Jasmina Mitrovic

Before your brain goes straight to Kabukicho: relax. This is not a red-light district story, and these services aren’t selling anything physical. Rental boyfriend/rental girlfriend agencies in Japan are basically date companion services. You book someone to spend time with you in public, under clear rules, and the ‘role’ is usually what it says on the label: boyfriend, girlfriend, or just someone to hang out with. If you’ve been online long enough, you’ve probably seen this concept float by already, either through Vice-era coverage or a streamer trying it out as content. It gets filed under ‘weird Japan’, but the reality is way more normal: a lot of people book these dates because they don’t want to do something alone, their original plus-one bailed, they’re travelling and want someone to show them around, or they just want a low-pressure day where they can talk and feel a bit less in their own head. Think of it as renting company, not true romance – that latter part is mostly atmosphere. What many don’t realise is that Japan has been ‘renting people’ for a while. The broader rental-companion/stand-in world goes back to the early 1990s, and it’s since grown into a full system of ‘borrowed connection’ services. You can rent a friend, a grandma, and even a handsome guy to cry with you. The boyfriend/girlfriend version is for some reason just the most meme-able branch of that tree – one that started getting more publicly visible in the early 2010s, when this style of dispatch se

Tokyo will humble you under one traffic light. Fit, fabric, proportion and how your shoes look after a day of walking – you’ll be standing at a crosswalk realising someone’s ‘I just ran to the conbini’ outfit has more intention than your whole suitcase. This is a fashion city in the truest sense. Not only in the ‘designer capital’ way, but in the sense that people here treat getting dressed as a language. Labels exist, obviously, but the real flex is the build. One perfect pair of pants, a statement jewellery piece that might double as a weapon, a bag that signals you knew how to dig. The smallest choices do the loudest talking. Like all fashion capitals, Tokyo’s scene is made up of the micro-scenes running within: skaters and musicians, punks and gals; office workers with secretly insane wardrobes, vintage freaks, minimalists, maximalists, and people who look like they stepped out of a niche magazine you’ve never heard of. Everyone’s doing their own thing, but you can usually trace it back to the same places. The fastest way to understand Tokyo fashion isn’t to scroll harder. It’s to go where the people shaping the scene go: stores with point of view, and staff who live and breathe this stuff enough to clock what you’re going for before you even say it out loud. If you’re visiting and don’t want to default to the fast-fashion loop, or you live here and are bored of your current rotation, this guide is a good place to start. All of the stores featured below represent a pocket

Yakiimo is one of the cheat codes to enjoying the cold season in Japan. You buy the spud hot, hold it like a hand warmer, peel back the skin as you walk, and suddenly the commute feels romantic. And just to be clear: these are not sweet potatoes as you might know them. Sweet potatoes – the orange Western kind – have been riding the superfood train for the last decade. While no one is holding them up to kale, they’ve become the ‘good snack’ people reach for when they want something that feels clean and balanced. Japanese yakiimo play a totally different role. One bite in and you’ll be looking around like, ‘I can’t believe it’s not butter’ – but for yakiimo – because it tastes like they’ve dipped it in honey. Only to find the sweetness is allllllllll natural. These delights are slow-roasted until the starches turn to sugar and the inside goes gooey. The best ones don’t taste healthy – more like a dessert that happened by accident: honeyed, jammy, sometimes pudding-soft, sometimes fluffy like steam. The good shops obsess over the details: potato variety, how long it’s been rested, how low the heat goes, and whether it’s roasted in a pot, on stones or in some custom kiln setup. That’s why two sweet potatoes can taste like two different planets. There’s a method to yakiimo enjoyment. Sure, you can grab one at your local grocery store, or maybe Donki, and it’ll still hit. But if you’re interested in seeing the full depth of how a sweet potato can rock your world on its own, no topp

タイムアウト東京 > Things To Do >2026年、運気アップに訪れたい占い師5人 街を歩いていると、占いの看板を見かけたことがあるだろう。ビーズのカーテンの向こうで、ベールをかぶった占い師が水晶玉に手をかざす光景は記号としてお馴染みだが、実際に中に入ったことがあるかはまた別の話だ。 ヨーロッパで占いといえば、深夜のコマーシャルや電話占い、ショッピングモールの店頭や観光地に置かれた看板が思い浮かぶ。また、オンライン鑑定やTikTokのタロット占いから、出生時間を伝えないと相手にしてくれない人まで、占いや霊能者に対するイメージはゆがんでいる。信じる人もいれば信じない人もいて、大多数はどちらでもないだろう。 日本では伝統の重みか、あるいはスピリチュアルな世界が日常生活に深く根付いているせいか、占いはより身近なものだ。今日では、タブレットで占い師を選べるチェーン店の「占いクリニック」から、お守りや何十年も前の道具がずらりと並ぶ個人店まで、あらゆる占い師がいる。 東京にも占いの館はあまたあるが、ここでは独自のスタイルや背景を持ち、人生の奥底を読み解いてくれる5人の占い師を、タイムアウト東京英語版のスタッフライターが紹介する。 関連記事 『2025年を代表するベスト怪談師5選』

It’s Christmas Eve, which in most of the West means family chaos, ugly jumpers and eating until you can’t move. In Japan, the day takes on a totally different form. Christmas here is hyper-aesthetic, and (for better or worse) coded as couple territory – rushing for reservations, gift shopping, illuminations, and the unspoken vibe that you’re supposed to have someone’s hand in yours. And if you don’t? You are knighted: kuribocchi (single on Christmas) The word gets thrown around like a sad punchline, but this is a city built for solo missions: one-person yakiniku, counter seats, cinemas where no one cares if you nod off. 
 So if you’re single, far from home, newly dumped or just not in the mood for matching Santa hats, here’s a kuribocchi guide that treats being alone like the event that it is, and not a penalty.


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‘Five dollars for a palm reading.’ It’s a sign most of us have walked past at least once. If you’re from a major city – or have ever visited one – the neon promise of a shawl-draped psychic behind a beaded curtain isn’t exactly groundbreaking. Whether you’ve ever actually gone inside is another story. In the West, fortune-telling comes with late-night commercials, hotline psychics, strip-mall storefronts, and the kind of tourist-area signage that promises destiny for a flat fee. Add Etsy witches, TikTok tarot and that one friend who refuses to speak to you until you tell her your exact birth minute, and the whole image of psychics and mediums has been stretched so far it barely shocks anyone anymore. Some people believe, some don’t, most hover in the ‘why not?’ middle. Maybe it’s the weight of tradition, maybe it’s how spirituality still threads through the everyday, but the atmosphere around fortune-telling in Japan feels less performative and more… lived-in. It’s visible without being loud. Small booths tucked inside stations. Upstairs rooms above drugstores. Kaleido-coloured parlours wedged between convenience stores. And then there’s the deeper side; the long history of mediums, diviners and spiritual workers who once advised everyone from farmers to feudal leaders. Like many other traditional aspects in Japan, this presence never really disappeared. It’s just adapted to the cities around it. Today, you’ll find everything from chain-run ‘fortune clinics’ where you pick yo

Halloween has come a long way from its origins in ancient Celtic harvest festivals. These days it's more about looking as OTT as possible, a custom that was popularised in the US in the early 1900s. In Japan, too, there is none of the doom and gloom of the holiday's historical association with death, which may have something to do with the fact that the local celebration first made waves at Tokyo Disneyland. We're looking forward to a series of Halloween events on October 31, as well as the days leading up to it. Whatever you decide, don't let your costume go to waste – dress up for some of Tokyo's most spectacular Halloween parties. RECOMMENDED: 6 best Halloween events at theme parks in Japan

Within a few hours of Tokyo, there’s a handful of places that feel almost as though they’ve been pulled from a survival-horror game: crumbling roadside museums full of dolls, train stations that sink into the earth, temples guarded by disembodied hands, and uncanny sculpture parks. Halloween doesn’t have to mean fishnets and tequila shots. You can get in the spirit by doing what Japan does best – leaning into quiet dread. A kind of slow, creeping unease that seeps in while you’re standing alone in a tunnel or staring at a field of stone faces that all seem to be watching you. Think of it as celebrating Halloween like you’re the main character in your own horror RPG.RECOMMENDED: 6 best Halloween events at theme parks in Japan

Halloween in Tokyo has come a long way from its cute, imported origins. What began as a marketing stunt at Harajuku’s Kiddy Land and then became an excuse for themed lessons and candy in Eikaiwa classrooms has evolved into an all-night costume arms race. Following the trick-or-treat to thirst-trap pipeline, Halloween in Japan is now, like everywhere else, the kind of day where someone’s glued a latex horn to their forehead and another’s wearing a ¥200,000 catsuit – albeit for the runways of Shibuya Crossing. Some make theirs from scratch, others rely on Daiso, but you can count on every look being a mix of hilarious, horny and weirdly professional. This is, after all, one of the world’s cosplay capitals. Tokyo does Halloween like it does everything else: with too much detail, a bit of fetish, and a sense of hum. RECOMMENDED: 4 best stores in Tokyo for vintage anime T-shirts  

Tokyo’s nights never sit still. One day it’s a fashion pop-up with free drinks, the next it’s a basement rave that feels like it might not end until the lights come on. The city’s nightlife is messy, stylish and impossible to keep up with, but that’s part of the pull. Every weekend there’s another room packed with fashion kids, DJs, and strangers you only think you’ll never see again. So forget the konbini beers – there’s too much happening out there. Club nights, live shows, art parties, collaborations that only last a few hours before they disappear into memory. It’s sweaty, chaotic, and can sometimes be overwhelming, but always worth leaving your comfort zone for. This list is your shortcut: the events that matter right now, the ones you’ll regret missing when everyone else is talking about them on Monday.RECOMMENDED: Your ultimate round-the-clock guide to the capital

We don’t encourage smoking – let’s get that out of the way. But like with wine or whiskey, vices deserve a proper setting. If you’re going to light up, you should at least do it somewhere with soul. Think of this list as your map to those increasingly rare corners of Tokyo where the cigarette hasn’t been fully exiled. And if you’re smoke-free? You can consider it a warning of which doors not to walk through. Tokyo is a place where nostalgia clings like cigarette haze to the wood of Showa-era counters. Imagine to yourself: a lone salaryman pushes into a tiny izakaya, suit dripping from the storms of typhoon season, umbrella shaking off the gutter’s downpour. He orders a beer, slides a Marlboro from the pack, and leans into the warm chaos of the crowd. That’s the world we’re chasing here – kissaten with nicotine-stained walls, bars where the ashtrays come complimentary, izakayas where the smoke curls into the paper lantern light. It’s less about the cigarette itself and more about atmosphere: dim wood counters, flickering lanterns, and the low buzz of conversations that never seem to end. These places carry the romance of another time, when smoke was a part of the architecture of a night out.
 Just like everywhere else in the world, Tokyo’s relationship with smoking is changing fast, with non-smoking areas and establishments multiplying each year. But for those who still seek that cinematic drag, these spots remain. Step inside, order something strong, and let the smoke hang he

A true cultural phenomenon in the late ’90s and early 2000s, Ai Yazawa’s manga built a universe where fashion is a second language and heartbreak is always waiting just past the train tracks. Nana, Paradise Kiss and Neighborhood Story captured Tokyo in a way that made every café, side street and cigarette feel cinematic. Yazawa’s characters drift between joy and despair, dressed in Vivienne tartan and strawberry-pink frills, moving through the city with the kind of style that makes even loneliness look iconic. The stories remain unfinished on the page, but Tokyo itself still holds fragments of Yazawa’s world. Some of these places are semi-official ‘pilgrimage’ spots, others just feel uncannily like her panels come to life. For anyone still chasing that Yazawa mood – whether you’re a devoted fan of Nana or simply drawn to her sharp take on youth and fashion – these six locations will pull you right into the frame.RECOMMENDED: The coolest neighbourhoods in Tokyo

PinkPantheress opens her first-ever Japan show this week at Toyosu Pit, and it’s set to be a big one. From Soundcloud/TikTok beginnings to riding the wave of a career that’s basically been one long glow-up since she started dropping bite-sized, diary-like tracks online, her songs feel made for replaying on a loop. The bedroom-produced blur of lo-fi jungle has officially mutated into global superstardom, and the hype for her live arrival is at a fever pitch. If you slept on tickets or just need to pre-game the hysteria, you've got a lifeline. For three days this weekend, Harajuku streetwear mecca Domicile is hosting a concept space that might just be the next best thing. ‘Fancy That: A PinkPantheress x AsahiNa Concept Store’ is taking over from February 19 to 22. The pop-up is a collaboration with Tokyo-based digital artist (and recent Dazed 100 alumni) AsahiNa (朝比奈), who’s been warping the local scene with her ultra-glossy, chrome-dipped cyber aesthetics. Having already shaped the visuals for PinkPantheress’s Japan-exclusive album cover, AsahiNa’s world is the exact kind of thing you want attached to the Bath-born singer: hyper-sweet, slightly chaotic and very online in the best way. Get ready for liquid metal objects that look like they’ve been airbrushed into existence, candy-coloured CG florals, arcade-machine glow, futuristic trinkets, and that early-2000s digital shimmer where everything feels like it could be an icon, a sticker or a cursed screensaver. It’s basically a

Banny deals in Americana vintage, but not the clean ‘heritage lifestyle’ version. It’s more like a 13-year-old boy’s bedroom, if that kid had impossible taste and an unlimited allowance. Collectibles everywhere, old rap star shirts, vintage Matrix tees, cowboy boots, and random sneaker gems that make you stare a little longer than normal. It’s affiliated with Pin Nap, and you can feel that sibling relationship in the contrast. If Pin Nap is the girl store, Banny is the younger brother who learned style from older cousins, music videos and American thrift shops. The shop feels familiar if you grew up around North American vintage, but the digging has already been done for you. The selection sits in that sweet spot between nostalgia and daily wear – like taking a Throwback Thursday post and turning it into a wearable look. Ralph Lauren quarter-zips, polos, jackets… all sporty pieces that land right with Tokyo styling.

Cannabis is one of those stores that doesn’t feel like it opened so much as it’s always existed. It’s been around for about 25 years, and still matters for the same reason it always did: it isn’t built for people who only like clothes. It’s for people whose entire life is stitched into culture. Music, art, nightlife, fashion; all of it overlaps here naturally, across generations. The racks move between UK-leaning underground, experimental pieces and real ready-to-wear. A lot of what’s inside has that ‘you can only get this here’ feeling: first-time-in-Japan carries and collaborations with local creatives. Much of what you’ll find feels hard to replicate elsewhere, as their vibe is uniquely executed by their network across underground music, tattoos and publishing. Here, exclusivity doesn’t stance newcomers as the outsider. The staff keep it easy-going, and the space has the kind of funkiness that might make you want to crack open a beer after a good purchase.

H4LO is built like a monochrome showroom, but it’s programmed like a small scene. The check-out counter doubles as a DJ booth, staff spin in-store, and the TV stays on music videos, so your shopping experience will really feel straight out of a 2000’s segment of MTV-something. They don’t represent one scene or one genre of fashion, but it’s close to an early-internet-core meeting point where different subcultures overlap because the same people are in them. They host DJ events inside the store, run frequent pop-ups and takeovers, but out of the store they’re on the drift track — their cars branded. They show up at meets, and they’ve hosted car-related events at the store too. It works because in this world, music, cars, and clothes feed each other. H4LO translates online-era tastes to real world participation and their stock mirrors this same cultural variety: Glo Gang, Prix Workshop, Asspizza, Yori, No Mass Prod and other names that feel like references. At first glance the store has a very clean aesthetic, but the racks appear to have been built by someone online in 2016 who never logged off.

SO has been around since 2018. It’s quietly confident, and homey in the way Nakameguro does best: calm, considered and easy to settle into. While the ‘hostel’ part of the business is more concept than reality now, that DNA still shows up in how they treat people: relaxed service and no pressure. The style leans active and sporty, built around basics that fit perfectly, with small hits of quirk scattered through the racks that give the place its personality. You’ll find their in-house pieces alongside a mix of foreign brands, plus housewares that make it feel lived-in rather than strictly retail. The staff are always down for a chat too, especially about music – rock, house, techno – which makes the place feel like somewhere you could actually hang out.

Pin Nap is the hot girl store, full stop. It’s a Harajuku vintage institution that’s been around since 2012 (and recently refreshed), but the mission stays the same: make every girl feel cute, no matter what her style is. The buying is about range. Something for every mood, every night out, every version of you – and the staff treat fashion like self-expression, not rules. If you leave without feeling 30 percent hotter than when you walked in, you did it wrong. The reason people stay loyal to Pin Nap is that the confidence boost is real. They don’t push you into one aesthetic. They find the version of you that looks best, then hand it back to you on a hanger. The store has a balance of fun and taste, with pieces that will make you feel like they came out of your childhood dream wardrobe. It’s a place you can come to with friends before a night out and genuinely walk out transformed – cue the changeroom montage scene. That’s why the staff feel like part stylist, part best friend, part angel-on-your-shoulder telling you to commit to the look.

The Elephant is Jingumae street-snap culture turned into a real store. You walk in and it makes sense why stylists, designers and fashion kids stay loyal. Their buying question is simple: would someone have fun wearing this? Started in 2018, they grew from a small start into a multi-location shop with a clear identity: original pieces, new brands and vintage, all living together under one roof.  The flagship has two floors, and each one does something different. Their own original line anchors the identity, upstairs brings in the vintage, and downstairs runs newer Japanese and overseas brands. They’ve also played with rework projects, and even made furniture using reworked fabric, which tells you how far their idea of fashion extends. It’s a store that rewards one good purchase that changes your silhouette and makes everything else you own look better.

Chillweeb doesn’t need much of an explanation for you to get the gist of the kind of store it is. It’s one of the shops that rode the wave of making anime tops into real styling pieces and not lazy merch.Their philosophy is simple: confidence. The whole lame-to-cool shift happened because people stopped pretending they weren’t into what they were into. Chillweeb sells that new era perfectly. Being true to your identity is the flex now, and they build their selection around that idea without making it corny. You’ll find everything from vintage to newer prints from titles like Dragon Ball, Naruto, Evangelion, Akira and more. The picks are intentional: stuff they personally connect to, plus enough current hits that you can tell they’re paying attention to what people are watching. And it’s not only anime: they also carry vintage Americana and military pieces that make the whole shop feel like a proper archive store.They treat the references seriously, but the styling stays sharp. Nothing feels like cosplay: you could style these pieces with anything and still rock the fit.

Jackpot is Kabukicho by address, but not by mood. It’s appointment-only, hidden upstairs, and the interior reads more like a quiet fashion library than a red-light district vintage shop. Think heritage-building refinement, and a rack that looks like it was picked by someone with very strict taste. The brands hit that modern-classic lane: Our Legacy, Auralee, Extreme Cashmere and other pieces that exude quiet luxury. It’s the kind of store where fashion is intelligence, down to the details: fabrics you want to touch, silhouettes that fall perfectly and colours that make a statement even when they’re muted. They also keep a selection of magazines and photo books (032c and Beyond), which tells you the type of customer they’re dressing. Jackpot is for people who want refinement with edge. 

HeralDo in Sangenjaya is run by a stylist, and you can tell immediately. The store is minimal and clean, but not sterile. It’s built around a creative eye: lookbooks, editorial thinking and archival pieces selected for how they land right now. Their current keyword is ‘nerdcore’, which is basically somewhere near office siren without the gender or the thirst. Studious, slightly dorky in a good way, sharp in proportion, and easy to style into something cooler than it sounds on paper. This is your Tokyo answer to what Miu Miu and Loewe have been teasing lately.  Sangenjaya leans Americana in a lot of shops, so HeralDo sits a little sideways to the neighbourhood mood, and that’s part of why it stands out. They put real effort into visuals too, with lookbooks and a consistent creative direction. The pricing is fair, which is why younger shoppers and people new to Tokyo latch onto it fast.

Mitame feels like walking into a small independent gallery that happens to sell clothes. It’s based in Nishi-Shinjuku, built around small brands, collaboration-minded designers and pieces chosen for attitude as much as design. The space has that slightly funky, handmade feeling where the brands do most of the talking. It’s not locked to one lane, which is the point.  A lot of the pieces read like wearable art; if Tokyo Fashion was a piece it would probably come from Mitame. It’s a store that cares about the person wearing the clothes first, not the status of the tag. The philosophy is simple and kind of brutal: fashion can take what you dislike about yourself and flip it into a strength. Mitame started as an alternative creative space before it became a full shop, and you can still feel that. It’s a place for meeting people, collaborating, and leaving with something you won’t see anywhere else.

If you grew up with an obsession with club flyers and weird internet fashion, or you’re part of the ’I was born in the wrong era’ cult, Neova is the spot for you. Started online in 2022, it’s basically a love letter to ’90s and 2000s cyber rave: space references, reflective materials, and pieces made for strobe lights and sweaty basements. Once you’re inside, you might actually believe you’ve time travelled – aliens included. They take the aesthetic seriously: the styling, the references, even the staff themselves. Everything feels like it was pulled from another era without the over-used feeling that can come with vintage piece purchases. The selection consists of classics like Foetus and Cyberdog, W.&.L.T. and brands like Tripp NYC, plus other staples that show up in rave wardrobes across decades. They put their money where their mouth is through pop-ups at raves and the occasional hosting of their own events. If you’re around Tokyo this March, they’ll be holding an anniversary party at Circus Tokyo – perfect timing to put your new threads on the dancefloor.

2010年代、「KAWAII MONSTER CAFE」は東京を象徴する人気スポットの一つだった。ネオンに彩られたその空間は、現実の竹下通りの中心にありながら、海外から見た「原宿ガール像」。まるでグウェン・ステファニー（Gwen Stefani）の世界観をそのまま具現化したかのような、熱狂的な幻想空間でもあった。 そこでは現実の東京にいながら、まるで別世界に迷い込んだかのような体験ができる。巨大なケーキ型メリーゴーラウンドがクラブさながらの照明の下に据えられ、空間はカラフルなゾーンに分かれ、モンスターガールズがその場全体を生きた舞台へと変える。料理さえも、キッチンで調理されたというより、ユニコーンから採取されたかのような怪しげな見た目をしていた。 Photo: Analicia GracaPictured: Kawaii Monster Founder Sebastian Masuda, sitting amount the Monster Girls and guests. 2021年、同店は閉店を発表し、原宿はその強烈な個性を放つランドマークの一つを失う。そして2026年2月13日、単なる復活というよりも進化を遂げる形で、「KAWAII MONSTER LAND」として帰ってきた。カフェを再構築し、アトラクションを中心とした新たな施設としてスタートを切る。 かつての空間が魅力的なカオスに満ちていたとすれば、今回は来場者の導線がよりスムーズに設計されている。「Magic Spiral Gate」を抜けると、「Choppy’s Mel-Tea Cup Ride」や「Kawaii Monster Carnival」、ゲーム感覚の体験スポット、フード＆ドリンクカウンターとバー「BAR Pink Mirage」を備えた「Colorful Snack Street」など、各エリアを順に巡る構成だ。「Harajuku Gift bazaar」ではグッズも販売されており、手ぶらで帰る人はいないだろう。 Photo: Analicia GracaNewly unveiled arcade games いくつかの変更はあるものの、主役は依然として「モンスターガールズ」だ。ハイパーキュートなパフォーマーたちが、原宿らしさを200％に引き上げたようなエネルギーを再び呼び戻す。スタイリングもより洗練され、現代のストリートファンタジーを想起させる世界観を表現している。 光沢感のあるサイバーゴススタイル、ブラックレースのグローブやメタル素材、大胆なグラフィックディテールに、ひと目では愛らしくに見えつつもどこか異質さを感じさせる人形のようなメイク。あるいは、ネオングリーンのレースやレインボーのフェイクファーカフス、ラインストーンをあしらったアーマーショルダーなどをまとったデコラスタイルも登場する。ハンドメイドの温もりを感じさせるレイヤードの質感が、ポップで祝祭的なムードを際立たせる。 さらに、フリルやリボン、パステルカラーのふんわりとした装飾、ハートのパッチ、キャンディカラーなど、スウィートロリータを思わせる要素も随所にちりばめられている。誇張されたウィッグやアクセサリーと相まって、原宿ならではのスタイルを色濃く反映したビジュアルが印象的だ。 Photo: Time Out TokyoThe Monster Girls from left to right* Candy, Crazy, Dolly, Natty, Baby KAWAII MONSTER CAFE

The Kawaii Monster Café was an OG Tokyo attraction of the 2010s; a neon fever dream that nailed the overseas, Gwen Stefani-tinted idea of ‘Harajuku girls’, in the middle of the real Takeshita Street. It was the closest thing Tokyo had to a portal: a mad-hatter wonderland where a giant cake carousel sat under club lighting, the space was split into colour-coded zones, and the Monster Girls turned the whole place into a living set. Even the food looked suspicious, like it had been harvested from a unicorn rather than cooked in a kitchen. Photo: Analicia GracaPictured: Kawaii Monster Founder Sebastian Masuda, sitting amount the Monster Girls and guests. In 2021, the café announced it would close for good, and Harajuku lost one of its most unapologetically loud landmarks. Now, it’s back, though with less revival and more renaissance – as Kawaii Monster Land, a rebuilt ‘attraction-first’ version of the original. If the old café was chaotic in a charming way, this one is clearly designed to move people through smoothly. You enter through the Magic Spiral Gate, then follow a set flow into different areas: Choppy’s Mel-Tea Cup Ride, a Kawaii Monster Carnival zone, game-like stops, and Colourful Snack Street, where the food-and-drink counter sits alongside a bar called Pink Mirage. There’s also a Harajuku Gift Bazaar for merch, because no one leaves a place like this empty-handed. Photo: Analicia GracaNewly unveiled arcade games Despite the few changes, the Monster Girls are still

In a move you never expected, McDonald’s Japan and Street Fighter literally cross worlds with the ‘Street Burgers’ line-up dropping today (October 22), pulling familiar faces from Capcom’s universe into fast-food form. Ryu gets the burnt-garlic mayo egg teriyaki treatment, Chun-Li turns into a yurinchi-style chicken burger, and Ken plays the role he always has: excessive, triple-cheesed and golden. Each item lands in limited packaging that looks more like arcade signage than meal branding, while McFizz cups show Ryu and Ken mid-Hadoken. undefinedundefined It’s a collaboration that makes sense in the way Japan often does – nostalgia and convenience culture colliding in a perfectly designed impulse purchase. The tie-in extends beyond the counter too; players of Street Fighter 6 can unlock in-game bonuses connected to the campaign, making it one of those crossovers that bleeds through reality just enough to feel surreal. McDonald’s commercials have leaned into that, showing burgers exploding like special moves, filmed with the same confidence as a Capcom trailer. The collab runs nationwide starting October 22 2025, for a limited period. It’s easy to dismiss this kind of marketing as novelty, but Japan has turned novelty into an art form – knowing that a moment of play, no matter how commercial, still carries cultural weight.  The ‘Street Burgers’ collab is available at McDonald’s outlets nationwide. Check the website for full details. More

1990年代後半から2000年代初頭にかけて、矢沢あいの漫画は真の文化現象だった。彼女は、ファッションを「第二の言語」として操り、失恋が常に線路の向こう側で待ち構えているかのような独特の世界観を構築。『NANA』『Paradise Kiss』『ご近所物語』では、東京という都市のカフェも裏通りも一本のたばこまでもが、映画のワンシーンに見えるように切り取った。 そして、矢沢が描いたキャラクターたちは、「ヴィヴィアン」のタータンやイチゴ色のフリルに身を包み、喜びと絶望の間を漂いながら、孤独さえもスタイルとして昇華するかのように街を歩く。 紙面上では未完のまま止まっている物語もあるが、この街・東京では、その間も矢沢の世界の断片が息づいている。中には「聖地巡礼」として知られる場所もあれば、彼女の描く一コマがそのまま現実になったかのような場所もある。 『NANA』の熱心なファンであれ、あるいは矢沢の鋭い若者観やファッション感覚に引かれる者であれ、これら6つのスポットは、彼女の世界のフレームの中へと引き込んでくれるだろう。 多摩川沿いを「ホット・ガール・ウォーク」する Photo: Jasmina Mitrovic 多摩川には、一度の夕暮れの間にロマンチックにもメランコリックにも揺れ動く空気が漂い、マジックアワーの水面には郊外の静かな輪郭と、遠くに広がるスカイラインの両方が映り込む。 ここでは、自分自身が変化の途上にいる登場人物であるかのように感じられる。選択のはざまに立ち、昨夜の会話を頭の中で繰り返したり、ノートに歌詞の断片を描きつけたりする。ギターを手にしたカップルが歩き、ランナーとすれ違う。気付けばその光景全体が、まるで矢沢の漫画の一場面を現実に重ね合わせたかのように見えてくるに違いない。 「Jackson Hole」のバーガーに時間を忘れる Photo: Jasmina Mitrovic 『NANA』のファンにとって、「Jackson Hole」はハンバーガーショップではなく、むしろ巡礼地である。調布にあるこの居心地のよい店は、作品に組み込まれており、漫画の世界から現実へワープできる数少ない場所の一つだ。 ハンバーガーを注文し、ボックス席に腰を下ろせば、目の前のテーブル越しにハチや章司が座っている姿が目に浮かぶ。学校の課題について語り合ったり、複雑な恋模様を解きほぐしたりしているかもしれない。料理そのものは純粋なアメリカンだが、そこに漂う響く空気は間違いなく矢沢の世界そのものだろう。 下北沢でおそろいのコップを探す Photo: Jasmina Mitrovic 下北沢に点在する古着店やビンテージショップは、矢沢の漫画世界に思いをはせるためにあるかのように思える。「東京レトロa.m.a.store」では、ハチらしさがぎゅっと詰まったイチゴ模様のガラスのコップを手に入れたり、彼女がインテリアの仕事をしていた頃を思わせるスタイリッシュな家具の中を歩き回ったりできる。 この街のキッチュとストリートウエアの鋭さが混ざり合う空気感は、矢沢作品の登場人物たちを忘れがたくしているあの絶妙な緊張感そのものであり、どの店も新しいサブプロット（副次的な筋書き）が生まれそうな気配をまとっている。  「喫茶小雪」でゆったりとした時間を過ごす Photo: Jasmina Mitrovic 「喫茶小雪」は、まるで矢沢のヒロインのためにスケッチされ、生まれたかのようなカフェだ。昭和の趣に加え、繊細なイチゴケーキも楽しめ、懐かしさと2000年代のガーリーカルチャー

Hysteric Glamour isn’t new to flipping cultural icons, but this time they’re dragging the women of One Piece through their rock’n’roll-pin-up lens. Nami, Robin, Boa Hancock and Vivi show up across tees, denim and jackets, mashed with Hysteric’s usual Americana graphics and sleazy-retro attitude.
 Instead of cosplay-adjacent iconography, this collab feels more like bootleg streetwear you’d want to thrift and flex. It leans hard into what’s given Hysteric its name: loud prints and irreverent sex appeal. So you can wipe away worries of sifting through a back-alley rack in Shibuya next to vintage Marlboro jackets and fake Metallica tees. Photo: Hysteric Glamour x One Piece The line-up is lean but punchy: four graphic T-shirts, a mesh cap, an open-collar shirt, and a reversible sukajan bomber jacket with Nami embroidered on one side and all-over artwork on the other. Prices run from ¥15,400 for tees up to ¥132,000 for the sukajan – squarely in Hysteric’s usual range.
 Photo: Hysteric Glamour x One Piece The release drops October 4 at Hysteric Glamour flagships across Japan (Shibuya, Nagoya, Osaka, Sendai, Kyoto, Fukuoka) and the brand’s web store. If you missed the pre-order window on Zozovilla, this is your shot. More from Time Out TokyoFamilyMart has opened its own clothing store in TokyoThe world's first Dragon Ball Store is opening in Tokyo Station this NovemberMichelin Guide Tokyo reveals newly starred restaurants and more for 2026The Summer Hikaru Died is getting a stag

Navigating Tokyo’s nightlife scene can feel like stepping into a circus. One look around reveals endless options for revelry that can take you well on into the early morning – but the act of actually walking into a new space, especially one you’ve never set foot in before, can be daunting. So, to spare you another night posted up in front of your go-to convenience store, we’ve curated a list of events happening around the city this weekend that are guaranteed to be worth the effort. With Tokyo Fashion Week in full swing, this weekend’s line-up promises a wave of stylish people, move-inducing beats, and a whole lot of fun. Photo:Yagi Exhibition. x Kangol Presents: Rabbit Museum Yagi Exhibition x Kangol Presents: Rabbit Museum at Domicile Tokyo Sep 5-12Reiji Okamoto is a man of many musical titles, but above all, he's a connector of Tokyo’s underground – This time he's teaming up with renowned British brand Kangol for the fourth round of their cult collaboration. The Rabbit Beanie returns, updated with a few design changes, and a multitude of colours. Alongside the garment’s official release will be an exhibition of one-off custom versions created by 21 iconic local artists at Tokyo’s fashion and cultural syndicate, Domicile Tokyo. The exhibition launches Friday with an opening reception and will remain on view through September 12. The collab celebrations will spill over into Monday with a Rabbit Party being held at Shibuya’s Music Bar Lion. Expect live sets, seasoned DJs an