Isetan Shinjuku - Shinjuku City

Isetan is a great department store in Tokyo. They have a lot of selection for food on their basement floor and their brands for clothing range from mid-range to high end. This department store also has a lot of great pop-up events throughout the year. For example, one of my favorite green tea brands Nodoka had a pop-up shop here for a few weeks even though the department store normally does not carry this brand. One of Isetan’s biggest events is their annual Salon du Chocolat, which is a chocolate festival that started in Paris and is held in several cities around the world, including Tokyo. During the event, which normally takes place for two to three weeks, they would invite some of the best chocolatiers and pastry shops from around the world, especially France, and throughout Japan such as Es Koyama from Kobe and Hitotsune from Fukuoka. During COVID they have had to be a little creative with holding this large scale event since they were not able to invite the chocolatiers and pastry chefs from outside of Japan, but this year’s 20th anniversary did not disappoint. They were able to hold the event by limiting the number of people who could go in at a time and requiring masks. This year I got to try several dishes, including a beautiful Colombian chocolate dessert from Tokyo’s one star Michelin restaurant called Le Sputnik and a chocolate tart from a special collaboration between Fukuoka’s Hitotsune and a microbrewery in Tokyo called Vertere. This was my first time visiting Isetan for Salon du Chocolat since I am normally in New York and the timing of my visits to Japan had never coincided with this event, but I was glad that I was able to check it out even if there were less chefs from around the world.

Very busy, but the food section in the basement is hard to beat, especially for anyone interested in whisky and other hard liquors. Many Japanese distilleries have special bottlings for department stores and they'd generally be available here. There's also also a tasting bar (pay-per-taste) that's excellent value if you're looking to try before you buy.

I'm not a fan of Shinjuku in general. Reminds me too much of Times Square back home. Crowded, etc. But I had to take my wife to a tat shop a few blocks away and went in here to kill time. Another reviewer said it - Isetan puts Harrod's to shame! Maybe it's partly the somewhat obsequious nature of the Japanese. The building is magnificent. I was trying to find out if it's pre-war or post-war, but have not been able to. Every floor is a shopper's paradise. The amenities are off the chart. Especially the rooftop. Food court . . . you can spend a day there. Grab your lunch or favorite delicacy and head to the roof top garden to enjoy. To me this is the best (and only) great thing to see in Shinjuku proper

HUGE department store and they have Everything! It’s a bit more old-fashioned Japanese department store so you might not see the super trendy brands but if you’re looking for more local brands then this place is it. I chose this place to purchase Japanese knives and the sales lady here was super helpful and spoke okay English.

The popular department store is a major attraction in Shinjuku area. It takes a long time to visit all floors without a pair of aching feet.

This rating is primarily about the food hall on B1 of this store. Went to the store as it opened in the morning so everything was absolutely pristine. There is clearly a huge amount of work that happens prior to opening because everything is arranged perfectly and the food is visually amazing. Went here to purchase spices, teas, pepper, miso paste and soja sauce to bring home. Of course couldn't help but look at everything on offer and ended up purchasing small amounts of various things that we ate up on the top floor in the garden area. I have visited a lot of major department store food halls all over the world and this is probably one of the very best.

Dishonest, unruly and discriminatory against foreigners. If you want to buy a ELEGANCE press powder , the sales require you to sign a lottery, and you can buy it if you win. But I won the lottery, and they still wouldn't sell it to me, saying that I didn't follow the Japanese steps for subsequent re-registration after winning. No one told me before that there are still have more steps. And it is obviously unfair to foreigners. There is no any foreign language translation. Foreigners receive a won notice and got the number, but they still do not sell them to foreigners. I did not expect that Japan, a country known for its outstanding service, can be such naked untrustworthy, discriminate against foreigners. The sales has a bad attitude and very poor English. The Japanese should feel ashamed for this.

This is a long-established department store. You can find most of the luxury brands items here. Every year around this season, they have Salon Du Chocolat for Valentine's Day. This year is 20th anniversary of this event. Now Part.1 is holding till 25th Jan. Part.2 "The Artisans" is starting from 28th Jan to 3rd Feb. Anyone can visit from 10am to 8pm.(only the final day is till 6pm) It's pretty crowded depending on the day & time.