Japan Shopping: Discover what's in store

From the bullet train to the heated loo seat via the subway chin rest, the butter stick (roll it over your toast) and the "Daddy Nurser" (don't ask), the Japanese have always had a great eye for design, a skill that continues today. And, with the strength of the pound against the yen, there's never been a better time to pack your credit card and set off on a trip around the creative side of Japanese culture.

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Japanese brands such as Issey Miyake, Junya Watanabe, Shu Uemura, Shiseido and Evisu have been making steady inroads into the hearts of savvy British shoppers over the past few years. If you want to return from Japan with souvenirs you're not likely to find at home, however, here's where to head.

Start by tracking down the limited-edition, kimono fabric Onitsuka Tiger trainers at the new Onitsuka Tiger flagship store in Kyoto, designed by local architectural whiz-kid Tadao Ando (Times Building, 92 Nakajima-cho, Sanjo-dori Kawaramachi, Higashi-iru, Nakagyo-ku, Kyoto; 00 81 75 211 8881;www.onitsukatiger.com).

For make-up, try cult local favourite, Yojiya. Its gorgeously packaged cosmetics and brushes are almost too pretty to use but there's substance beneath the style; though Western shoppers are only just getting in on the act the company has been in business since 1904. You'll find Yojiya concessions in department stores throughout Japan, but dedicated fans tend to head to one of the branches in Kyoto, where the company is based. The Sanjo store is especially popular because of its groovy café (Sanjo TC Building 1st Floor, Sanjo Fuyacho, Nakagyo-ku, Kyoto; 00 81 75 221 4501; www.yojiya.co.jp).

If that gives you a taste for shopping with a sense of history, look out for 60 Vision, a new brand conceived by D&Department (www.60vision.com). The company has fulfilled its mission to relaunch classic Japanese designs from the Sixties by getting in touch with their original makers and persuading them to continue production. You'll find 60 Vision products in several of the big Tokyo stores but especially at the D&Department shops in Tokyo (8-3-2 Okuzawa, Seatagaya-ku; 00 81 3 5752 0120; www.d-department.jp) and Osaka (2-9-14 Minami Horie, Nishi; 00 81 6 4391 2090).

WHERE TO BUY

The grande dame of Japan's shopping scene, Tokyu Hands is the country's answer to John Lewis - only a lot, lot cooler. This home-centred department store now has branches throughout Japan but the oldest and, according to local shopping aficionados, the best is Tokyo's Shibuya branch. You'll find everything from bikes and luggage to painting supplies and power drills (12-18 Udagawa-cho; 00 81 3 5489 5111; www.tokyu-hands.co.jp).

Also in Shibuya (along with four more stores in Tokyo, two in Yokohama and one in Fukuoka) is the cult ranKing-ranQueen store (2-24-1 Shibuya; 00 81 3 3770 5480). Its stock is based on weekly sales data from the big Tokyo department stores. It sells only the top three, five or 10 most popular items in a huge range of categories - from toothpicks and pasta sauces to mobile phones and tea.

Following the crowd, not your cuppa? Then head to Plus Minus Zero, a super-stylish store in Tokyo's Aoyama district that homes in on the quirkier side of the designer lifestyle. Think humidifiers shaped like donuts (Holon-r 3-12-12, Aoyama, Minato-ku, Tokyo; 00 81 3 5778 5380; www.plusminuszero.jp).

Proving that there's more to Japanese stationery than Muji's mini pencil sets, Delfonics' range of smart but brightly coloured office essentials would be right at home in any style guru's satchel (Omotesando Hills, Tokyo; 00 81 3 5410 0590; www.delfonics.com).

Then there's fashion. One of the biggest recent arrivals in Tokyo has been Bape Kids, A Bathing Ape's children's store (3-29-11 Jingumae, Shibuya; 00 81 3 5770 4455).

Finally, creating almost as much buzz as Gucci's new Ginza store (4-4-10 Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo; 00 81 3 3562 8111; www.gucci.com), is the Tom Dixon-designed Tokyo Hipsters Club: a three-tiered slice of heaven for culturally-minded fashionistas, with a gallery, book store and rooftop cafe as well as menswear and womenswear (6-16 Jingumae, Shibuya, Tokyo; 00 81 3 5778 2083; www.tokyohipstersclub.com).

BEST IN SHOWROOMS

Shopping in Japan wouldn't be the same without showrooms. But we're not talking a few shiny cars on display or rows of leather sofas (though that kind of showroom exists, too, of course) but places so mind-blowingly entertaining that they're well worth a day out in their own right. If you're in the mood to buy, the "ordinary" electronics showrooms in the big cities are like catnip for gadget-lovers.

If you're in the mood just for browsing, head to the Panasonic Center in Tokyo. Visitors are invited to share Panasonic's visions of the "ubiquitous network society" and "peaceful coexistence with the environment". The former is covered by displays of everything from fridges that blast vitamins onto their contents to futuristic TVs and motion-sensitive street lights. The latter highlights the latest developments in energy-saving technology and eco-building techniques (2-5-18 Ariake, Koto-ku, Tokyo; 00 81 3 3599 2600; www.panasonic.co.jp).

If you're more of a rev-head than a computer geek, make for Mega Web, a kind of car theme park. Displays here offer the low-down on Toyota's history, hybrid and racing cars, test drives of new models, racing simulators and even occasional motorsports and music events (Mega Web, Aomi 1-chome, Koto-ku, Tokyo; 00 81 3 3599 0808; www.megaweb.gr.jp).

THE ART OF SHOPPING

It isn't just Japan's shops that offer a flavour of the country's contemporary aesthetic tastes. To get a more artistic take on Japanese design, two of the best galleries in the country are the Mori Art Museum in Tokyo (Mori Tower, Roppongi Hills; 00 81 3 5777 8600; www.mori.art.museum) and the National Museum of Modern Art in Osaka (4-2-55 Nakanoshima, Kita-ku; 00 81 6 6447 4680; www.nmao.go.jp).

Further afield, the 10-year-old Miho Museum (300 Momodani, Shigaraki, Shiga; 00 81 748 82 3411; www.miho.or.jp) is in Shigaraki, outside Kyoto. Designed by architect I M Pei, the museum is housed in an underground structure illuminated by natural light filtering in through a glass roof. It takes its name from Mihoko Koyama, a textiles heiress and founder of the Shinji Shumeikai spiritual movement, which believes that wellbeing is achieved through an appreciation of art and beauty. Admission is ¥1,000 (£4.30).

The Benesse Art Site, a hotel and museum collection on Naoshima Island (Naoshima-cho, Kagawa-gun, Kagawa; 00 81 87 892 2030; www.naoshima-is.co.jp), runs along a similar concept. Designed by Tadao Ando, it focuses on the coexistence of nature, architecture and art. An ongoing project, it covers museums and galleries, a project where artists have transformed old houses into artworks and accommodation featuring work by Keith Haring, Richard Long, Andy Warhol, Jackson Pollock and Michael Basquiat. Double rooms start from around ¥31,200 (£133) excluding breakfast.

Finally, look out for the new National Art Center in Tokyo. With 14,000 square metres of exhibition space (7-22-2 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo; 00 81 3 6812 9900; www.nact.jp).

REINVENTING THE RYOKAN

If you're looking for accommodation as neatly designed as your shopping, look no further than the ryokan, or traditional Japanese guesthouse. Many are now being given the boutique hotel treatment. One of the most recent to undergo this transformation is Gora Tensui in Hakone (1320-276 Gora Hakone-machi, Ashigarashimo-gun, Kanagawa-ken; 00 81 460 6 1411; www.gora-tensui.com). Though the rooms have a Japanese style, they also come with walk-in showers and luxury beds; prices start at Y34,000 (£145) double, including breakfast.

Kyoto's most prestigious ryokan, Hiiragiya, has followed suit with a new modern extension (Nakahakusancho, Fuyacho Anekoji-agaru, Nakagyo-ku, Kyoto; 00 81 75 221 1136; www.hiiragiya.co.jp).

Those on a budget can enjoy the revitalised ryokan experience at the architect-designed Andon Ryokan, in Tokyo (2-34-10 Nihonzutsumi Taito; 00 81 3 3873 8611; www.andon.co.jp). Doubles at the latter start at Y8,190 (£35), including breakfast.

For other modern-style ryokans, see www.ryokan.or.jp or www.ryokancollection.com.

It's not just the ryokan that's getting in on the ancient-meets-modern act. In Kyoto, the machiya are also getting a contemporary makeover. These centuries-old wooden townhouses are found throughout Japan.

The long-but-narrow design of these buildings, often hiding small courtyard gardens, won them the nickname unagi no nedoko, or eels' beds.

For a run-down on the real thing, head to Nishijin Tondaya, a machiya lifestyle museum that runs tours and tea ceremonies from Y7,350 (£31) per person (Ichijo-agaru, Omiya, Kamigyo-ku, Kyoto; 00 81 75 432 6701; www.tondaya.co.jp).

Now, though, many machiya are being restored and turned into cool cafes, restaurants and shops. One of the best is Sweep, a funky bar and restaurant housed within a lovely old machiya (600-8423, 232 Kugikakushi-cho, Bukkoji Nishi Iru, Karasuma, Shimogyo-ku, Kyoto; 00 81 75 344 3838). Dinner will set you back around Y3,300 (£14) per head.

Local company, Iori, rents out six refurbished machiya from Y25,000 (£106) per night for two people (00 81 75 352 0211; www.kyoto-machiya.com).

21ST-CENTURY KARAOKE

IT IS 1am in a small town outside Kyoto. We are sitting in a small, dark room with green plastic seats, a giant TV screen and two pitch-perfect Japanese companions belting out the latest pop hit.

Popular among socialising businessmen and giggling schoolgirls, the invention of karaoke has become the major success story of modern Japan.

According to local legend, the activity was invented in a bar in Kobe in 1971 when the owner made a series of musical tapes for vocalists to sing along to when live musicians were unavailable.

It was fittingly christened karaoke - a hybrid mix of the words "kara" for "empty" and "oke" for "orchestra" - and went on to take the country by storm.

Today, no self-respecting Japanese town, however small, does not have a karaoke box on its streets, normally alongside a pachinko parlour and a ramen noodle bar.

More than 100,000 karaoke boxes are open to the public, while last year, 47 million Japanese visited a karaoke outlet, according to the All-Japan Karaoke Industrialist Association.

But there are signs that its popularity is slowly dwindling, having failed to sustain the dizzy heights of 1994 when 58.9 million Japanese took part in karaoke.

Perhaps in a bid to lure a new generation of customers, 21st century karaoke is slicker, faster and more hi-tech.

There are karaoke mobile phone programmes, online karaoke clubs and cars that come fitted with karaoke machines.

There is even the karaoke diet - software that tells singers how many calories they have burnt with every song performed.

One word of warning for those keen to step up to the mike: the Japanese tend to be remarkably good at singing in tune and keeping up with the words.

By Danielle Demetriou

SAKE: TRADITION AND PURITY

Sake, like the rice from which it is made, sits at the very heart of Japanese culture. It's an essential part of religious ritual and celebration, offered to the gods at New Year, used to seal a contract, consecrate a new building and even conclude the marriage union. It's also a very pure drink; the most important ingredient is water.

In fact, sake is not rice "wine" as it's brewed. Yet it's not beer either. Saccharisation, using koji aspergillus mould to convert starch to sugar, and fermentation, using sake yeast, occur simultaneously.

First, though, the rice is stripped of germ and bran. In premium sakes it is highly milled, leaving only the starchy centre of the grain. This results in a refined and delicate taste. Dai ginjo is made with rice where as little as 35 per cent of the grain is left. Honjozo has as much as 70 per cent left, whilst in between there is ginjo (60 per cent).

If a sake is also labelled junmai it has no added alcohol. Sake is not usually aged - it's ready for drinking after bottling, and should be kept away from light. Once opened, consume (preferably chilled or at room temperature) within a week or so.

With its low acidity and an alcohol content similar to sherry (around 17 per cent), Japan's national beverage is cropping up on fashionable bar menus all over the UK. "Sake is a very versatile drink. It makes a great aperitif, dinner accompaniment or dessert wine," says Sayaka Watanabe, sommelier at Zuma (020-7584 1010; www.zumarestaurant.com) in Knightsbridge, London.

In Tokyo, you can learn about premium sake by drinking small amounts at Fukumitsuya's sake boutique in Ginza (5-5-8 Ginza, Chuo ku, Tokyo; 00 81 03 3569 2291), where you can taste several ginjos and dai ginjos alongside tiny portions of food in tasting sets. It closes early at 9.30pm, giving you the chance to then try out what you've learned at an izakaya - a traditional and informal drinking place. One late night option is Donjaka (Fujido Building, 3-6-12 Shinjuku Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo; 00 81 03 3357 809), a working man's bar with hundreds of regional sakes, lined up on the shelves in typical 1.8 litre bottles.

By Shirley Booth

The writer is forming The British Sake Association, a club for sake-lovers. E-mail bsa@shirleybooth.co.uk