Where to find a terry-cloth bit of happiness, in Japan?

September 27, 2009 12:26 AM

Birthday Gift Filter: Where to find a plush, luxury hotel style bathrobe on sale in Japan?

My wife's birthday is coming up soon, and I'd really like to get her a big, plush bathrobe for her birthday. The problem is, everywhere I've looked so far (which, admitted, has been a mall and a department store), shopclerks have told me that bathrobes aren't really used in Japan, and therefore aren't sold.

If anyone can point me in the right direction, I'd be thrilled. I'm in Chiba, but have no problem going to Tokyo. A lot of mail-order stuff, though, is out, since very few American companies will ship to Japan. If you know of any that do, and won't cost more for shipping than for the gift, I'd love to hear about it.

posted by Ghidorah to Shopping (6 answers total)

Best answer: If you don't mind the hotel's logo on it, you could try the Peninsula or the Mandarin Oriental.
posted by quidividi at 3:32 AM on September 27, 2009

Best answer: Since Japan is the home of luxury I would suggest starting with some higher end brands and checking their Tokyo offerings.

For example Frette has a lovely bath robe, and Frette products are sold in Isetan Shinjuku and Takashimaya Nihonbashi.
posted by avex at 5:24 AM on September 27, 2009

(Also my bathrobe in Japan came from pinching one from the Hilton)
posted by avex at 5:25 AM on September 27, 2009

Have you tried the gift shop at a plush luxury hotel?
posted by nax at 2:13 PM on September 27, 2009

Response by poster: I think my next step is Takashimaya, then the Peninsula if the first step doesn't pan out. Thanks.
posted by Ghidorah at 3:42 PM on September 27, 2009

Response by poster: Thanks for the help. Found it in Ginza, at Mitsukoshi. The wife was vaguely confused (why a bath robe), but has since decided it's quite useful.
posted by Ghidorah at 4:59 PM on October 27, 2009