This Nihombashi department store is one of Japan’s oldest and grandest, founded in 1673 by the Mitsui family as a kimono store. In 1683, it became the first store in the world to deal only in cash sales; it was also one of the first stores in Japan to display goods on shelves rather than have merchants fetch bolts of cloth for each customer, as was the custom of the time. Today, housed in a building dating from 1935, it remains one of Tokyo’s loveliest department stores, with a beautiful and stately Renaissance-style facade and an entrance guarded by two bronze lions, replicas of the lions in Trafalgar Square. The store carries many name-brand boutiques, from Chanel to Ferragamo. Its kimono, by the way, are still hot items. The tax-free counter is in the annex. Another branch, located right on Ginza 4-chome Crossing (tel. 03/3562-1111; daily 10am-8pm), is popular with young shoppers.