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This Ginza department store has opened a dedicated sneaker floor

Ginza Sneaker Hills at Hankyu Men’s Tokyo now houses a shop and museum, plus shoe repairs and workshops

Kaila Imada
Written by
Kaila Imada
Digital Editor, Time Out Tokyo
Ginza Sneaker Hills
Photo: Hankyu Hanshin
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Home to countless stores dedicated to sneakers, Tokyo might be one of the best places in the world to stock up on the latest kicks. This modern fashion staple has become a closet essential, and has even gained enough popularity to warrant a brand new dedicated sneaker floor at the Hankyu Men’s Tokyo department store in Ginza.

The new shoe emporium, called Ginza Sneaker Hills, takes up the entire eighth floor and is separated into four different areas: a shoe market, museum, sneaker school and hospital.

Ginza Sneaker Hills
Photo: Hankyu Hanshin

The Sneaker Market is run by second-hand department store Komehyo and features more than 500 pairs of new and used sneakers from different brands, with the bulk of them being from Nike. The well-curated selection focuses on popular shoe styles as well as rare, hard-to-find sneaker models. With a focus on sustainability, the market also offers a purchasing service where you can sell your second-hand and used sneakers – after a quick assessment by the staff, of course. 

Ginza Sneaker Hills
Photo: Hankyu Hanshin

Across from the market, you’ll find the Sneaker Museum which is reserved for exhibitions and events related to footwear. The first exhibition highlights the history of popular Nike sneaker models from 1972 until 1980 including the Cortez and AJ10G, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. The first phase of the exhibition is set to run until Thursday April 7 with several instalments to follow over the next few months.

You can also enjoy a cup of coffee while you browse the exhibition space as there’s an automated café run by Root C where you can order coffee from the contactless, vending-machine-like system.

Ginza Sneaker Hills
Photo: Hankyu Hanshin

If you have a hard time letting go of an old pair of sneakers, you can give your favourite kicks a second life with the help of the Sneaker Hospital and School. The hospital offers both cleaning and repair services while the school provides workshops on how to customise your shoes to suit your exact style.

Ginza Sneaker Hills
Photo: Hankyu Hanshin

The school experience gives you the chance to dive into footwear customisation where you can learn to paint and upgrade your sneakers with new leather parts and even bling them up with Swarovski crystals. Courses start at ¥8,800 per person for a three-hour session. Booking links are not available at the moment, so keep your eye on Hankyu’s website for further details.

See the store website for more information.

This article was originally published on March 16 and updated on April 1.

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