There was bad news for one of the most idiosyncratic pockets of central Tokyo this week. The famously quirky nightlife district of Golden Gai in Shinjuku was hit by fire on Tuesday, destroying four wooden buildings. Tokyo…
The almighty Master Shibatayama, a former Grand Champion sumo wrestler, chooses a traditional Japanese restaurant in Shinjuku for his Last Meal. He runs a sumo school in Tokyo and is the author of several books on regional…
In Japan’s department-store sector an overhaul of the big-box retailer is under way. In March the country’s biggest department-store operator Isetan Mitsukoshi plans to open Isetan Haus, a new mid-sized shop in Nagoya…
Not everyone in Japan gets around by plane and bullet train. Plenty of people use the bus: more than four billion passengers per year, according to the latest figures – an increasing number of them for long-distance trips…
Airbnb has a tense relationship with Japan – it’s illegal for Japanese residents to rent out their homes via the website in some prefectures – but the company is cannily using design as a way to engage with the nation.…
Mountain Day seems an odd idea for a national holiday unless you live in Japan where – with more than 70 per cent of the land taken up by them – it makes perfect sense. New to the calendar on the 11 August, it was conceived…
At Shinjuku station – the world’s busiest railway terminal – East Japan Railway (JR East) has a dominant presence with more than 3 million people boarding and alighting trains on its rail network. But the company isn’t…
Tokyo’s Isetan department store has found success by treating its customers like royalty and turning shopping into an experience. Monocle hands over its credit card to a kimono-clad sales associate.
When we’re in the Japanese capital, there’s one bar we always return to – the 1970s timewarp and unbeatable cocktails of the Brillant Bar at the Keio Plaza. Where better to showcase a few new pieces from our favourite…
Starbucks opened its first café in Russia in September, after a decade of trying. Last year, the company won a court case that finally gave it the right to use its trademark, which was bought up by a crafty Moscow lawyer…
In tough economic times, shops will need something special to keep customers. Monocle’s new star retailers are a supermarket with a concierge, a childrenswear store with staff chosen for their childcare skills, and a boo…
Department stores have been around for 150 years but their standing has slipped of late. Yet, as the best of their kind still show us, it’s a versatile format that can deliver the goods.