Page 68 - (DK Eyewitness) Top 10 Travel Guide - Tokyo

66 ❯❯ The Top 10 of Everything

Markets, Stores, and
Shopping Streets

Naka-dori
4
MAP F4 • 1-chome to 3-chome
Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku
This tree-lined, flag-stoned street
is Maranouchi’s main commercial
spine, along which you’ll find many
international and local fashion
boutiques as well as contemporary
sculptures. The trees are illuminated
with thousands of LED bulbs
Grand Mitsukoshi in Nihonbashi every winter.
Mitsukoshi
Takeshita-dori
1 5
It’s great for people watching
MAP P2 • 1-4-1 Nihonbashi
Muromachi, Chuo-kuy • 3241-3311 and trend-spotting, but avoid this
This is the head branch of Japan’s narrow Harajuku shopping street if
oldest department store business, you’re not keen on crowds. The
founded in 1673. Aside from the stores here have their fingers firmly
many items on sale, it’s worth visiting on the pulse of teen fashions, hence
for its grand interior decorations, it’s almost always busy (see p102).
including a giant statue of the
Venus Fort
Goddess of Sincerity dominating 6
the ground floor. Get there early to MAP D2 • Palette Town,
see the hundreds of uniformed staff 1 Aomi, Koto-ku • 3599-0700
who bow respectfully to customers • Open 11am–9pm (11pm for
as they open the store each day. some restaurants)
A cross between a mall and a theme
Toyosu Fish Market
2 park, Venus Fort was built to re-create
the atmosphere of an 18th- century
MAP H6 • 6-chome Toyosu,
Koto-ku • www.shijou.metro.tokyo. northern Italian city, with a changing,
jp/index.html artificial twilight sky. The main focus
In November 2016, Tokyo among its many boutiques and stores
Metropolitan Central Wholesale is on cutting-edge brands in fashion,
Produce Market, better known as jewelry, and cosmetics.
Tsukiji Fish Market, moved to these
sparkling, state-of-the-art premises, Shoppers at Venus Fort
across Tokyo Bay in Toyosu. This is
the location of the famous early-
morning tuna auctions.
Tsukiji Outer Market
3
The fish market may have
moved but there are still hundreds of
vendors in the Tsukiji Outer Market,
which has styled itself as the premier
place to go food shopping in central
Tokyo. There’s plenty to see and taste
here among the intricate streets, so
pick up a map from the Information
Center (Plat Tsukiji) or download it
from the website (see p82).

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