In case it is helpful, I wanted to share my experience H hunting in Tokyo last week. Apologies in advance for the long post!
Over the course of last Friday, I visited 8 Hermes boutiques (6 in the city and 2 at the airport) plus visited the Brandoff Ginza location and L'ecrin. I am attempting to upload pictures of my map on which my hotel's concierge helpfully circled in hot pink the various stores I wanted to visit. He also printed out the name of each of the stores and their address in Japanese so I could hand the map to taxi drivers. The order in which I visited was:
1. Ginza H then Brandoff Ginza location (I think they were only a couple blocks apart)
2. 10 minute taxi to Nihombashi area where I visited (a) Nihombashi Takashimaya Department Store (very small) then walked 10 minutes to (b) Mitsukoshi Department Store (bigger and a really sweet SA helped me here, offered me an anenome CDC with PHW)
3. 30 minute taxi to Shinjuku area where I visited the Isetan department store's H boutique (it was jam packed, difficult to get anyone's attention and had only 3 bags on display). I was too tired to visit the second H boutique in this area.
4. 25 minute taxi to Shibuya where I first visited (a) Shibuya Seibu (very small H boutique but this was the only one where they checked the back room when I asked if they had any purple, pink or grey bags - they didn't); then (b) 10 minute walk to Tokyu department store (a little larger H boutique, very nice SA and saw a woman shopping with a sweet little poodle in a white dress).
5. 10 minute taxi to L'ecrin in Roppongi area (followed by a few drinks at the Ritz 10 minute walk from L'ecrin)
6. 2 hours back to airport where I visited both H boutiques in Terminal 1 (they were about a 10-15 minute walk from each other but easy to get to without going in/out of security). Both airport boutiques had really lovely SAs and more goodies than I saw anywhere in the city.
My overall impressions were:
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The crowds everywhere were just crazy, and I'm not sure if it was because Friday was a national holiday or because there was an impending significant tax increase, but it was really a sight to see the hordes of shoppers in every single shopping area in town.
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Tokyo is such a lovely, clean, safe city especially for a solo female traveler and the overall culture of amazing service was so refreshing after having recently spent time in Russia. However, the service at H Ginza is SHOCKING compared to the service in every other store/hotel/restaurant/taxi/etc in all of Tokyo. Most of the SAs looked bored and disinterested, it reminded me of a lot of US boutiques!
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I was extremely surprised at how lean the stock was in every boutique! Maybe it was due to the upcoming tax increase but the displays all seemed wiped out and there was an average of 4 bags on display at each store. I did not ask for a B or K anywhere but I did ask at each boutique if there were additional bags not on display and every boutique, with the exception of one, told me that they had no bags in the back -- including Ginza which I suspected was not truthful.
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I did not see anything in the boutiques that I had not already seen recently in the US in NY, DC or Chicago. I was hoping to find unique colorways of silks, etc., but the silk stock was dismal everywhere but Ginza.
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Brandoff had a large selection of B's, SLGs, some K's, and other bags. There was a gorgeous Rose Lipstick B 35 that I think converted to $26,000 USD! I also remember a Bamboo Kelly 32 and several other bags, all of which were well over 2x US retail. The whole store reeked like cigarette smoke so I did not stay long.
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L'ecrin was probably the highlight of the entire day. The SAs there were SO sweet and patient with me, and it was nice and quiet and not crazy like the stores. Their refurbished boutique was very clean and elegant and though small, lined with cases of Garden Parties, Picotins, Bolides, Birkins and K's. Mostly B's. They had a Mimosa croc B 35, RS croc B 35, RJ clemence B 35, RT B 35 (I think clemence), Argile B35 clemence, curry Kelly 32 (I think), a B 35 Casque design in sanguine, Gris T and moutarde (I think), and a Gris Perle B 35 in Fjord with PHW. They also had a BD gator Bearn, a Beton gator Bearn, and I think Bamboo chèvre Bearn. No Kelly wallets, no Constances. But it was eye candy everywhere and they let me play with anything I wanted. The prices were 2x US retail as well - the Argile & Gris Perle B 35s were around $19K I believe, and the B35 crocs were around $90K.
In sum, for those who have limited time and definitely want to score a B or a K in Tokyo (and are fine paying over retail), I would recommend skipping all of the H boutiques and just visit L'ecrin. Then use all the time you would otherwise spend H hunting by taking a 5 minute cab to the Ritz Carlton and get a massage in their amazing spa followed by a stiff drink in their lobby lounge overlooking all of Tokyo. :drink up: But maybe my experience was due to the national holiday/everyone stocking up before the tax increase -- so I hope that future shoppers have more success!
I am not an expert on authenticity by any means, but all of the Bs I fondled at L'ecrin seemed authentic based on my close comparison to my B35 from the boutique. I also took heart in the Japanese government's stance on counterfeit goods and personally would have felt comfortable buying something there.
