Japan Day 12: Totoro Cream Puffs and Thrifting in Shimokitazawa

Our twelfth day in Japan started with something extremely cute and ended with several hours of thrift shopping in Shimokitazawa. Interestingly, the first stop of the day wasn’t even part of my original plan.

When Plan A Doesn’t Work Out

My original plan had been to visit the Studio Ghibli Museum.

I’ve been a Studio Ghibli fan for quite some time, so this was one of the places I really wanted to include in our itinerary. On my first trip to Japan, I had even brought home two big Totoros for the girls because I thought they were just too cute.

Unfortunately, getting tickets to the Ghibli Museum is an adventure in itself.

Tickets are released in advance for the following month, and you have to be ready when sales open. I knew they could sell out quickly, so on ticket-release day, I was prepared.

Or at least, I thought I was.

I joined the online queue and waited.

And waited.

More than an hour and a half later, I finally got access to the booking page. By then, there were only a few spots left. I had deliberately kept our itinerary flexible, so I thought we still had a chance.

I selected an available time, entered all my information… and then got the message that there were no more tickets available.

So close!

And that was it. No Ghibli Museum for us.

I still wanted to find something related to Studio Ghibli for the girls to enjoy, which is how we ended up at Shiro-Hige’s Cream Puff Factory.

Almost Too Cute to Eat

Shiro-Hige’s Cream Puff Factory is famous for its Totoro-shaped cream puffs, so really, how could I resist?

When we arrived, we gave our name to the waitress and waited nearby for about 20 minutes before getting a table.

The café itself was cute, but of course, the stars were the little Totoro pastries.

They were SO adorable that we didn’t want to eat them!

We eventually managed to get over that because, fortunately, they weren’t only cute. They were also very good. We had mango and, if I remember correctly, raspberry cream puffs. I also ordered a mocha coffee, which was excellent, and both Kid 1 and Kid 2 really enjoyed their drinks too.

Sometimes places become popular mainly because their food photographs well, and then the actual experience doesn’t quite live up to the pictures. This wasn’t one of those places.

The entire experience was well worth the wait.

As replacement plans go, this one worked out very well.

How NOT to Navigate to Shimokitazawa

Our next destination was Shimokitazawa.

One of the things Kid 1 and Kid 2 specifically wanted to do in Japan was go thrifting, so I had included Shimokitazawa in our itinerary. It’s well known for its concentration of second-hand and vintage clothing stores, and we planned to spend a few hours exploring.

There was just one little problem.

When I entered our destination into Google Maps, I simply put “Shimokitazawa.”

Not the name of a particular thrift store.

Google Maps did exactly what I asked it to do and took us to Shimokitazawa.

Except we ended up wandering around a residential area.

Oops.

I immediately realized that although we were technically in the right neighborhood, we were definitely not where we wanted to be!

We corrected our route and eventually found our way toward the shopping streets.

And that’s when we discovered something I hadn’t planned at all.

Surprise! A Flea Market!

There was a flea market happening that weekend.

Perfect timing!

The market was right around the entrance to the street where the thrift stores were, with stands extending into the street itself. We had absolutely no idea it would be happening when I planned the trip.

Of course, we had to explore.

Kid 1 found some cute brooches at the flea market, and then we continued into the thrift stores.

We spent the next few hours wandering from shop to shop. Both girls found clothes to bring home, and overall, I thought the prices were pretty good.

That said, not every thrift store in Shimokitazawa is cheap.

Some shops had perfectly reasonable prices and good finds, while others were definitely more expensive. So if you’re going there expecting everything to be an incredible bargain just because it’s second-hand, that isn’t necessarily the case.

It’s worth browsing several stores instead of buying something at the first one you enter.

We also stopped for lunch while we were there before continuing our shopping.

Was Shimokitazawa Worth It?

For us, yes.

If you enjoy thrifting, I think Shimokitazawa is a fun area to include in a Tokyo itinerary. There are plenty of stores to explore, the prices can be good if you’re willing to look around, and you can easily spend several hours there.

The surprise flea market made our visit even better.

Koenji was also on our itinerary, but we never made it there. So I can’t tell you which of the two I would have preferred.

Maybe next time!

By the time we finished shopping, we had spent a good part of the afternoon exploring Shimokitazawa. I don’t remember doing anything particularly memorable that evening, but after a day of Totoro cream puffs, an unexpected flea market and some successful thrifting, we were quite happy with how things had turned out.

Coming Next

Another Tokyo shopping day, with one stop that Kid 2 enjoyed a lot more than Kid 1 and I did!