Ginza: Shopping heaven

My good Aussie friend Amy visited Tokyo last week. I was, and still am, in Tokyo for job interviews so we went to Ginza for some shopping.

Amy and I met each other in Japan.  She was an exchange student and I was her host sister. We had such a good time together, although our friendship grew relatively slowly after she went back to Australia. Now married to a wonderful husband, she loves traveling the world with him, mainly to enjoy skiing.

Since she was staying in a hotel in Shinbashi and she had only several hours before heading for Narita, we decided to walk to Giza to find something nice and Japanese.

As it turned out, I was a fantastic guide. (I believe so)

First, she wanted to try some Japanese sweets and green tea,  so I took her to a major department store called Mitsukoshi, where we could try some sweets and tea before buying.

Second, we went to the traditional stationery specialty store, Kyukyodo, where we found some beautiful writing paper and envelopes. Other things you can find here are beautiful boxes decorated with Japanese paper and postcards with traditional Japanese flowers. You can also find beautifully printed pieces of paper which can be used for gift wrapping.

"And what else?" I asked.

Amy said, "Shoes."

"Alright. I know exactly where to go!"

Then we went to Diana, a good quality Japanese shoe maker. Diana is not a very expensive brand but they make really good shoes. Most shoes are priced between $150 to $200. Amy's shoe size was 26cm, which was in the "L size room" on the top floor.

There we were, on the top floor. A shoe heaven for tall girls.

30 minutes went so quickly. We were lucky as winter shoes were on sale. Sales person was kind enough to show all the other stocks that were hidden in the store room. Amy was so excited and said,

"You took me to a baaaaaaaaaaad place!"

"If I buy six pairs, do you think that's too many?"

"Brian's going to kill me if he knows this...!"

......and ended up buying four pairs, instead of six. She looked so happy.

I felt like doing something very helpful. If you need a shopping guide in Japan, please give me a call.