My Tokyo, is a digital shopping guide that began life as a self-authored and self-published zine. The app explores some of the most unique fashion, design and art spots the city has to offer.
“The zine [My Tokyo] was written as a complement to the numerous exhausting shopping trips I took to Tokyo, before I eventually moved here,” says Australian designer Eloise Rapp.
Once living in Tokyo though (in one of it’s shopping hotspots, Shimokitazawa) Eloise decided to turn the zine into an app with the help of some of her developer friends back in Sydney.
As Eloise walked her well-trodden routes around the city, she discovered more and more hidden fashion and design gems, and the iPad app slowly became something much larger and more detailed than she ever imagined.
“I spent weeks dashing all over the city, chatting with store owners and photographing their amazing store interiors,” she says.
Sydney based Omnomnom Studios worked tirelessly on the programming and development of the iPad app, and by the end Eloise had illustrated nine detailed maps of off-beat areas of Tokyo, such as Nakameguro, Shimokitazawa and Koenji, taking over one year to complete.
“It has definitely been a labour of love.” she says.
Whilst Eloise started this project before the devastating events caused by the March 11th earthquake she hopes the project will encourage more tourists to visit the city,
“I’m hoping My Tokyo will help draw people back to Japan and boost tourism. Tokyo is an incredible, thriving city with so much to offer visitors—not only in terms of shopping.”
“I’m hoping My Tokyo can introduce visitors to some of the more unique, independent fashion and design spots around town. These are the businesses that really deserve a bit of attention.”
My Tokyo will be available to download from the iTunes store at the end of October, for more info: www.mytokyoapp.com
Images from My Tokyo.
