Higan Tokyo

Koenji is infamous for vintage, but if you don’t know where to go, you risk getting hit with tourist gentrification – the kind where you end up in a ‘manufactured vintage’ shop selling the same Hawaiian shirt and Harvard sweater, straight out of some factory loop. And even if you dodge that, you might still walk out with something you could’ve grabbed at a Salvation Army back home for half the price. A good Koenji shopping day takes a little searching, or being in the know – so let us put you on.

Higan sits right on Koenji’s main shopping street, but it’ll take you down a fashion rabbit hole to Wonderland… except it’s up, because the store is on the second floor. It’s one of the most fun racks in the city. The vintage selection is wild, the new-brand picks are chosen impeccably, and the staff are dressed like they should be on stage – in a ‘why do you look like a rock legend on a Tuesday afternoon?’ way.

They carry Japanese brands like Melem, Doublet, Facetasm, Kidill and Fumito Ganryu alongside their vintage, and they take fashion-as-whimsy seriously. Even the interior plays into it: there’s a fur room where the walls are lined with different pelts from ceiling to floor, like you’ve stepped into the mind of the stylish Mad Hatter.

Higan is Koenji taste with main character styling. The selection is genuinely good, they really don’t sell one questionable item. This is fashion as play, pushed right to the edge without slipping too much into costume. It’s normal to see something ridiculous in the best way, like loafers with bear claws attached, styled with a three-piece suit and a studded hat… and somehow, it works.