"Shopping Japan With Four Pins" is an ongoing series in which Amardeep Singh takes us on a tour of the country's best shops. See them all here.
Part II : Light Bulb, Kichijōji
Light Bulb is a small, almost cramped second-floor shop in the heart of Kichijōji in Tokyo, a neighborhood way more down-tempo than Shibuya or Harajuku but still with a relatively absurd amount of people walking the streets. Keita Egashira, the owner of Light Bulb, agreed with me in my hasty judgement of the neighborhood. Speaking a little bit of English and myself speaking a tiny bit of Japanese, we were somehow able to hold an hour-long conversation about Tokyo, different cities in the US and the difference between Japanese clothing and American clothing, amongst other things, while I browsed his shop. "Kichijōji is a lot more...chill," he explained to me through a mix of Japanese, English and pantomime. And it's true, it feels a bit like the Tokyo equivalent of New York's Carroll Gardens, with an additional couple million folks running around in the background.
This is the only Light Bulb store that exists and it's been here in Kichijōji for about 15 years, a length of time so long that when Keita told me, I thought I had forgotten how to translate Japanese numbers and was disappointed in myself for a good 3-4 seconds. Seldom will you find a store with this kind of aesthetic in the United States that can make it for more than three years, let alone 15. But as Keita explained to me, the shop has been busy and continues to be busy, reaffirming the notion of the strongly followed subculture in Japan for vintage American clothing, or at least clothing that has the appearance of vintage American clothing.
The brand list is fairly terse: Post O'Alls, Corona and Nigel Cabourn take up most of the stuffed racks and shelves, while Paraboot, Champion Japan and a few others are sprinkled throughout the store. But the pieces from each collection don't feel overbought. Instead, I got the feeling that you could create a pretty diverse wardrobe from just this store alone. Be it Classic Americana Vintage Man, Slightly Goofy Repro Bro or Quirky, Fanny Pack Carrying, New Balance Wearing Guy In Tapered Pants And Tiger Camo Jacket, a few different styles are mixed in seamlessly within the small shop. The large Nigel Cabourn buy was the primary standout for me, along with frames and wool knit almost-sweats by Corona, crewneck sweaters from Champion—in case you didn't already assume so, Champion Japan is the Japanese division of the same Champion brand you wore in junior high school gym class when you shot fadeaway three-pointers over your friends trying to show off, except the superior quality of the clothing isn't even close to it's American counterpart, and neither is the price)—and a presumably vintage cap that had "COP" written across the crown (strongly not suggested for wear anywhere in the United States, especially right now).
Although a little tough to operate, Light Bulb does have a global webshop and Keita let me know he's been consistently receiving orders from the US for years. If you're tired of thoroughly searching for American brands with their own version of vintage Americana clothing, Light Bulb is definitely the spot to find the unsettlingly superior Japanese alternatives.
Light Bulb
Nakata Building, 2nd Floor
2-12-2 Kichijyojihoncho, Musashino-shi, Tokyo, Japan
+81 0422-23-7520
Amardeep Singh is a writer and photographer living in New York. You can see more of his work here and follow him on Twitter here.
