Love Tokyo Awards 2017: Best Shop shortlist

For those still grieving the loss of Omotesando Koffee, this place is sure to bring respite. Opened by the same man, Eiichi Kunitomo, and located in the exact same place (albeit in a new building), Koffee Mameya is a bean specialist. They source the beans from cult roasteries from around the world, and since the focus is on selling beans, there's no place to sit down and drink, but regular coffee and espresso can be ordered at the counter. 

Shibuya's famed Cat Street welcomes the first-ever flagship for Tokyo-based brand Ambush. The store houses the brand’s conceptual jewellery, its original apparel range, store exclusives and even books. Founded by design duo Verbal and Yoon, key influencers in the Japanese fashion/music scene, the brand is noted for its designs that capture the essence of Tokyo street, merged with traditional Japanese techniques and craftsmanship. 

Asakusa's premier antiques purveyor sure stands out on Rokku-dori: the retro sign spells out 'Mobo Moga Goyotashi', a play on the 1920s slang for 'modern boy' and 'modern girl'. Hotarudo houses a jumble of seemingly random merchandise – mainly from the Taisho period (1912-1926) – including clothing, lamps, kitchenware and even electronics. You're allowed to touch everything in the store, and all items on sale are in usable condition. Recycled semi-antiques include lamps that have been upgraded with LEDs and radios that can be used as iPhone speakers.

Walk down the cathedral-like shotengai (shopping arcade) in Nakano and you’ll reach the covered Broadway section. A popular haunt for Tokyo's otaku community, this five-floor complex contains numerous outlets of Mandarake, specialising in new and second-hand manga; branches of Fujiya Avic, the secondhand CD/DVD/anime store offering rarities and bootlegs; and a large number of shops selling collectable action figures. Most of the geek action is found on the second and third floors, though it's worth exploring the other corners of the building to see what you find.

Mitsukoshi is Japan's oldest surviving department store chain, dating back to 1673, and this vast edifice is its flagship store. If you need assistance in English, head to the 2nd floor of Mitsukoshi's Annex building and look for the Foreign Customer Service Counter. They provide interpretation and shopping assistance in English and Chinese; have a foreign exchange machine; and can offer advice on tax refunds, delivery of your purchases to certain hotels, free Wi-Fi spots and how to take advantage of discounts using a guest card.

The renewed Beams Japan flagship in Shinjuku now spreads out over a total of six floors. You'll find a dizzying collection of clothing, crafts and art, plus a gallery hosting an eclectic array of events and exhibitions, a rather serious yoshoku restaurant in the basement, and a branch of Ebisu's Sarutahiko Coffee on the ground floor.

A unique souvenir shop that captures the sensual spirit of Yoshiwara, Edo-Tokyo's legendary red-light district, Shin-Yoshiwara is run by designer Yayoi Okano. Inspired by the impact Yoshiwara, its residents and regulars have had on modern Japanese culture, she relocated her store right to where the brothel quarter used to stand. But Okano's traditional, sleek and sexy wares have earned her both a loyal local following and plenty of international attention. They're now available not only at her own shop, but also at Shinjuku's Beams Japan and even the souvenir stores at Haneda Airport. 

Fermentation has been all the rage recently in Tokyo, and this new shop, part of the Nakameguro Koukashita complex, plays right into the trend's hands by focusing on said time-honoured preservation technique. With a selection that includes soy sauce, miso, amazake, bread and much more, 85 deals in items for daily use that are both good for your health and the enviroment's. And for truly intense fermentation lovers, they offer a monthly plan: They'll store nuka (rice bran used for pickling) for you in a temperature-controlled room, where only you will be allowed to touch your box of bran (staff will turn your goods over from time to time for even preservation).

Tokyobike is the design embodiment of the Yanaka mindset. The concept is simple: comfort above speed, ideally put together for the local life. The minimalist brand has been such a success in its home city, in fact, that they now have outlets in London, New York, Berlin and Singapore. This outpost offers both same-day and overnight rentals but requires advance bookings. The reservation website is only in Japanese, but can be navigated even without advanced language ability – just scroll down to the 'reservation' button to secure your ride for as soon as the following day. As far as we're concerned, there's no better vehicular way to see the neighbourhood, which is also just a quick ride from Ueno's parks and museums. 

This massive eight-floor music treasure trove will surely have any music geek drooling over their stock of secondhand CDs and vinyl. The store received a makeover last year categorising each floor with a different music genre where you'll find the likes of punk and hardcore on the top seventh floor down to Japanese rock and indie music on the basement level. In-between you can sift through floors dedicated to Latin, reggae and world music to progressive rock and even record accessories. Each floor has its own charm, where each music genre is complemented with related memorabilia and vintage clothing.