Ginza

Ginza is commonly referred to as Japan’s answer to New York’s 5th Avenue or London’s Bond Street, but Tokyo’s most famous shopping district traces its history farther back than either one of these high-end enclaves. In 1872 the freshly de-isolated Japanese nation remade Ginza into a Western-style quarter, complete with brick buildings and the nation’s first sidewalks. The great noble families of Japan who once sold kimonos and dry-goods transformed their businesses into department stores.