There is no shortage of crazy, attention-grabbing store fronts in Tokyo. Some are more eccentric than others, and it’s all about catching the attention of the people passing by. If you take a walk around Shibuya, Shinjuku or Ikebukuro, some of them will certainly catch your eye. Of course, whether you go inside or not is another story…
No end to the ideas
I love just walking around in random shopping areas of Tokyo and let my eyes wander. Sometimes I come across stores fronts that are beyond eccentric. It’s like a cry of “Please look at me!” Due to the narrow shape of many buildings (see “pencil buildings”), there is usually a limited façade space to work with, but I’m amazed at how architects come up with new ideas all the time.
Some of them do it in a very elegant and subtle way, and other are just in your face, screaming out their message. Flashy colors, crazy shapes and art installation-like designs. There is no end to it!
Organized chaos
What makes Tokyo so exciting, at least in terms of shopping landscape, is that all these shops are just bunched together in a happy mess. It’s like worlds are colliding in a wild mixture of colors, shapes and sizes. You might have a new tapioca bar targeting teenager with flashy colors, next to an old elegant traditional Japanese sweets shop. Or the latest colorful Harajuku street fashion store next to some old kimono shop. They all happily co-exist, and at first sight, the cityscape looks really chaotic. I find that this is particularly true for Shibuya, which is just a labyrinth of winding shopping streets with stores all mixed together.
I thought I would start taking pictures of some of these funny, crazy, or just attention-grabbing store fronts that I pass by. If anyone comes across any particularly weird store front in Tokyo, please let me know! I’d love to check it out.