Review: My Tokyo, by Eloise Rapp

As I announced here a few weeks ago, 5am je t'aime was hosting a giveaway, which, luckyly, I won!

So here's my review of it.

My Tokyo is a 28 pages long, din-A5 sized booklet. But don't let its size trick you, it's full with more than 90 art galleries and shops of all kinds.
Author's words:

All the information in this zine comes from the point of view of a textile and graphic designer with a love for fashion, music, contemporary art, innovative design and of course, Tokyo.

And in my opinion, this is part of what makes this guide so interesting. It's not the same getting a guide written by someone who just loves to travel than getting it from someone who loves art, design and shopping.
This guide made me want to write one about Barcelona! haha this is really inspiring!

The guide is divided into shopping areas, with clear instructions on how to get there, and each area has a map with all the shops located in it, so you can find everything really easy.
You can also find the keys to categorize every shop: from vintage to furniture, from music to books. Love the selection of bookstores!

I really wish I got this guide back when I was planning my first trip to Tokyo!

I need to talk about the design too. Eloise aside from being a textile designer (which I really find very interesting) is also a graphic designer, and you can really appreciate that in the guide.
Inside, you can find a really pretty zine, carefully designed. Easy to read and understand, and let’s say this clearly, pretty to look at.

Shops are presented in a packed BUT understandable way, which makes the zine contain a lot of information in a few pages, but still, readable. Which I love. And you can carry it around with you since it's not heavy and doesn't take up a lot of space.
You can also find summaries, pictures of the shops/items, websites and addresses. Very helpful, this really is a complete guide.

You can find both the paper edition and a pdf version of the guide, and you can get them here. A really fair price for a nice edition, design and selection of places.

And I really recommend you to get it if you're planning going to Tokyo soon (or not so soon). You'll find in this guide cool shops and interesting places to visit that won't be packed of tourist and you'll still be around popular areas like Harajuku (really, if you just step into 3-4 streets away from Takeshita-dori, you'll find a completely different place).

Find more info about the guide here, in her etsy store and about Eloise here in her blog.

Thank you so much again to 5am je t'aime for the guide. And don't forget to read their blog if you're into Asian fashion. Lots of interesting posts await you, really!