All Japan's big department stores have several floors devoted to fashion, from haute couture to more modest wear at affordable prices. Elsewhere, you'll find trendy boutiques - many of them stacked in multi-storey "fashion stores" - catering to a younger, less affluent crowd, selling cut-price clothes and the latest in recycled grunge gear. Factory outlet stores and low-price retailers, such as UniQlo and Comme ça du Mode, have recently made an appearance, as have foreign chains led by Gap, Timberland and Next. The centre of high fashion, on the other hand, is Tokyo's Omotesando, where you'll find the likes of Issey Miyake, Hanae Mori, Comme des Garçons and Yohji Yamamoto, whose showrooms make for great window shopping, even if you don't have money to burn.

Finding clothes that fit is becoming easier as young Japanese are, on average, substantially bigger-built than their parents, and foreign chains tend to carry larger sizes. Shoes , however, are more of a problem. Some stores do stock bigger sizes; Washington shoe shops are usually a good bet, though the women's selection is pretty limited. You'll also find outlets, such as Tokyo's ABC Mart, specializing in more casual imported brands, but you'll be hard-pressed to find anything over a size 10.