A while back I posted about my visit to Koenji, where I dropped by the Kitakore Building as well as Nude n’ Rude.

Well, for the first time by myself I strolled around just enjoying the atmosphere (back in ’09 and ’10 I’d been led around by friends: see pics from my day out in Nakano & Koenji) .

It’s a funky little town with lots of cobbled streets in which to lose yourself, many pedestrian-only, so you don’t need to dodge traffic.  My japanese friends told me it has been home to punks for many years, and there is a plethora of vintage stores to rival Harajuku, so leave a few hours to dawdle and explore.  There is also a covered mall area near the railway station with a load of groovy stores, such as these:

Tatouage

This is an upmarket vintage fashion store, part of the Zool chain – see the Zool shoplist here for a complete rundown of what is becoming a massive empire – this store is called Tatouage by Zool (Purple).  A lot of late 60’s and 70’s stuff is here, along with more modern styles, and helpfully arranged in colour coded sections. Know you like blues? Head to that rack.

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