Tokyo’s shopping mecca has everything – including a flagship Uniqlo

The doors won’t be open for an hour, but the line of people already snakes down the main street and then around the block. It’s opening day for Uniqlo Shinjuku Honten (uniqlo.com), the newest flagship store in Tokyo’s shopping mecca of Shinjuku.

Uniqlo’s store with, literally, everything.

There are TV cameras everywhere, Shinjuku’s mayor is here to help cut the ribbon, the staff are waiting inside the glass doors, ready to welcome everyone with specially made dorayaki (traditional Japanese cakes), and the people in line are eager to be the first to see the new store.

Yes, Tokyoites take store openings – and shopping – very seriously indeed. But with four other Uniqlo stores already in Shinjuku, you have to wonder why the brand is opening a honten (main store).

The answer is obvious once inside. With 4000 square metres of space over three floors, the store contains every item in the Uniqlo catalogue as well as a raft of special features, including a coffee shop, a flower shop, alteration services and more.

All the above gives you some idea of what it’s like shopping in Shinjuku. It’s all about a wide range of goods, exemplary customer service and a memorable shopping experience.

I’ve got shopping to do, and for the rest of the day, I manage to do it all without ever leaving Shinjuku. First up? Music.

Face the music – Disk Union.Credit: iStock

I’ve spent a lot of time in record stores all over the world, but Japan is next level when it comes to range and quality. And in Shinjuku, you’re spoilt for choice because it’s home to the Disk Union empire (diskunion.net). We’re talking four separate buildings within a three-block radius, containing multiple levels and covering 18 different genres. You’ll need a map – and, fortunately, you can find one online or at the front of any one of the stores.

Building number 1 has eight levels, so I work my way from punk to ’60s–’70s rock to alternative/new wave to J-Pop just by venturing from one floor to the next. Building number 4 is famous for its huge used vinyl and CD floor, which is packed with bargains and precious finds. I’m on the hunt for Japanese indie rock bands, and a young clerk goes through my list and points me in the right direction. And when he sees the Teenage Fanclub T-shirt I’m wearing, he even suggests a couple of other bands I might like and offers to put them on the turntable.

Next? Books. Tokyo is blessed with many bookshops, but most of them are Japanese-language only, and if they do feature an English-language section, it’s usually quite limited. That’s why you need to head to the seventh floor of Kinokuniya in Shinjuku (kinokuniya.com).

Browsing at Kinokuniya.Credit: Alamy

It has a healthy English language section, but most importantly, it also has a separate area devoted solely to translated Japanese novels. As I’ve been reading virtually nothing but Japanese books over the last couple of years, I stocked up here – a collection of short fiction, a number of novels, and Jake Adelstein’s memoir Tokyo Vice, on which the TV series is based.

But I notice the “M” section has a glaring omission – where is Haruki Murakami? It turns out I had to turn a corner to find an entire bookcase devoted to Japan’s best-known author.

Finally, I need to buy something – or perhaps some things – to take home to my wife, so I head directly to Hands (info.hands.net). The store’s motto is “Create your own life your own way.” And as soon as you walk in, you find many, many things you need in your life – stationery, cosmetics, travel goods, kitchenware, crockery, gadgets, toys and more.

Yes, I find a few things for her – and more than a few things for myself that I never even knew I needed. But that’s the way it is in Shinjuku. Whether it’s Sekaido (sekaido.co.jp), which is a creative person’s art supply paradise, or Bic Camera (biccamera.co.jp), which seems to stock every single piece of electronic equipment on earth, or Don Quixote (donki.com) which is a gargantuan bargain-hunter madhouse, there’s always another store that leaves you open-mouthed and lighter in the wallet.

THE DETAILS

STAY
Hotel Groove is a hip 538-room hotel in Kabukicho Tower in the heart of Shinjuku, close to all the action and within easy walking distance of all the stores in this story. It’s a music-inspired property featuring vinyl records and cassettes on the walls. On-site restaurant JAM 17 serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. Rooms from ¥16,840 $180. See hotelgroove.jp

TRAIN
If you’re not staying in Shinjuku, it’s easily accessible from most parts of Tokyo by train, as it has the biggest train station in Japan and is serviced by multiple lines. Shibuya is just a seven-minute, three-stop ride away on the Yamanote line. From Asakusa, it’s around 30 minutes.

The writer was a guest of Fast Retailing.