A while back I was wondering what outdoor gear / camping equipment stores were like in Tokyo and where to find them. My interest stemmed from watching outdoors anime like Yuru Camp and Encouragement of Climb, but there is also a yama girl (mountain girl) trend in Japan where women go hiking in fashionable outdoors clothes and equipment. In general, hikers in Japan seem to have more gear than I would have back home here for day hiking. Go light, wear layers, bring water and food, have good boots, a hat, sunscreen, and off I go. On a side-note, it is pretty funny that I was watching the second season of the high-score girl anime on Netflix and the protagonist and the two girls in his love triangle take the train home from Shibuya to Futako-Tamagawa at the beginning of episode 19 - who knew it would become an outdoors gear hub?
It seems like there are plenty of gear stores in Tokyo, many of them smaller shops, with larger shops or clusters of shops located farther out in the suburbs rather than central Tokyo. Having said that, there are many department stores with extensive sporting / outdoor goods sections. There are many good Japanese brands like Montbell and Snowpeak, and many others that I'm not really all that familiar with.
A few of the stores in the central Tokyo area are:
Tokyu Hands, particularly the Shibuya location, also seems to have both outdoors gear and emergency supplies. Montbell Shibuya Store. Snow Peak in Omotesando is relatively near Shibuya. They get an an interesting mention as they offer outdoor adventure kimonos. L-Breath Shinjuku. This location is a a 10 floor store of outdoors gear with an extensive selection of hiking / camping equipment. It is near Shinjuku Station's southeast exit. Even larger than L-Breath Shinjuku is Odakyu HALC which is also near Shinjuku Station's west exit. However, this is a general sporting goods store too, so it isn't all for the great outdoors. There are many stores for these brands in the various districts, so Google to see if a smaller store is near you. Further out in the suburbs are some collections of outdoors stores.
Futako-Tamagawa or Nikotama
This area is located in the Setagaya district of Tokyo and can be reached from Shibuya Station by taking the Den-en-toshi Line for 20 minutes to Futako-Tamagawa station. A large cluster of outdoor outfitters are here near the train station.
Some of the stores are:
Mammut Store The North Face Standard Patagonia Tokyo Peak Performance by UPLND Kojitsu Sanso Tamagawa Garden Island Store Mont-bell. One of their large 2 story stores. OSHMAN’S Snow Peak
Akishima Moripark Outdoor Village
This is a big cluster of outdoor outfitters, but it is a much longer trip from central Tokyo. It'll take you 43 minutes on a Chuo Line train to arrive at Akishima from Shinjuku Station. There are fourteen stores and three restaurants in the outdoor mall here. https://outdoorvillage.tokyo/
Some of the stores are:
A & F COUNTRY Caravan Coleman Columbia Mont-bell Snow Peak North Face
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