Experiences / Shopping
Buying a vintage kimono
古着の着物を買う ふるぎのきものをかう
Shopping · Craft · Local life
Second-hand kimono are one of the great bargains of Japan: silk pieces from the 1960s for the price of a T-shirt, haori jackets that work over Western clothes, obi that become table runners. The shops in Yanaka, Asakusa and the antiques markets sell by the piece; the chain recyclers sell by weight. Staff will tell you what is silk and what is not, and how to wear a haori without looking like a costume.
- How to arrange it
- No booking; try things on; ask for the piece to be folded and packed for a suitcase.
- Price band
- ¥¥
- Allow
- 90 min
Where to book it
Harajuku & Meiji Shrine
Chicago Harajuku
シカゴ 原宿店
¥¥ · 45 min · English: partial
A long-running used-clothing chain rather than a costume-rental shop, Chicago's Jingumae store keeps a dedicated kimono section among its racks of vintage Japanese and Western wear, priced for actual daily wear rather than as souvenirs. It is where Tokyo residents themselves go hunting for a real vintage kimono, which shows in the condition and pricing of the stock.
Asakusa
MEGA Tansuya Asakusa
MEGAたんす屋 浅草店
¥¥ · 45 min · English: no
Part of the nationwide Tansuya reuse-kimono chain, the flagship-sized Asakusa branch inside the Ekimise building next to the station stocks a large floor of secondhand and vintage kimono at a scale few independent shops can match. It functions as a real resale business rather than a tourist prop-rental counter, so pieces are genuine used kimono, not costume-grade reproductions.
Named operators, each verified against its official site. We list the booking route and whether English is spoken; hours and prices live on the official site. All operators