I am the buyer for our New York stores and online shop and have regular direct interactions with our artisans. Although I have visited our European and American makers many times in my decade-long career at The Armoury, I had, until recently, never visited Japan. In February, I finally made the journey to Tokyo, Osaka, and Kobe. In between meetings and factory visits, I wrote down a few notes to commemorate my time:

This was my first trip to Japan, but I do travel internationally a fair amount. I used to nap immediately after landing, but I’ve found that having a nice long daytime walk helps me acclimate to the time zone much better. I arrived at my hotel in Tokyo in the early afternoon wandering around various neighborhoods, trying to soak in whatever sun and culture I could find.

I’m from a tiny town in Tennessee with no need for public transportation. Although I now call NYC home, I still find subway systems particularly novel and fascinating and try to use them whenever I travel. Tokyo’s subway lives up to its reputation as being congested and a bit confusing, and I felt a bit of pride when I made it from my hotel to Ochanomizu via train all on my own.

My colleague, Jan, travels to Japan quite often for business and relaxation. During some down time during the last day of my trip, he was kind enough to take me to some of his favorite vintage clothing stores in Shibuya.