Tokyo’s Ginza is a shoppers’ heaven if you are into designer names. I’m not but I do love the level of service you get any where here. You are greeted loudly once you enter and leave. You can actually find floor clerks everywhere in a department store. Every counter is staffed, every exhibit room in a museum or gallery is staffed (they are also given a chair and blanket to sit down with), there are train conductors all over the platforms. Everyone wears a uniform. I like the information clerks at the department stores. They wear pretty matching hats and shoes. Lots of uniforms even have matching shoes. Even the cleaning ladies at Kyoto Station had matching pink dustpans. Lots of service people like taxi drivers wear white gloves.
Back to the Ginza strip. There is a small mall with watch stores. However to access each individual store, you take its elevator. Each elevator is decorated with watches so that you can admire them during the short ride. I liked the Swatch elevator since the entire elevator wall was covered with hanging Swatch watches. The elevators are circular. One elevator goes up one floor, another goes down. David liked the Omega one.
I found the PAPER place here called Kyukyodo filled with Japanese paper crafts, cards and washi papers. I found the drawers with end cuts of washi paper which were cheap, cheap, cheap. Upstairs has brush painting supplies which explains the faint odor of sumi-e ink as you walk into the store. Rolls of paper line one side of the store walls. Its was very busy in here.
The other card store is Ito-Ya. It has gift items, art supplies, business supplies, rubber stamping supplies and cards. The rubber stamps are expensive here.
The best place for clothes is Uniglo which has Old Navy prices in a Gap like setting. It has mens, women and childrens?.
David has been checking out all the camera stores here. Its like technie heaven here since they have galleries featuring all the lastest products in places like the Sony store. The Sony store has its own outdoor aquarium and many floors. Canon store. Nissan store featured the new model Silverline with the car moving up and down on a turntable with the lady talking about it. We went to the Sheisido store. It has an art gallery in the basement. The ICC building has lots of free interactive activities featuring user interfaces.
Did you handle any clothing in the department stores? Did you have an uncontrollable urge to fold them items up perfectly and return them to the shelf perfectly stacked if you decided not to purchase (and of course it is unlikely for a Cdn to purchase at yen prices)?