Head for Akihabara Electric Town to be stunned by banks of screens and attention-demanding products singing, bleeping and entreating. Miniscule gadgets mesmerize with technology in every color of the rainbow – and dozens more besides. Feast your eyes - these babies won’t make it on to markets abroad until a three year long government-imposed moratorium passes. Billboards clamor for attention, ads beg passers by to shop, a constant barrage of TV screen, radios, recorded sales pitches, chirping toys and flashing gadgets make for an exhilarating (or exhausting, depending on your viewpoint) shopping trip.

Department store food halls are great shopping destinations. Whether you want too sample the many tasty items that helpful staff offer shoppers or acquire a polished piece of fruit, complete with bow, official stamp and certificate of authenticity (prices run $15-30 for melons!) Tokyo’s department stores are so vast, visitors could spend an entire vacation just in one of them alone.

Former silversmiths’ district, Ginza, Tokyoites joke, is where money used to be made and now is spent. For Issey Miyake, Prado or other haute couture, head for Omotesando and Aoyama. Goths, punk fashionistas and those into alternative scenes will find everything they need to attire themselves in, in Harajuku and the small designer stores of Shibuya.

While not ideal for stocking up on gifts to take back home, don’t miss out on Tsukiji Fish Market’s astounding array – everything from octopi to rainbow shrimp to whale blubber is sold. Get there early for the tuna auctions.

Some unusual items might appeal in the Kappa Bashi district, where wholesale kitchen equipment and plastic food item dealers congregate.

The arcade at Asakusa Shrine has around a hundred stalls selling souvenirs and snacks. 

If you like to see something new and different, Odaiba is a futuristic city where you can visit via Yurikamome line, all computerized public transportation. There are several huge shopping malls.