Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on September 2009

Courtesy of H&M

For months, it has stood there, taunting us with promises of multi-floor fashion heaven. But the time, my friends, has finally arrived—time, that is, for anyone not interested in shopping to give the area around Bunkamura a wide berth, because on September 19 the H&M bargain machine comes to Shibuya. If the hordes of shoppers that descended upon Ginza and Harajuku over the past year are any indication, there will be lines snaking around the new building for several months to come. If the wait proves too much for you to bear, head on over to the H&M in Yokohama’s Landmark Tower, the only branch in Japan to house a kids’ department. Its doors opened September 5, so if you’re lucky there might be a few thousand less people.
www.hm.com/jp