Transcription
So, good morning from Tokyo! Konnichiwa! Ma, as the locals would say. We're back in Japan. Super excited for this video.
So, this video in particular is going to be focusing on vintage shopping, or thrifting, curated shopping in Tokyo, which is going to be incredibly fun. And the cool thing about this video is that it's actually going to be a part one to a two-part series where we're comparing Tokyo to Osaka when it comes to vintage shopping, curated shopping. If you want to see part one and part two, make sure you subscribe because it's going to be a lot of Japan content coming, you guys. Right now, we're going to do some shopping in Shibuya, in Aoyama. Aoyama. It's going to be super fun. For those of you who don't know me, my name is Drew. What it do? It's nice to meet you. Let's go shopping in Tokyo. We're back, baby. We're back.
Outfits of the day. Lauren, I think your outfit just takes the cake. Let's go shop Tokyo.
For our first stop on this shopping tour, I wanted to really immerse myself and you in a non-tourist frequented part of Shibuya. Kinta Clothing, the name of the first vintage shop of the day, sits on the border of three unique neighborhoods. To the west, you have Nishihara, Hatsudai to the north, and Moto-Yoyogi is about central to where we currently are in this shop. Upon first impression, I was actually really surprised, in a good way, with Kinta's shop. There were a lot of truly unique items like this vintage German pirate jacket and this incredible multicolor jacket, which unfortunately didn't fit me down the arm. These were only some of the items that caught my eye. But let's keep looking.
If you ever find this in a larger size, call me. Okay. This is so good.
So, we just left Kinta Clothing. Really interesting shop. The owner, Kenta, who we spoke with, was incredibly nice. A bunch of vintage in there. Basically vintage French, vintage German, vintage workwear kind of items. A little bit expensive, to be honest, but still like really great curation. Something I do love about shopping vintage or secondhand in Japan is the attention to detail that goes into the cleanliness of secondhand items. So, like, he was in there steaming a lot of the clothes, but also just the attentiveness to make sure that the customer feels very welcomed, almost to the point where it's like it's a fault, like to a fault, like making sure, asking like, "Are you okay? Do you need help?" I, I, I love the hospitality, honestly. Personally, I think it's great, but it's something that you have to get used to once you're in Japan. I think we'll go to Nepenthes. Let's go to Nepenthes next and then just see what else is around that area for a little bit of shopping and just exploring.
The dedication to keep things clean, unmatched.
So, right now, we made it to Omotesando. Next stop is Nepenthes. One of my favorites. Love Nepenthes.
Nepenthes is one of my all-time favorite multibrand retailers in New York City, but it was founded in 1988 in Tokyo by Daiki Suzuki. The word Nepenthes actually comes from Homer's The Odyssey, and its meaning or its context is a drug that banishes grief or trouble from someone's mind. Essentially, a nepenthes is a substance that's a relief from grief and/or stress. Where we are in Jingumae is one of the busiest shopping districts in Tokyo. You have the iconic Omotesando Street not too far away, countless boutiques from designer to vintage, and then you have Nepenthes. Now, I'm going to be honest with you. I was a bit disappointed by Nepenthes in Japan. The selection was a bit lackluster. The staff was decently nice in the women's store. They were very nice, but it wasn't that "wow" experience I was hoping for.
What's your name? I'm Luke. I'm making a video actually right now. Good to meet you, man. Enjoy the rest of your time in Japan. Okay. Have a good one, guys. You too. See you. Bye, Drew. Nice to meet you. Good to meet you. Where are you from? Uh, we're from Melbourne. This is my friend. Nice. There's someone literally around the corner from Melbourne is really... Also Drew Joiner watching. Turns out you're huge in Melbourne. That's cool. I, I needed to make a visit out there. Nice. Well, it was lovely to meet. It's good to meet you. Thanks so much.
This happened a couple times, which is always super cool. I do want to give a special shout-out to the subscribers I ran into from Melbourne, Australia, in particular. It was kind of weird because there were a lot of people that I met from Melbourne, which is interesting in, like, a short amount of time in the area we were shopping. I'm hoping to maybe make a visit to Melbourne in 2026 or 2027, just because some of the interactions I had with some of you guys.
See you in Melbourne next! I'm just kidding. Drew always says, "Mike, Mike, Mike, Mike." I'm like, "Who is Mike?" Somebody tell me who Mike is.
That's the level. That's where we are right now. Jet lag, which is a weird concoction of being a little bit like... delusional. Delusional, like drunk, almost. So, we're in... The highlight was Kinta Clothing, and Nepenthes was cool, especially the women's section. I think the women's section was better than the men's. I think we're just going to kind of people-watch and enjoy the day. Like, there's some really cool style in Omotesando.
Up until this point, we hadn't really found anything that caught either of our interest to buy in Tokyo. This jacket from Orgy was stunning, fit me well, but was really expensive, and just didn't give me the feeling I have to feel in order to buy. Lately, I've been really tapped into a calmer intuition when it comes to shopping. If an item doesn't fit the way I want it to, or is too expensive, or just isn't making me feel really excited, I pass. Also, if the shopping experience is bad, I typically pass as well. For this, it wasn't the shopping experience. The people here were awesome. I love this shop. Definitely another store that you should add to your list if you come to Shibuya.
Next, we headed over to Pigsty, which is one of the more popular vintage chain stores in Japan. Typically, I avoid these type of shops, but I thought, "What the heck? Let's check it out." Best decision I made the entire day. First off, the music they were playing was unbelievable. It felt like they curated the playlist for me once we walked in. Second, they had a great, great selection of Polo Ralph Lauren button-down shirts. I love these type of shirts. I've been wearing one all day up until this point, if you've been paying attention. And because I wear them so much, I know it's a good purchase that will actually hold weight in my wardrobe and be worn. I ended up going with this plaid, blue, yellow, red pattern button-down, a crazy, like, almost flannel tie-dye variant, and a faded blue, almost gray shirt. The best part about these is that they were about $10 each. They were in such good condition that it almost felt wrong for how inexpensive they were. For today, this was absolutely hands down my favorite shop, and it kind of served as a lesson for why you never judge a book by its cover. Pigsty, you, despite the name, are amazing. First pickup of the trip. Super excited.
There was a part of me that I didn't want to go to this shop, but Lauren kind of forced us to go, cuz it's like, "Why not us go?" It was on the to-do list. You got to check it off. On the itinerary, and it ended up being the best shop we've been to all day. We had like four Shazams in there. Oh, four. It was a... I could have stayed in there just for the jams. It was... It was awesome. Um, we're going to one more called... Hold on. Can you hold it for a second? Let me see what it's called. Called Step Ahead. It's just a few steps ahead over here. That's good. That's a B. So, we're going to Step Ahead and then we're going to get some dinner. All right.
Why do I have to go first? Go.
Step Ahead was the final shop we visited on day one in Tokyo. And in a lot of ways, it felt like it was the shop with the most potential to find a steal. I don't think there's a more quintessential Japanese vintage shopping experience than Step Ahead. The shop was three stories, was wall-to-wall stuff with vintage on each level, had a couple of like weird posters, an old figurine. Yep, you name it. Like, this is like the epitome of a vintage shop. And visiting at night was really cool as well because it felt like I had stepped into like a time capsule of sorts. So, this time around, Lauren was a bit more motivated compared to me to find something now that I had broken the seal at Pigsty for buying on this trip. She tried on a few items that just didn't give her that pulse that she wanted. I mean, looking back, I really, really like this shop. It's got a certain genki that makes you want to stay there and just dig for gold all night. Be aware, at least in our experience, the staff was a bit aloof, or I guess unhelpful. But to be fair, I don't know how you stay and work in a shop like this for hours on end. Some of the rooms were so small, they were packed with clothes, and there were no windows. It's also kind of like insane in a weird way. Would I recommend visiting this shop? Absolutely. I think it's a shop that you should come and check out yourself.
Just enjoy it. Or you can just enjoy it vicariously through me. These clips...
Good morning from Tokyo, everyone. I'm here with Lauren. I love her skirt. I love her outfit. Today we're doing some more shopping, but there's a little bit of a twist. So, yesterday we met with a friend of ours, uh, Grace Kotano, who is Japanese, and we had a great, great, like, tea time, confectionary moment, and she actually gave us inside details to a private sample sale that's happening in Shibuya. So, we had a bunch of things that we were going to do in Shimokitazawa and in Nakameguro. But I think today we're going to go to this sample sale and see what that's talking about and see if we can find some goodies for 60, 70, she told us 90% off on some of these brands, which is going to be really cool. Right now, we're on our way to Shinjuku Station, about to catch a train, the Yamanote Line. You ready, Lauren? Yeah. Let's go.
It's not that bad. Imagine the most overwhelming shopping experience you could ever imagine. Droves of people bumping into you to save 50% off on a $3,000 cardigan. The line to the fitting room being an hour wait. Nothing actually fits you because you're a gaijin, a foreigner in a foreign land where the sizing for samples is much different than your body proportion. Unfortunately, this sample sale was an absolute nightmare. I think there were just too many people in too big of a room with too much energy. You live and you learn. And Grace, this was not your fault. You couldn't have known that the sample sale would look like this for the time slot that we booked. But damn, I had high hopes for this one. I had some high hopes.
All right, so here's the situation. Sample sale was kind of a flop. Um, shout-out to Grace for recommending it, but it was just kind of overwhelming. We have a limited amount of daylight and time. And our choices are either going to Shimokitazawa, which I love Shimokitazawa, but we've been there. We spent a lot of time in the last Japan videos there, or going to Nakameguro. So, I think the answer's clear. Let's go see the Meguro River and Nakameguro and all the Meguros. We got a train to catch again.
While we're on the way to Nakameguro, let's talk about the lore of the area. There have been many versions of Meguro City over the centuries, but the last 100 years saw significant changes. Following the Great Kanto earthquake in 1923, there was a slight population boom in Meguro City, turning the area from a more rural township into a true residential neighborhood. In 1927, Nakameguro station opened, connecting it to Shibuya and thus highly integrating the population to greater Tokyo. Fast forward to now, and Nakameguro is one of the most desirable neighborhoods in all of Tokyo to live in. The Meguro River, walkable streets, and quaint shops all offer a unique blend of leisure and necessity retail for the young professionals and creatives that live there. Visiting Nakameguro is so cool because it, for me at least, reminds me of the canals that you experience while in Amsterdam, but instead you have the Meguro River. And if you've never been to Amsterdam, visually, it's just such a beautiful, beautiful neighborhood that no matter where you're coming from, it's something that you'll appreciate. And I like the fact that it has a distinct Japanese vibe and ambiance while still having some connectivity with what, at least I've experienced in a European city, in Amsterdam, for example.
While shopping around, one of the things I noticed right away is that the ethos of a lot of the retail spaces here lean heavily towards outdoorism, gorpcore, in other words, if people still understand that term, and kind of just more activewear or hiking wear-focused aesthetics. General Store, which was an incredibly fun type of store. It almost operates as a fashion speakeasy, had some interesting jackets. If they had this in black in my size, maybe I would have done it.
A little ways away, we stumbled into Kindle, a chained vintage store that had an amazing selection of pieces. I would highly, highly recommend the store in Nakameguro. I even tried on this Visvim bomber jacket while there, and it fit. It actually fit amazing. But I just don't think, at least for me right now, that I'm a big bomber jacket person. Speaking of Visvim, you have to check out Visvim in Nakameguro. It's across the way from Kindle, just in the same area. I'll put a location on the screen right now. We didn't go this time because we went last year, but it's a really beautiful experience. After Kindle, we stumbled into a shop called EeK. It's a contemporary made-in-Japan Japanese fashion label with true Japanese sensibility. Lauren hadn't really found anything up until this point, but once she tried on this trench coat, she thought she might have something here. Personally, I ended up loving this shop because it was true Japanese fashion, but not in a stuffy or exclusive way. Quality pieces, unique styles, interesting cuts. Lauren did end up buying this coat, but only at the very end of our trip and not at this retail location in Nakameguro.
Across the Meguro River, there was this really cool shop called Cover Cord. This store was so like mountain aesthetic coded, it was ridiculous. If you don't know, I was born in Denver, Colorado, which is like the mountain states, or one of the mountain states of the United States. But this shop reminded me of a Japanese version of a store that you would see in Boulder, Colorado, right on the banks of Chautauqua. The banks of Chautauqua. Some of the items inside were incredibly expensive, at least the jackets that I was trying on, but they had some really like unique and fun accessories and like Japanese tidbits throughout.
The next three shops we visited were: one, Best Packing, an okay streetwear and designer kind of hiking aesthetic shop. Two, Escar, a Spanish scarf company that makes these really beautiful scarves, honestly. But for me, I don't really come to Japan to buy a Spanish scarf. I come to buy Japanese versions of scarves. And they have those versions. Actually, there's a Japanese style for scarves. Um, so these didn't really appeal to me, but they were cool. And third, last, there was a menswear store that's it's not showing up on Google, but if you walk to Nigel Cabourn's women's store, it's like right next to that. And I think Filson's over there as well. Speaking of Nigel Cabourn, this was the shop I most wanted to visit in Nakameguro. Nigel Cabourn is a namesake label that focuses on vintage British military workwear and adventure clothing. It fits the vibe of Nakameguro perfectly. In Japan, some of the items like this A1 jacket are made in Japan specifically. But if I'm being honest, I wasn't all that impressed by visiting Nigel Cabourn. And I wouldn't say that you shouldn't visit it. I think you should, but for me, I was just kind of hoping for more. The jacket I tried on looked beautiful, but like the Orgy jacket I tried on earlier, it just didn't seem right for me. Plus, the price on this jacket is like really, really elevated. Nigel Cabourn is like top shelf when it comes to craftsman, materials used, techniques used. They bring out all the bells and whistles to make these clothes. Like I was looking at the jacket on in the mirror, and then I took the jacket off and put my jacket back on, and I felt like I had walked into the shop with a cooler jacket than the one that I tried on, which is a testament, I guess, to where I am with my style currently. It's been a, it's been a fun and long journey on my personal style journey. And these days, I'm just a bit more selective, which I think is good.
All right, let's chat for a second about Nakameguro, Nigel Cabourn, and shopping in this area. What a beautiful, quaint part of Tokyo. Is this technically Meguro City? I, I, I don't really understand fully, and that's something that I'm still trying to get used to when it comes to being in Tokyo, being in Japan, all the different districts, neighborhoods, things like that. But if you do have the chance to come and just visit the Meguro River and walk these streets and see Visvim and see all the shops that I showed, it's, it's definitely worth it. If you're into more vintage shopping or more secondhand shopping, you can do that in Nakameguro, which is, which is really cool. I would say in Shibuya, Harajuku, Aoyama, Aoyama, uh, there was a lot of really good selection there that was a bit more affordable. Let me know which part of the video you like the most, which shop you like the most down in the comments, or which one stood out to you. I have, you know, different clips that we showed. Um, I think for me, it was like Shibuya, Aoyama, Pigsty in particular. They had the tunes, and that was like a lot of fun.
The last shop recommendation I want to give to you is to visit Kapital with a capital K in Ebisu Minami. They make you take off your shoes here, which is just a novelty in and of itself. And the staff was so fun. Like, I'm telling you, if you can vibe with me while I'm in your shop, like, you're probably going to get me to buy something. Lauren tried on this green shirt and I was like, "Lauren, you got to leave with this." And then we also picked up this eye scarf. Trust me, even if you're not into Kapital, it's such a fun and cool brand. It, it makes fashion fun. And as of right now, I'm still a really big, big fan of Kapital. Even though with all the things that happened, uh, earlier this year, it's still an awesome brand. And this is definitely a shop you, you'll want to add to your list. I think of all the Kapitals we've been to in Japan, this was the coolest one we had been to. This is a cooler store for Kapital because it's vintage and it's archive, too, which is like really, really cool. The fact that it's vintage, like you can buy vintage pieces and archive Kapital makes it super unique. Lauren found this green shirt, which is really cool. Cool. And then we also found this scarf that we've been looking for that we saw in Kyoto on the website, but they didn't have a stock of it. So, they have it here, which is nice.
Yes. So, so, so, so, so. So, so. Hi. Hi. Hey, what's up everyone? This is kind of like a final recap that I wanted to give you about shopping in Tokyo. Shopping in Tokyo, shopping in Japan, is one of the most fun experiences in shopping that I've ever had. And I hope that one day you get the opportunity to experience being in Tokyo, being in Japan, walking around, taking in the atmosphere, and doing a little bit of shopping.
There are three kind of final pieces of advice or tactics or strategies that I want to give to you if you ever do get that chance or if you're planning to go to Japan anytime soon. The first one is don't be afraid to visit vintage chains, like chain stores. Like, think of vintage chains like fast food stores. Really, what you want to do is try to find more independent stores. At least that's my personal philosophy. Tokyo is this kind of unfathomably large place. And what we shopped isn't even 10% of what it has to offer or what's available. But in a lot of ways, the best experiences that we had, maybe not the best time we had actually buying something or the easiest time buying something, but the best experiences we had were going and finding kind of shop of one, run by one guy, run by one woman, vintage shops, um, and visiting kind of neighborhoods that are off the beaten path a little bit. Everyone goes to Shibuya, everyone wants to see Harajuku. I get it. You have to see those places. But give something like Nakameguro a chance to, uh, to visit. And last year, I highly, highly recommended Shimokitazawa. Everyone knows about Shimokitazawa. The cat is out of the bag. Visit Shimokitazawa. You'll enjoy your time there as well.
Number two, I would say don't spend too much time in one store. The reason why you don't want to do that is because Tokyo's big, like I said, and in order to increase the odds for you to find something really interesting and really unique, you have to kind of be able to bop around and try different places. And so that's one of the mistakes I feel like we made last year when we arrived in Japan last year, wide-eyed and bushy-tailed. Um, we went to Shimokitazawa and I was just inside like Ragtag for like two hours, not realizing that there's so much more to see, that there's so much more you can experience. So, don't be a fool like me. Bop around different stores unless you're having a good time. Obviously, use your own judgment, but just a little rule of thumb: bop around different stores, and I think you'll find that you'll be more likely to find something unique or interesting.
Number three, don't go to sample sales in a country that isn't remotely your sample size. This one hurt me a little bit. I know. Sorry, Grace, if you're watching. It's not your fault. It's not your fault, Grace. Don't be upset or like feel like I'm taking it. I'm not. Um, this is more of a joke than anything else.
One actual final piece of advice I'll give to you is you want to create an ongoing list of shops that you want to visit before you actually arrive in Japan. This is how I kind of like tackle seeing new places wherever I'm at. If I'm in New York City, if I'm in Melbourne, if I'm in Tokyo, if I'm in Austin, Texas, I have a list on my Google Maps that actually has locations of stores that I want to visit. For me, I just use these green flags. Uh, and the red hearts are places that I liked or have already visited and kind of have a positive feeling about them. That way, if you're like out eating lunch one day in Tokyo and you finish your lunch and you and your friend or you and your partner are like, "Okay, what do we do now? We have all day." Oh, you can look at your map and say, "Oh, there's this, this, this, and this area. This is open till 5:00. This one's open till 8:00. We'll go to the one at 5:00. Then we'll go here." You can kind of create an itinerary without an itinerary with these little locations on your map. I use Google Maps, and you can use other apps and services for that.
But, and last, this is kind of a bonus tip: Don't be swayed by Japanese shop clerks or shop tellers that tell you, "This is the last one in your size," or "This is the last one that's available for you." It may be the last one. I found that, you know, Japanese people are pretty honest, relatively. Um, they maybe will treat foreigners a little bit different, either positively or negatively, depending on how you appeal to their better nature or not appeal to their better nature. But just because, just because someone says, "This is the last one in your size," it's a, it's a sales tactic. It's a sales tactic. So, don't be kind of fooled by sales tactics. Japanese people, Japanese shop clerks, Japanese shopping, everyone is incredibly honorable and, and, um, courteous and respectful. But, you know, when it comes time to make a sale, they, they have their tactics, just like anyone does, right? Just like anyone does.
Like I said before, this is a part one to a two-part series. So, if you want to see part two, which is coming out hopefully next week, if I get my grind on, I'm, I'm going to be in the editing lab for a long time here for Osaka, comparing Osaka to Tokyo. And then in part two, I'll give you a recap of which city I think is better for vintage shopping. Subscribe if you want to see that. And as always, I'm spreading peace, love, and positivity in 2025. So, that means I'm spreading peace, love, and positivity to you and to everyone who's alive, wherever you are in the world. Have a wonderful rest of your day. Abondant. Peace.
Yo, what is good? Post-vid vibe. We're using the computer to, uh, finish out this video. Tell me if you like this. This is the fist bump for the one time. Thank you so much for staying to the end of the video. Here's the second one. Happy Thanksgiving, happy Black Friday, happy holidays, whatever, uh, you want to celebrate or whatever this time period means for you. Just hopefully you're having a good time. I guess the only question I really have for the PV is how have the holidays been so far? Are you resting? Are you eating any good food? What did you have for Thanksgiving if you're American or if you're in the US? If you're not, uh, I don't know. I guess it's only an American thing. But regardless, hopefully you're having a good holiday, good end to the year, and hopefully you're enjoying these videos as well. Appreciate you immensely, PV. We'll see you, we'll see each other. We'll see each other again very, very soon. Base.