it's not quite as earthy and forresty as true Mori girl style is. They claim to specialize in romantic and girly fashion. I'd have to agree. I bought two skirts and one dress for only thirty bucks, on sale. Sadly you can't order their clothes online, unless you use a third party who buys and ships them overseas for you.
Another great store on Takeshita Dori street was Etude House. It's a makeup store with very pretty packaging and product details. I ended up buying a lipstick there from the Dear my Blooming collection. It is my new favorite lipstick. The formula is so soft and goes on so easily. It's a beautiful pink color and feels wonderful on my lips. This store has face products, lip products, skin care products and more. It's full of makeup that you can order right here in the USA. Shipping is around eight dollars so I suggest you save up and order a bunch to try all at once. It's actually not a Japanese company though. It comes out of Korea. Korean makeup and beauty products are said to be some of the best in the world so give it a try. I definitely don't regret buying my lipstick from there.
There are plenty of signature Japanese fashion stores on the main Harajuku street, but there are also plenty of stores on the surrounding streets. Gucci, Prada, Michael Kors and more are all just one street over. Forever 21 is a short 3 minute walk away. Everything you could imaging is in this neighborhood. If you visit Tokyo, then Harajuku is a must. You'll probably score a lot of unique fashion and makeup products that you can't get here in America.
