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Tokyo Street Style
Tokyo is home to a creative and daring street-style scene, rich with subcultures and shaped by constant motion. In Tokyo Street Style , fashion writer Yoko Yagi explores influential trends, covering an eclectic range of styles from kawaii cute to genderless looks, while designers, editors, models, stylists, and other important personalities in the Tokyo fashion scene share their individual approaches to style in interviews. Moving from a glimpse of the outrageous fashion found on the streets of Harajuku to everyday-chic work and weekend attire, this comprehensive guide offers a lively overview of an extraordinary urban culture with a rich collection of inspirational photographs and practical guidance for cultivating Tokyo style, no matter where you live. Concluding with a curated selection of the best boutiques and vintage stores, along with some of the most fashionable places to eat and drink, Tokyo Street Style is a colorful lookbook and travel guide filled with insight from Japan’s most fascinating tastemakers.
240 pages, Paperback
First published April 3, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
January 17, 2019
Not bad for people who don't know much about street fashion in Tokyo like me. They give a quick background to the 'big' names in the Tokyo street style scene aside from the basics of where the bigger trends started, but I'm not really sure whether this book is a tour guide or maybe more of a mook? Let's settle for mook. If you know your Tokyo street fashion brands and select stores you might give this book a miss, but they did include a list of places and shops to go to--some of which are hard to find and hidden in apartments.
The photos by Tohru Yuasa are very pretty, but there was a lot more text than I expected when I bought this book. 😂
IF you're looking for a more hands on type of fashion (as with the street fashion subculture and hand made items), definitely give this a pass. They focus increasingly more on the 'select' aspect of fashion and high fashion items especially towards the end where they started talking about concept shops.
Interesting read all in all, especially since it gives us a basic view of street fashion mentality and how Japan sees fashion (interesting bits about genderless fashion also) but in my opinion they veer very close to the type of middle to upper middle class consumers that like to be told what to wear and what to buy. Especially with regards to concept shops. Maybe that was the wrong framing (like 'this is where you go if you want everything from your clothes to your tableware curated by someone else' vs 'this is a place to go if you share this person's vision' but honestly? I'd take select shops over concept stores any day.
Kinda got 'person with a cause' towards the end, but eh it wasn't all that bad. So still 3 stars.
The photos by Tohru Yuasa are very pretty, but there was a lot more text than I expected when I bought this book. 😂
IF you're looking for a more hands on type of fashion (as with the street fashion subculture and hand made items), definitely give this a pass. They focus increasingly more on the 'select' aspect of fashion and high fashion items especially towards the end where they started talking about concept shops.
Interesting read all in all, especially since it gives us a basic view of street fashion mentality and how Japan sees fashion (interesting bits about genderless fashion also) but in my opinion they veer very close to the type of middle to upper middle class consumers that like to be told what to wear and what to buy. Especially with regards to concept shops. Maybe that was the wrong framing (like 'this is where you go if you want everything from your clothes to your tableware curated by someone else' vs 'this is a place to go if you share this person's vision' but honestly? I'd take select shops over concept stores any day.
Kinda got 'person with a cause' towards the end, but eh it wasn't all that bad. So still 3 stars.
August 30, 2025
I liked the format of this book. It starts by establishing some historical context before identifying some of the major figures and businesses who shape Tokyo street fashion. The sections are separated by mini interviews, which I thought were a nice way to break up the information and make it more visually dynamic.
I had expected more photos, but I respect that I his book is essentially saying, “You have the internet for that, which will be more up to date on trends. We’re going to instead give you the context that isn’t always in the caption of a TikTok or Pinterest photo.” And it’s information rich. I often had to pause reading your jot down something I wanted to look up in more detail later. For someone like me who’s visiting Tokyo soon, this was a helpful neighborhood guide. For someone who isn’t planning to travel and just wants a peek into the fashion scene, this might be a little less rewarding.
Sometimes I felt like an individual wasn’t saying enough of substance about their clothes and style, but the overall argument was effective enough: a person’s style is not shaped just by the clothes they select but by their entire lifestyle. Therefore, good style is found not just by focusing on clothes but by developing yourself as a complete person. Accordingly, the famous boutiques that anchor the a Tokyo scene often offer more than just clothes and can be seen as selling a narrative or overall aesthetic. There is also a strong focus on quality in a way that isn’t true for the average American shopper—but these are also more high end brands, so it’s hard to say how widespread that is.
I definitely feel excited to spend a bunch of money in Japan!
I had expected more photos, but I respect that I his book is essentially saying, “You have the internet for that, which will be more up to date on trends. We’re going to instead give you the context that isn’t always in the caption of a TikTok or Pinterest photo.” And it’s information rich. I often had to pause reading your jot down something I wanted to look up in more detail later. For someone like me who’s visiting Tokyo soon, this was a helpful neighborhood guide. For someone who isn’t planning to travel and just wants a peek into the fashion scene, this might be a little less rewarding.
Sometimes I felt like an individual wasn’t saying enough of substance about their clothes and style, but the overall argument was effective enough: a person’s style is not shaped just by the clothes they select but by their entire lifestyle. Therefore, good style is found not just by focusing on clothes but by developing yourself as a complete person. Accordingly, the famous boutiques that anchor the a Tokyo scene often offer more than just clothes and can be seen as selling a narrative or overall aesthetic. There is also a strong focus on quality in a way that isn’t true for the average American shopper—but these are also more high end brands, so it’s hard to say how widespread that is.
I definitely feel excited to spend a bunch of money in Japan!
April 30, 2021
I couldn't get on with this writing style at all hence the low score, and the lack of photos was pretty jarring; the photography style was pretty, but just not enough.
Further, Tokyo fashion is far wider reaching than what this book suggests, and with so many different sub-cultures, this book does not cover them all.
However, I did like that interviews were included, but this was very broad overall.
For me, this was a very high level skim read on fashion in Tokyo.
Further, Tokyo fashion is far wider reaching than what this book suggests, and with so many different sub-cultures, this book does not cover them all.
However, I did like that interviews were included, but this was very broad overall.
For me, this was a very high level skim read on fashion in Tokyo.
July 5, 2021
I enjoyed the many photos in this book along with an overview of modern street fashion in Tokyo and beyond. This book is an excellent excuse to look away from screens and social media, while taking time to enjoy the imagery and fashion.
May 9, 2022
Excellent comprehensive book. I love the portraits and the detail. Beautiful, vibrant photos. Honestly, I perused the book, but I love the format so it was easy to find my topic of interest and read up!
June 17, 2022
Great book to use as an index and wonderful just read if you like fashion! I recommend buying it rather than borrowing it since you probably want it home at all times, especially if you’re visiting Japan since there are plenty of recommendations and navigation systems in the book!
June 7, 2023
I enjoyed reading about the Japanese fashion culture and how so many things inspire clothing as well as staying true to who you are and the style you like. I would love to be able to visit some of these places one day. A lot of fun to learn about.
January 15, 2019
The writing isn't that great, but the wealth of information about Tokyo's street style and shopping is!
May 1, 2019
The prose was a bit silly but my god the style!
June 24, 2019
All sponsored content?
September 12, 2020
Interviews and overall writing were pretty simple, but definitely a great reference for photo inspiration and Tokyo’s brands, stores, and creatives 🌸
April 2, 2022
This was a little too mainstream and not enough subculture for me - "street" is a stretch - but it has gorgeous people wearing gorgeous clothes in Tokyo; of course I love it.
November 26, 2024
Interesting read into Tokyo’s fashion scene and history. First half of the book was more enagjng than the latter half.
May 28, 2019
A very beautiful and interesting, if simplistic, read.
The books is mostly based on interviews with store and label owners as well as other influencers in the fashion industry in Japan and the world (bloggers, photographers, magazine editors, etc.). Due to this, the book feels very subjective both in the writer's voice and the structure of the book itself, with specific people describing trends and fashion history the way they personally experienced them.
While there are lengthy descriptions of these people and brands' style, the actual trends and their history are described in very broad strokes, and other aspects of the fashion industry as a whole and of the discussed trends (like politics, social issues, environmental issues, an so on) are mostly (though not entirely) ignored. Intermediate articles that are spread throughout the book, like Hiroshi Ashida's (A lecturer on the subject) "Is Tokyo Street Fashion 'Fake'"?, emphasize this issue further, showing what the book could have been with a little more objectivity and maybe a bit of an "academic flare".
I'll add in their defense, that while the book is very much subjective, it does not shy away from showing contradicting opinions, but it doesn't bother to delve into this potentially interesting subject either.
The books is mostly based on interviews with store and label owners as well as other influencers in the fashion industry in Japan and the world (bloggers, photographers, magazine editors, etc.). Due to this, the book feels very subjective both in the writer's voice and the structure of the book itself, with specific people describing trends and fashion history the way they personally experienced them.
While there are lengthy descriptions of these people and brands' style, the actual trends and their history are described in very broad strokes, and other aspects of the fashion industry as a whole and of the discussed trends (like politics, social issues, environmental issues, an so on) are mostly (though not entirely) ignored. Intermediate articles that are spread throughout the book, like Hiroshi Ashida's (A lecturer on the subject) "Is Tokyo Street Fashion 'Fake'"?, emphasize this issue further, showing what the book could have been with a little more objectivity and maybe a bit of an "academic flare".
I'll add in their defense, that while the book is very much subjective, it does not shy away from showing contradicting opinions, but it doesn't bother to delve into this potentially interesting subject either.
July 4, 2022
Enjoyable enough read, but not in-depth, more broad-strokes introduction? Would have liked a LOT more on the different street styles & subcultures that have originated in Japan over the last couple of decades, and how they’ve evolved. E.g. Mori Kei, Dolly Kei, Dark Mori, Lolita etc. Maybe should have been a trilogy/quartet, not a one-off…..
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews