Make Believe Bonus: Shibuya Tsutaya

Keisuke Kuwata, Get Me Away From The IP Square

I came to the “new” Shibuya Tsutaya because it was impossible to go to the NewJeans pop-up event at the nearby LINE shop. As part of the K-pop outfit’s current trip to Japan, a special store within a store has been set up selling limited-edition goods. Takashi Murakami AND Min Hee-jin showed up. Having been working in the area when I saw tweets showing the two buddy-ing around, I packed up my bag and walked briskly to the app-centric retailer.

Stupid me…one does not walk into the LINE store on NewJeans’ day. I should have come in the morning to get a ticket to return later in the day, with all available slots taken for this Wednesday. The Superflat photo-op would have to wait another day.

Instead, I took a sorta nostalgic stroll through Shibuya, albeit one where the markers defining the area for me have all mutated in the years since. I stopped at Parco…really, a new Parco, far from where the Parco I actually knew once existed…to look around and buy some clothes. I walked by Tower Records to appreciate how it was still chugging along. And then, I decided to swing by Shibuya Tsutaya, which had been renovated earlier this year.

The experience depressed me.