Koreatown

Almost famous?

Tokyo's has its own Koreatown, located just one stop north of Shinjuku Station on the Yamanote line.  Though there were many Koreans still here after WWII, in the 1980s and 1990s South Korean lifted the ban on foreign travel and Japan began accepting thousands of exchange students from Korea.  Along with a labor shortage in Japan, this brought in many Korean migrants.  Rent is this area was fairly inexpensive at the time, since it's next to Kabukicho, the red-light district (and the one part of Tokyo I don't visit) so many of the Koreans settled here.

Apparently Korea is known for two things - K-pop and excellent skin care.  (I did not know either of these!)  According to wikipedia, K-pop is a music genre originating in South Korea that is characterized by a wide variety of audiovisual elements. It's a mixture of Western sounds with an Asian aspect of performance. They are usually referred to as idols or idol groups - they go through a long process of auditioning and training before they are launched.  It reminds me of the 90's groups N'Sync, Backstreet Boys, etc.  But apparently these groups are very popular in Asia and other parts of the world.  Sometimes you can see a group in Koreatown, trying to promote their work.  We're lucky to run across one, though none of us know who they are (I guess we're the wrong demographic).  They allow us to take pictures, but we can't have our picture taken with them.

My walking tour is focusing on the skin care/makeup products of Korea.  I don't spend a lot of time on either of these, but a friend is leading the group, so I want to be supportive and maybe I'll learn something interesting.

Turn right and walk under this bridge.

We start off heading down an alley lined with makeup shops.  To get there, go to Shin Okubo Station, and turn right when you leave the exit (there's only one exit).  Walk under the bridge and continue for a few blocks.  You'll pass a 7-Eleven and Family Mart.  At this restaurant (with the pink pig), turn right.  This is the alley with all the makeup shops!

The pink pig restaurant - I don't know what it's real name is!

If it helps - on the other side of the main street you'll see this building.

Fun to browse through!

One of our first stops is at this location.  Face and foot masks are the main items of interest here (though they can be found at other places, too).  

The group receiving purchasing advice!

This store, located on the left side of the alley, is one of the main merchants.  Everything is well displayed, and there's usually someone who speaks a little bit of English.  There's also a point card, so if you buy enough you 'll eventually receive a discount. 

 




Across the street is The Beauty Shop.  I don't know if our guides meant for us to stop in here, but we wander around while we wait for people to finish their purchases at Skinholic.  It also has a nice variety of products from different manufacturers.







Further down we come to She'z Cosme.  The proprietor speaks fluent English and is happy to give recommendations.  Most of the products in here are to combat aging.  I'm not too concerned about that, but I do find some tinted lip gloss that (hopefully) won't dry out my lips.  Winter in Tokyo is very dry, and most lipsticks/stains cause my lips to be in even worse shape.
 


In addition to skincare, it's common to see little vendors of miscellaneous, cheap items - like socks, clothes, bags...and DVDs.  Who buys DVDs anymore? 

Cute socks!

Need a bag to carry all your purchases home?

There's also a Capsule Hotel located in the alley, if you need a rest after all your shopping!  I know they're all over Tokyo, but this is the first one I've actually seen.

The Wal-mart of Japan!

Near the end of the alley you'll reach Don Quijote.  If you haven't been in one in Japan yet, it's like Wal-mart on steroids.  They carry everything (I mean everything - shampoo, furniture, electronics, costumes, exercise equipment, Louis Vuitton purses, etc) at a reasonable price...but good luck finding it in the multi-story buildings, with commercials blasting at you from the tvs located in every section.  








We eat lunch at a restaurant across from Don Quijote, tucked away in a niche.  To find it, look for this window on the alley, then walk right past it.  You'll see this little hallway beside the stairs.

The window - but it's advertising a different restaurant!

The hallway - don't go upstairs!

Walk down the hallway and straight ahead you'll see the doors to the restaurant.  Like the pink pig place, I don't know its name!  The food is good though, and they have a large number of lunch sets.

The front door of the hidden Korean restaurant.

Korean grocery store

If you walk all the way to the end of the alley and come to a major street, you'll find a Korean grocery store across the road, slightly to your left. 







We complete our tour by retracing our steps along the alley and go to the main street, where Shin Okubo Station is located.  We walk back on the opposite side of the street, and visit one last business - Skin Garden.  It takes up two floors, and is very busy.  There's a high school nearby, that releases the students for lunch, and they fill up the place. 

The largest (by far) of all the stores we visited.

 

On this side of the road there's also a Tony Moly store, though you can find their products in many of the general stores, too. 

Here's the tour group!  We have a lot of fun, and you can see from all the bags that many purchases are made!

And for my own acquisitions...here's the lip gloss that I like, made by Scandals Colors Cosmetics.

Unfortunately, it's only available in 3 colors.

These face masks are at all the stores, prominently displayed.  They are labeled according to what they do to fix your face and an ingredient. (Like black pearl or aloe or...snail.  Maybe it would be better if the weren't written in English!  But apparently snail slime is a very popular ingredient in Korean cosmetics.  I often saw placenta, too, but I decide not to ask too many questions about it.)  We receive a couple as gifts from our tour leaders, so I decide not buy any (I end up with pomegranate and aloe, so no "interesting" ones).  I try them out, and really like them!  They're better than the Japanese masks - they're thicker and they fit better.  And they're black, which is fun!  I still think they qualify as "scary" masks.

Amazingly popular!

Still scary!

Side note - since I didn't buy any on the tour, I decide to go back to Koreatown and get some, but all the locations are sold out of this brand.  They told me they'll get some more in the summer.  Hmmm...maybe they sell out so fast because these things actually work!  Out of curiosity I do a search on Amazon in the US, but they're not listed there.

My last item is the Foot Peeling Mask.  These are very popular, but you can only use them 3-4 times a year.  Whatever is in them completely dissolves the dead skin off your feet.  Now I know why they don't use the grater (okay, it's technically called a foot rasp, but it looks like a cheese grater) when you have a pedicure in Japan.  They expect you to be using these masks.

The hardest part is keeping these on your feet for 90 minutes, without walking around.  I set up one morning with my coffee and computer, and manage to stay put.  After rinsing off my feet, I wait...and wait...and wait.  It says it takes 5-7 days to take effect, which is the case for me.  Later, I read that if you soak your feet for 20 minutes each night, it will work faster.  I don't know what kind of acid is in here, but it's efficient!

I don't feel anything...are they working?

It's kind of gross, but apparently my feet aren't as bad as some of the ones that are shown on YouTube, etc.  Similar to having peeling skin after a sunburn, the dead skin rubs off, though you're not supposed to force it.  Just look at that soft, smooth skin being revealed!  I have to buy more of these foot masks.

A couple more days and I'll be ready for sandals!

My feet feel lighter already!