Food Floors or Depachika - Tokyo Intro: Experience #9 of 55

Food floors or depachika are found in the basements of major department stores.  Some of the biggest department store (depato) chains are Mitsukoshi, Daimaru, Isetan, and Takashimya.   The food floors are vibrant, lively emporiums that dazzle in the type and quality of the food they have for sale.  The floors are organized into dozens if not hundreds of counters offering all manner of sweet and savory foods to go.  Each counter can represent the specialties of a particular business and they are all exquisitely curated.

There are deluxe rice crackers, fresh pastries, beautiful cakes, and other fancy desserts, bento, candy, sushi, salads, tempura, tea, wine, and so much more.  High quality rice, herbs and spices, and other ingredients are available here.  You will find the super expensive fruit that Japan is famous for, and expensive whiskies here too.   The super expensive fruit is for gift giving, and you can find tasty fruit at regular prices in both depachika and supermarkets.

Depato are amazing shopping emporiums for luxury goods, and the food floors are something you should visit, even if you don’t plan on shopping at the rest of the store.  The stores are institutions that are old school in approach, meticulously organized, and the staff line up to greet you at the door when they open in the morning.  Department stores still thrive in Japan, an institution that is waning in the the western world.
The depachika listed below are some of the more famous ones and they all have a rooftop garden or picnic area to eat your finds.

• Takashimaya Times Square in Shinjuku – Possibly the best in the city.  You could also picnic at the nearby Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden.
• Shinjuku Isetan – Another very impressive food floor.
• Ginza Mitsukoshi – Has a highly rated set of food floors.
• Nihonbashi Mitsukoshi – This is Japan’s oldest department store with a great food floor.
• Nihonbashi Takashimaya – More great food floors.
• Tokyu Food Show in Shibuya – No rooftop for this one, but it is buried under Shibuya Station which is pretty cool.

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