Fabric Street in Nippori 日暮里繊維街

The Japanese megalopolis is so vast that it has a multitude of districts dedicated to a particular activity . If the majority of travelers know Akihabara, a paradise for geeks and gamers that needs no introduction, or even Kappabashi, where you can find a whole lot of diverse and varied kitchen supplies, there is, north of Tokyo, a small district which does not look like much and which nevertheless deserves that we come to survey it.

Nippori . For many, this district comes down to a metro station that you cross before reaching the famous district of Ueno. Still, if you like vintage clothes, fabrics, buttons and other accessories to make your own clothes , Nippori is your mecca.

So of course, Tokyo is already well supplied with districts dedicated to clothing: luxury in Ginza , fashion for young people in Harajuku , vintage in Shimokitazawa … Yet in Nippori and its “Fabric Street”, or Nippori Senigai in Japanese, you will fall on a universe still totally different from the districts mentioned above.

Read: Vintage shopping in Tokyo

THE TEMPLE OF CLOTHING DESIGN

Multicolored fabrics, leather, buttons, doilies, spools of thread, ribbons… Little hands will have enough to satisfy their desires for customization or making clothes .

In this district, which is still little frequented by tourists , it is not uncommon to come across elderly people who have come to stock up on fabric, students in design schools and even fashion designers. All this small world crosses with benevolence in the rays of the shops which border this long street of several hundred meters .

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VINTAGE KIMONOS

However, this district is not exclusively reserved for those gifted with their ten fingers. Between the various stores selling their fabrics by the yard and their pieces in bulk, are a few vintage clothing boutiques, including kimonos . Do not hesitate to push their glass doors and enter, even if they are filled exclusively with Japanese. The sales assistants will not hesitate to help you choose your vintage kimono, which you can sometimes find for less than 2,000 yen (15€50).

To go further: Buy a yukata without breaking the bank in Tokyo

Nippori is therefore well worth a visit. Even just to stroll among its fabric lovers who often come out with their arms laden with multicolored fabrics and thus give the neighborhoods a very special atmosphere.