Gyaru, flip phones and pastel palettes: 5 essential ‘Heisei retro’ spots in Tokyo

A time machine tucked away into the backstreets of Shibuya, Retopo is Japan’s first Heisei-themed ‘Y2K culture experience’ café. Designed to look like a girl’s room circa 2002, the interior is replete with magazines, shojo manga tomes and nostalgic mascots. For Gen Z, it’s a treasure trove of fresh and cute collectibles.

Upon entering, you’ll receive a letter addressed to yourself, containing a fortune for the day. Grab a seat, order a colourful drink and dessert, and while away the hours perusing essential Heisei mags like Ciao, Seventeen and Egg. You can also leave a message in the guestbook, snap shots with the digital cameras and flip phones provided, and listen to music on an iPod or Walkman while soaking in the charmingly analogue atmosphere. Photos taken with the café’s devices can be transferred to your own phone.

Don’t miss out on the basement, where you’ll find a photo spot lined with Heisei items – think stuffed animals, Tamagotchis and familiar characters from games like Animal Crossing and Tomodachi Collection. Perusing the paraphernalia here feels a little like coming across an old photo album while cleaning house – time just seems to fly by.

From occasionally freezing tech to elaborately annotated profile books, you get to wallow in the undeniably inconvenient yet heartwarming styles of Heisei communication. It’s a chance to reflect on who you are today while reminiscing about the days when you couldn’t wait to grow up.

The cover charge – around ¥2,000, with a slight surcharge on weekends – includes one drink, and you can order additional desserts like waffles and pudding. Note that there’s an 80-minute time limit during busy periods.

A spot dedicated to Heisei ‘deco’ culture, Y!Y! Hands in Shinjuku stocks hundreds of types of beads and decorative supplies, and offers workshops where you can create one-of-a-kind custom accessories such as smartphone cases, keychains, pens and combs. With colourful interiors inspired by girls’ rooms and candy shops, it’s also a delightful place to take photos.

First-timers will want to opt for the Y!Y! 3-Piece Set, which lets you decorate a phone case, a keychain and a plushie – either a cat, bear or rabbit. Your first mission is to sew the plushie, but don’t worry: the helpful staff will guide you through the process, so even complete beginners can finish the project.

Once you’ve sewn the plushie and stuffed it with cotton, it’s time to choose your decorations. Faced with countless options, listen to your inner voice – go for what you truly love. The selection leans heavily towards ribbons, lace and embellishments, echoing the ‘Princess Gyaru’ culture pioneered by brands like Liz Lisa and Ma*Rs around 2007–2012.

The workshop lasts about 90 minutes. Since you’re using tweezers to handle all sorts of small parts, it’s not exactly a walk in the park. But the time you spend focusing on the task ends up being surprisingly calming, and a welcome break from ultra-optimised everyday life.

Note that the workshops are by reservation only, and phone cases are available for models starting with the iPhone 13.

Its pink storefront catching the eye a few minutes’ walk south of Koenji Station, Togenkyo specialises in handmade and upcycled items. Built around the concept of ‘a world like no other’, it’s driven by the owner’s passion for the Heisei era and features a selection of exquisitely crafted accessories and small knick-knacks created in collaboration with a crew of nail artists. The owner even makes some of the items from scratch using basic jewellery components.

Popular choices include seal-shaped rings and gyoza-themed bracelets – pieces that attract a diverse clientele ranging from nostalgia-trippers to students on school trips. Browsing the shelves is apt to fill you with a sense of longing for bygone times, evoking the atmosphere of a souvenir store at a highway rest stop or the gift shop of a worn countryside aquarium.

On the second floor you’ll find a nail salon and a workshop area, allowing for further customisation of Togenkyo’s quirky wares. A far cry from the mass-produced modern aesthetic, the shop speaks to a desire for uniqueness and authenticity. ‘I hope my shop can leave a lasting impression on people,’ says the owner, ‘somewhat like a retro seaside souvenir shop or the early Village Vanguard stores.’

A supremely retro shopping street that started as a black market in the early postwar years, the Nogata Bunka Market feels like the perfect home for vintage clothing store Tsuribashi Pyun. Dealing in quirky apparel and miscellanea handpicked by owner Satoru Higuchi, the shop boasts an extensive selection of T-shirts from the ’90s, with a particularly impressive line-up of rare band tees. The background music is always on point, too.

Besides the music paraphernalia, you’ll find a mind-boggling variety of kitschy and edgy items – think novelty T-shirts featuring bishojo games and anime – as well as merch from celebrities who ruled the ’80s.

Higuchi sources his stock personally in Southeast Asia. He speculates that in the 1990s, when otaku culture still languished outside the mainstream, items featuring minor celebrities and anime characters that had been gathering dust in Japanese closets may have found their way to Southeast Asian countries in the form of development aid.

The rise of Heisei nostalgia has certainly played into Higuchi’s hands: many Gen Z shoppers now seek out Tsuribashi for its wealth of items that come with a unique, and often meandering, story.

Occupying the first floor and basement of an office building near Jimbocho, the Extinct Media Museum houses a permanent collection of approximately 1,500 items. Built on the idea that all media except paper and stone are eventually rendered obsolete, the museum displays a wide range of devices and media that defined bygone eras, from typewriters and floppy disks to vintage cameras, old cellphones, PDAs, early Macintosh laptops and Walkmans.

The exhibits are arranged roughly by era. Space is limited and the displays are densely packed, but that only adds to the excitement of stumbling upon oddities and forgotten relics. Labels can be small, so it’s worth taking your time to look closely.

What makes it unique isn’t just the breadth of the displays, or that most of the items are donations, but the invitation to touch, hold and explore. Visitors are encouraged to pick up the devices and feel the evolution of technology first hand. Highlights include rarities like the Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh and Apple’s QuickTake 200 digital camera. For tech enthusiasts, film buffs or anyone curious about the history of communication, this museum is a hidden gem worth seeking out.