Harajuku : Lucky Magazine

Kiddy Land

The Japanese know how to do toys, and this six-floor emporium is a hypnotizing wonderland. We drifted, rapt, from aisle to aisle: a pyramid of plastic blocks that sing children's melodies; a bin of sleepy-eyed orange plush mammoths; grow-your-own canned beans that sprout to reveal printed greetings on the pods. Nothing in the U.S. comes even close to this.
6-1-9 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku, 03-3409-3431

Products: Gifts/Design
Type of Store: Boutique

Kiwa

The variety of beads here is beyond comprehensive: opalescent cabochons, metallic rosettes, enameled discs, neon cameos, giant sherbet-hued pearls, and literally tens of thousands of other varieties compete for attention.
4-25-36 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku, 03-3478-6531

Products: Jewelry
Type of Store: Boutique

Matsumoto Kiyoshi

The Japanese equivalent of Walgreens, but stocked with super specific products—like scented floss to string through your earring holes to clean them—this mega-drugstore is supremely entertaining.
1-16-7 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku, 03-3423-5115

Products: Beauty, Books/Stationery, Gifts/Design
Type of Store: Department Store

No. 11

Though it's owned by the same fashion group behind 0044 Boutique, No. 11 could not be more different. Soft music plays, candles light the store at night, and literally everything, from the romantic clothing to the shabby-chic decor of the space itself, only comes in shades of white.
3-22-6 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku, 03-5413-5511

Products: Women's Clothing, Jewelry
Type of Store: Boutique

Side by Side

LaForet is Harajuku's biggest and best-known fashion mall (avoid on Saturdays when it's mobbed), and Side-by-Side is one of its most stylish tenants. A striking Japanese-born, London-based stylist heads things up, and her superlative blend of little-known European brands always veers toward the adventuresome.
In LaForet, 2.5F, 1-11-6 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku, 03-5775-1975

Products: Women's Clothing, Bags, Jewelry
Type of Store: Boutique

Sleeping Forest

Slices of tree trunks pave the floor, giant stumps serve as display tables, and lush fake elms tower over shoppers as they consider items with a handcrafted feel. We were especially fond of the calico blouses and the china bowls printed with photorealistic images of peacefully slumbering women.
5-17-24 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku, 03-5766-3015

Products: Women's Clothing, Tabletop, Gifts/Design
Type of Store: Boutique

Team of Beaten

A half-sweet, half-wicked influence has infiltrated nearly every garment by this popular line, which favors Goth motifs and fantastical doodly prints.
In LaForet, 5F, 1-11-6 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku, 03-3402-3470

Products: Women's Clothing
Type of Store: Boutique