Tokyo · Shibuya and Harajuku
Step Ahead Harajuku
STEP AHEAD is a chain of secondhand clothing shops, most of the clothes imported from the United States. The Harajuku shop is the chain's first and opened in April 2008. Today the chain has 17 shops across Japan, most of them in Tokyo: in Harajuku, Shimokitazawa and Koenji.
The shop is on the 2nd floor of a residential building, Mansion Mikura, at Jingumae 6-16-2, apartment 201. According to a Fashionsnap article from June 2022, the chain sells vintage clothes alongside regular secondhand clothes, and also band T-shirts.
This is a shop for digging through the racks, for anyone already wandering the back streets of Harajuku.
Good to know
- The shop is on the 2nd floor of a residential building, so it is easy to miss from the street. Look for the address, not a big sign.
- The chain has another branch in Harajuku, a two-minute walk away, and it is worth visiting both on the same round. What each shop has is posted on its Instagram: stepahead_harajuku2008 for this shop.
- The official website does not say whether tax-free shopping is available. If you are buying a lot, ask at the counter before paying.
What is nearby
Approximate walking minutes from the entrance of Step Ahead Harajuku.
- HereStep Ahead Harajuku
- ~2 min
STEP AHEAD HARAJUKU 2 Clothes and crafts
The chain's second branch in Harajuku, opened in July 2020 on the 2nd floor of the Harajuku XS building, Jingumae 5-17-6.
- ~2 min
RAGTAG Harajuku (Cat Street) Clothes and crafts
A multi-story branch next to Cat Street, aimed at high fashion.
- ~3 min
Cat Street Street
Official name: the promenade path of the former Shibuya River. The river flowed here until it was covered ahead of the 1964 Olympics, and above it today is a lane of fashion and vintage between Harajuku and Omotesando.
- ~7 min
Ota Memorial Museum of Art More to see
A small museum of ukiyo-e woodblock prints, with no permanent display: the exhibitions rotate. Until December 6, 2026, an exhibition on the night paintings of Katsushika Oi, Hokusai's daughter, is on view, and from December 12, 2026 to January 17, 2027, an exhibition on lesser-known print artists. Cash only. Closing days in November 2026: 2, 4 to 6, 9, 16, 24 and 30.
- ~9 min
Tonkatsu Maisen Aoyama Honten Food
A tonkatsu restaurant, breaded pork cutlet. According to the chain, the dining room opened in 1983 in the building of the neighboring public bathhouse Jingu-yu, after it closed. On weekends and holidays, reservations are accepted only for the event menu. Not kosher.