Omotesando - Tokyo fashion High End District

Why is Omotesando Hills one of the Best Tokyo Places to see?

Omotesando street is called 'Tokyo's Fifth Avenue' and is one of the reasons Tokyo is known as a fashion capital.

The street has an impressive range of couture-fashion boutiques cafés and restaurants, all aimed for the well off, stylish customers.

Strolling down the avenue is also an excellent tour in modern architecture in Japan.
There are some exceptional architecture highlights all within a fifteen minute walk along the Street.

Omote-Sando literally means 'formal road', since this was the route the Emperor took to Meiji Jingu shrine.


Fashion industry designers began to set up their studios along the Avenue and the nearby Aoyama Street after the Tokyo Olympics, held in 1964.

There is a fierce competition between designer labels on the street. This battle goes beyond price and couture fashion quality to the outstanding modern architecture of their stores.
There is hardly a world famous architect who hasn’t built something here, resulting in an avenue which is an urban masterpiece.

Tokyo's 'Fifth Avenue' - Tokyo Fashion and Architecture

• Christian Dior - The Dior building looks as if it is covered in floating semi-transparent curtains. It was designed by Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa.
  There are no mirrors inside. Video cameras take pictures of the customers every few seconds and project them on video screens.
  Sparkling light from the inside changes the building’s atmosphere from elegant to dramatic in the evening.




• Louis Vuitton store - Designed by one of the most famous Japanese architects - Jun Aoki, and created by Eric Carlson and David Mac Nulty, directors of Louis Vuitton's Department of Architecture.
  The building is inspired by the famous LV trunk.




• Tod’s. This store of the Italian shoe brand Tod’s was designed by a famous Japanese architect - Toyo Ito. The exterior is made from bare concrete and glass. The building has glass walls with concrete and steel which crisscross to mimic the shapes of the elm trees (zelkova) that grow along the Avenue. The branching design runs through the inside as well.




• Prada Boutique Aoyama - I love this building !Designed by Swiss architects, Herzog & de Meuron in 2003. It has green glass crystal diamond shaped panels on the exterior.


• Omotesando Hills- A classy shopping center designed by Tadao Ando and opened to the public in February 2006.

  
  Omotesando Hills has the best fashion labels - Yves Saint Laurent, Dolce & Gabbana, Dunhill, Jimmy Choo and more.
  It's the most elegant mall you have ever seen. Don't miss this Tokyo tourist attraction !

3 More Unique Shops In Omotesando

• Oriental Bazaar- The best place for Japanese souvenirs. Four floors of everything Japanese, from second hand wedding kimonos to English books on Japanese design and culture. The Bazaar is recognized easily thanks to its Chinese temple roof.




• LaForet Harajuku is a trend setting shopping complex, with seven floors of couture fashion boutiques and shops. It is mainly for the young Tokyo teens female audience.




• KiddyLand - A toy store for the young at heart, and not just for children. Heaps of the stuff that Japanese girls love to call "kawai" = cute. Six floors of Hello Kitty, Puca and other brands on everything from lunch boxes and towels to mouse pads and notebooks. The sweetest things you have ever seen. Lovely!!

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