12 Best Shopping Streets in Tokyo

Here’s a fun Tokyo fact for you – before it became the home of massive shopping malls, it used to be the city of shopping streets. Tokyo still has numerous shopping streets and covered arcades, but they’re not quite as famous as the twelve-story malls that sell everything from underwear to Anime costumes.

Tokyo’s shopping streets are special because they offer a rare glimpse into a previous era of this city, plus they give you some idea of what everyday life for the locals is like. So, read on to see the 12 best shopping streets in Tokyo, and discover which ones seem interesting enough to fit into your Japan travel itinerary!

Denbouin-dori

Denbouin-dori is a popular shopping street in Asakusa, situated just a block away from the famous Nakamise-dori. The shopping street is famous for the Edo-period vibe and decorations, and it’s a great place to visit if you want to experience a more nostalgic shopping street in Tokyo.

It’s also not as busy as Nakamise-dori, so it’s a good place to go if you want to go shopping but you’d rather avoid the huge crowds that are present in the trendier shopping streets of Tokyo. Denbouin-dori is much more down-to-earth, plus it caters mostly to the elderly locals who live in the neighborhood, so the selection of shops isn’t quite as appealing to the average tourist.

This shopping street is a great place to buy some traditional