Gear shops in Japan

Montbell!

Yes hit up Montbell! There is a good one in Nara for example that you won’t miss, just before the walk in to the Golden Buddha.

Not sure if its still there in its original form (which was incredible) but OD Box in Tokyo.

Uniqlo in Japan is pretty good. Worth checking out for options for thermals, very light summer weight t shirts, also light and cheap down gear.

Hyaku Yen stores. “dollar store” they are everywhere. A common one is “Daiso”. Worth checking out. Lots of containers and all sorts of potentially useful things. Eg cheap light gloves, buff knock offs, etc.

Japan retail market is quite seasonal particularly at the chain stores.

See if you can find Finetrack stuff in store. Its very Japan specific. Particularly the mesh type base layers are incredible. I had my hands on the stuff in OD Box back in 2014. They probably still have it there.

https://www.finetrack.com/products/

Have fun!!! Go Hiking! Don’t forget your Onjiri ;-)

@Graham – definitely going to hit Montbell in Ginza.

@Adam – Uniqlo is a good thought. I’ve looked at Finetrack products before but never pulled the trigger. Will do if I can find any this time around. ODBOX turned into Art Sports. I don’t think the Ueno location has much UL selection but the Shinjuku shop had a good selection of gear and clothing when I was there a couple of years ago.

Onigiri is good but I love fresh soba noodles since they are hard to find in Seattle. Found a little shop run by a husband and wife in Nara today. He ground the buckwheat by hand for the noodles. Might have to hit that place again this week!

I found a Snow Peak store in Tokyo – yea their stuff is expensive and available in the US (probably at a slightly lower price), but I was happy with my 300 ml double wall mug as a souvenir.  Their designers are top notch, and some of their items are works of art.

Knife shops in the Fish Market.  It’s the only thing open early in the morning, when I’m awake with jet lag, and you can get knives of all sizes and shapes.  I also found whetstones to be reasonably priced.  It’s cool to watch them sharpen one of the big tuna knives on the huge sharpening wheels.

I would check out the Tenkara gear next time I’m in town.  Montbell sounds great.  I don’t have access to their stuff in a shop the way folks do in Boulder or Portland.  I don’t have a trip planned, but I’m overdue.  Sometimes if I’m visiting China or Taiwan, and can take a flight to Haneda airport the day before I fly home from Narita.  That gives me all of the morning and an hour or two early afternoon before I have to head to the airport for my flight to the US.

@Bob – I might have to visit one of the Snow Peak shops. I used a 600 mug to boil and rehydrate for years. We talked about visiting the fish market this trip. That is if we feel like getting up that early :)

If you get the chance, check out Sunsui for tenkara gear. I bought a nice rod on my last visit.

I’m headed back to Japan next month (Kansai and Tokyo) and wanted to know if any new gear shops have popped up in the last two years.

I can only speak to Tokyo.

The largest concentration of sporting goods shops is centered around Jimbocho Station. Recommend L-Breathe, ICI-Mt Ishii Sports, and Sakaiya Sports’ specialty locations.

Moonlight Gear has a small UL cottage gear shop at nearby Kanda Station. Blog post says they hope to open a 2nd shop in Osaka too this Spring but no further details.

Patagonia also has several stores all over Japan.

Meiji Dori road between Harajuku and Shibuya is a wonderful area for browsing brand outlets from TNF (many Japan Only products), Arcteryx, Haglofs, Mountain Hardwear, Gregory, and Millet while 1 block over is the popular Cat Street has Columbia, Mystery Ranch, and many others.

The area around Shinjuku station also has a large concentration of stores including Mammut and Eddie Bauer plus outlets of all of the stores mentioned in this thread.

Other Tokyo area stores of note are Kojitsu Sanso and Kamoshika Sports.

Thanks Rick! Looks like a good selection to check out.