Tokyo Vintage: Introducing DaiDai, Koenji

I think it’s high time we delved into the wonderful world of vintage boutiques in Tokyo again, right? Our focus today is on DaiDai in Koenji, and it’s guaranteed to put a smile on your face…

Under the same umbrella as the marvellous Green Dot (coming up on Tokyo Telephone very soon!), DaiDai is almost literally a riot of colour – you’d better bring your sunglasses! Hidden in the backstreets of Koenji and jostling with its fellow vintage neighbours, DaiDai really manages to stand out, and is a great example of the focused aesthetic that makes Japanese vintage shops really unique – here you’ll find rag dolls, pin badges, cute jumpers and even some super retro home wear too. It’s like all the best bits of someone’s 1970s-ish childhood condensed and made into a retail space. Yes, it’s a little child-like, but never immature: you’re pretty much guaranteed to walk around in wide-eyed wonder and feel the enthusiasm of youth yet again.

I don’t really know how it’s possible to make a vintage shop feel joyful, but DaiDai certainly is. It’s sweet, and above all it’s fun – something that international boutiques across the world would do well to remember. I was really taken with DaiDai since we first happened across it, and I hope you will be too…

If I had longer hair, I would be all over the tacky plastic hair clips. (And how about the Christmas elves!)

A whole host of charming bits & bobs – I love the patchwork cat on the chair.

I think fake glass grapes are a staple of Japanese vintage shops, I’ve seen them in almost every single one.  Maybe it’s some kind of law?

I kind of want to fill Telephone Towers with things with strawberries on.

(Oh, and there’s also a tiny place in Koenji that only sells retro pyrex mugs! It’s kind of amazing, I had no idea there was such a collectors market for it.)

Ducks and rosaries – the perfect combination.

Even the changing room hasn’t been left out!

Sad tigers and happy apples.

Try a virgin (island) – I did laugh. I’m sorry.

And finally: really adorable shop staff who captures DaiDai perfectly!