Hello dear readers! How are you?
I’m hoping today’s post will be useful for many lolitas, especially those who are visiting Tokyo for the first time.
You may have heard that the Marui One building in Shinjuku closed down last month. Don’t worry though! There is still a building in Shinjuku housing many lolita shops that you can visit. Following a renewal, many of the shops formerly located in the Marui One building have moved to Marui Annex.
HOW TO GET THERE:
The easiest station to get to Marui Annex from is Shinjuku Sanchome.
If you go via the Marunouchi line or Fukutoshin line, when you get there follow the signs for Isetan and exit the station via exit A1. When you come out, Isetan department store will be across the road and directly in front of you (a large grey, slightly gothic looking building). Turn right and walk straight on. Go across the crossing and continue going straight (past the old Marui One). Presently Marui Annex will be on your right. You can recognise it by the Marui sign OIOI and also by the sign for Wald9 Cinema (the top floors of the building contain a cinema).
Alternatively you can take the Toei Shinjuku line. Go out of the C1 exit, turn 180 degrees and walk a short distance down the street. You will soon see Marui Annex.
You can also get there from Shinjuku station (Yamanote line, plus many others), but it is a longer walk, about 10 or 15 minutes. Take the East Exit (Kabukicho Exit). You will see Studio Alta and it’s huge TV screen in front of you. Turn right and continue straight down the big street. Eventually you will come to Annex (it will be on your right)
Here is a map from the Marui guide:
On the left is Shinjuku station and Alta. In the middle is Isetan. As you can see from this map, there are three Marui buildings in this part of Shinjuku. The one you are looking for is the one marked in red on the right. Please make sure you go in the correct one!
FLOOR GUIDE:
Marui Annex contains a lot of shops so the lolita ones are only a part of it (in this way, it’s like the old Marui Young, if you remember that). I’m just going to highlight the things I think might be interesting for lolitas.
Floors 9,11,13: Cinema
Floor 8: Restaurants (including Chinese food, ramen, “Russian and European Cheese Cuisine”, sushi, and tea and cake) and a smoking room.
Floor 7: Angelic Pretty, KERA SHOP, Baby, Metamorphose. Also a cute minatures store and Animega (anime goods).
Floor 6: Alice and the Pirates, artherapie, Emily Temple Cute, h.NAOTO, Excentrique, Jane Marple, Putumayo, loliable shoes (YOSUKE etc), Pattiserie Swallowtail. No loo on this floor!
Floor 5: Seria 100 yen shop. Cute and cheap craft stuff, homeware and beauty goods.
Floor 3: FEWMANY. This shop sells goods and postcards from quirky illustrators and designers, including Kira Imai.
Floor 2: Tsumori Chisato, MILK/MILKBOY, RagTag (second-hand clothing, you can often find Jane Marple and ETC among the boring stuff).
ABOUT THE KERA SNAP:
You have probably seen the snap pages in the back of KERA each month, not the street snaps but the pages of 30 or so small pictures. These are from snap events held monthly at KERA SHOP locations. At Marui Annex, the snap is held on the second Sunday of each month in the elevator lobby on the sixth floor, opposite Alice and the Pirates. Sometimes the date or time might change so it’s best to check in KERA or on the KERA blog to make sure. If you decide to go to the snap, go up to the sixth floor and join the queue. The staff will hand you a questionnaire to fill in. It’s in Japanese I’m afraid but the important bits are your name, where you are from, where you live and your fashion theme. The questionnaire has a number on the back. When it’s your turn, you’ll first be photographed holding your number. Then the staff will take the questionnaire from you and snap some pictures. They might suggest a pose to you. Then you will be given a ticket with your number on it so that you can collect your free photo from the KERA SHOP the following month.
Thanks for reading, I hope you found this guide handy. I tried to make it as clear as possible, because Shinjuku can be pretty confusing, especially with multiple Maruis floating around. Please let me know if there is anything that’s hard to understand, anything that’s wrong with my directions or anything you think is missing from this post.. I will try to keep this page updated so that if any changes occur it will still be accurate.
Enjoy shopping at Marui Annex!
Elegant Poupée 