Racked is no longer publishing. Thank you to everyone who read our work over the years. The archives will remain available here; for new stories, head over to Vox.com, where our staff is covering consumer culture for The Goods by Vox. You can also see what we’re up to by signing up here.
I looked forward to my Tokyo honeymoon this past May almost as much as I looked forward to my wedding. Take that back — I definitely had my eyes on Japan's style and culture long before I was ready to slow-dance and take vows with my boyfriend in front of everyone we've ever met.
Japan promised an insurmountable level of cultural shock in the most glorious of ways. Harajuku girls wearing outfits us Opening Ceremony basement sale-dwellers could only dream of! Delicious delicacies that would make friends' mouths water onto their phones! I couldn't have been more thrilled to see, taste, and snap it all until I arrived and discovered...so much of what we already had back home.
Find out which New York businesses have popped up in Tokyo — or, should we say, Little America — in our map below.
Photo: A Statue of Liberty replica in Odaiba, Tokyo; Siqui Sanchez/Getty Images
Only in Japan can you eat an American-style lobster roll from the guys who made it a classic just down the block from Tokyo’s most frequented takoyaki spot.
With the blocks-long lines pouring out of his Soho shop each morning, it’s no surprise Dominique Ansel brought his signature DKAs and cookie shots to Tokyo earlier this year. Bakeries and coffee shops all over Japan have knocked off the famed cronut — one even calls it a ‘’New York Ring” — but exclusive monthly cronut flavors, like Hokkaido Milk Honey Ganache with Yuzu Lemon Cream, means Ansel will be staying ahead of his very own curve.
You can get Il Mulino uptown, downtown, and perched in a multi-level building within the bustling neighborhood of Roppongi. With locations in Atlantic City, Puerto Rico and just outside Miami Beach, it makes sense that they’d pop up where fanfare and nightlife is right nearby, continent-crossing notwithstanding.
The sweets-themed restaurant that has been bringing chocoholics to Union Square and beyond for years is giving locals with a sweet tooth something to talk about in Tokyo, where Max Brenner operates three locations.
An outpost of the chocolatier’s whimsically decorated bites and delectable drinks is tucked inside both Shibuya’s and Jiyugaoka's branches of the hip clothing boutique Tomorrowland, which recently made its own US debut in Soho.
Craving an American breakfast while overseas? Sarabeth’s serves up fluffy French toast and piles of pancakes (the latter of which the Japanese are surprisingly obsessed with) in two of Tokyo’s most bustling neighborhoods.
Tribeca’s own homestyle diner began as a temporary outpost in a Yokohama Sakuragicho Station and later evolved into a three-location beacon of American flavors. Its Tokyo outpost is not 24 hours, but opens extra early by Japanese standards (7:30am weekdays, 9am weekends) to serves stacks of sour cream flapjacks and “American cookery” at quintessentially New York communal tables. No word on how long the wait for brunch is, comparatively.
Time to get jealous: the Japanese outpost of this hippie-dippie organic burger heaven that opened this summer offers wagyu. Yes, it’s time to book your flight.
Seriously? We were just as surprised to find out Smorgasburg’s much-discussed pasta patty had made it across the world to a land where ramen is an art form, but it’s not as blasphemous as at first glance. The Nakano outpost, which opened earlier this year, boasts a small menu replete with the usuals, like the ability to pile toppings on those homemade noodle buns and “NY-style chopped salads,” whatever that may be.
Tokyo’s version of the train station seafood outpost is, fittingly, located inside the Shinagawa terminal station, where locals munch on delectable-sounding oyster varietals from the nutrient-rich waters of surrounding prefectures.
Though Danny Meyers’ parkside gem will be gracefully bowing out of its namesake home when its lease is up at the end of this year, the change shouldn’t have any locals worried. Union Square Cafe’s menu and vibe was easily translated to an overseas clientele, where the parkside views, delicious steaks and pastas, and “Italian spirit” are intact thousands of miles from their origins.
The restaurant that gave Marcus Samuelsson his stripes has a long-distance life in Tokyo’s Aoyama neighborhood. At this outpost, the tenure of famed chefs tenure is no different — Chef Shinji Yokoyama, who has made it the go-to locale for Nordic flavors in Tokyo, spent time studying under the world’s best at Noma.
If you’ve never made it through Clinton Street Baking Co.’s skull-crushing Saturday morning wait times (four hours!), you may have better luck overseas, where locals devour the same delicious breakfast delicacies as we do.
We know the Japanese take their meat seriously, so it’s no surprise BLT Steak has taken off with hungry Tokyo patrons. Just like how the chain tends to pop up all over Manhattan, BLT recently opened a second location in the affluent neighborhood of Ginza within a year of opening its first.
In New York, Freeman’s Sporting Goods is the first stop in a private alley. In Tokyo, it’s a three-floor empire, complete with a barber shop on the top level that is so reminiscent of the spot on Rivington that you’ll be convinced you stepped into a wormhole when you visit here. The haircuts, though, differ just enough — barbers churn out uniform styles with shorter sides and longer tops, as is the current trend among Tokyo’s hippest gents.
Like its New York counterpart, Bookmarc Shibuya is filled with coffee table books, fashion hardcovers, and art editions that shoppers probably just peruse more often than actually purchase.
Doesn’t sound familiar? That’s becuase Mister Donut is not stateside, but its Brooklyn-themed mission has led to menus with knockoff cronuts, plates by Fishs Eddy, and rotating collaborations with borough-based brands like Baggu and YakPak.
To say Saturdays is all the rage in Tokyo is an understatement. Reminiscent of the laid-back cool of their original Crosby Street shop, this outpost also has surfboards, coffee, and the best outdoor patio in town.
It’s no surprise the fashion-conscious Japanese have become taken with Steven Alan’s stylish, minimalist wares, which are on display at two locations in Tokyo.
Though the museum has no official location outside New York, the Tokyo branch of the famed art shop is stocked with quirky treasures and funky housewares, just like back home.
The purveyor of the Hot Chocolate Festival made its way to Japan years ago as one of the first New York transplants on cross-continental food scene. Now, everyone in Tokyo can get their fix of chunky chocolate chip cookies on the regular, too.
If opening shop in Tokyo is a trend, Doughnut Plant is officially the tastemaker. The square-shaped pastries have had a presence in Japan for more than a decade, making them as ubiquitous in the pastry sphere in that country as they are in NY. The main difference comes by way of specialty flavors, where eye-popping colors and tastes — like “kyoto uji,” a green tea and vanilla milk cream concoction — will make your stateside vanilla bean seem not so special.
Sex and The City’s charming cupcakes, banana puddings, and sweet slices of cake, transported from one town to another — in case you couldn't help but wonder which New York cupcakery would stake a claim here.
The dingy but beloved Chinatown restaurant where New Yorkers gorge themselves on soup dumplings has quite the presence in Tokyo’s upscale Ginza district. Chandeliers, over-the-top signage, incredibly nice napkins — it's like finding out your take-out spot has a glamorous, glamorous Fifth Avenue sister wife.
While the original location resides on a casual corner in Brooklyn, Gorilla Coffee operates a jaw-dropping, CostCo-sized storefront in Tokyo comparable to the size of a Times Square Starbucks. It’s that massive — and that impressive, too.
Only in Japan can you eat an American-style lobster roll from the guys who made it a classic just down the block from Tokyo’s most frequented takoyaki spot.
With the blocks-long lines pouring out of his Soho shop each morning, it’s no surprise Dominique Ansel brought his signature DKAs and cookie shots to Tokyo earlier this year. Bakeries and coffee shops all over Japan have knocked off the famed cronut — one even calls it a ‘’New York Ring” — but exclusive monthly cronut flavors, like Hokkaido Milk Honey Ganache with Yuzu Lemon Cream, means Ansel will be staying ahead of his very own curve.
You can get Il Mulino uptown, downtown, and perched in a multi-level building within the bustling neighborhood of Roppongi. With locations in Atlantic City, Puerto Rico and just outside Miami Beach, it makes sense that they’d pop up where fanfare and nightlife is right nearby, continent-crossing notwithstanding.
The sweets-themed restaurant that has been bringing chocoholics to Union Square and beyond for years is giving locals with a sweet tooth something to talk about in Tokyo, where Max Brenner operates three locations.
An outpost of the chocolatier’s whimsically decorated bites and delectable drinks is tucked inside both Shibuya’s and Jiyugaoka's branches of the hip clothing boutique Tomorrowland, which recently made its own US debut in Soho.
Craving an American breakfast while overseas? Sarabeth’s serves up fluffy French toast and piles of pancakes (the latter of which the Japanese are surprisingly obsessed with) in two of Tokyo’s most bustling neighborhoods.
Tribeca’s own homestyle diner began as a temporary outpost in a Yokohama Sakuragicho Station and later evolved into a three-location beacon of American flavors. Its Tokyo outpost is not 24 hours, but opens extra early by Japanese standards (7:30am weekdays, 9am weekends) to serves stacks of sour cream flapjacks and “American cookery” at quintessentially New York communal tables. No word on how long the wait for brunch is, comparatively.
Time to get jealous: the Japanese outpost of this hippie-dippie organic burger heaven that opened this summer offers wagyu. Yes, it’s time to book your flight.
Seriously? We were just as surprised to find out Smorgasburg’s much-discussed pasta patty had made it across the world to a land where ramen is an art form, but it’s not as blasphemous as at first glance. The Nakano outpost, which opened earlier this year, boasts a small menu replete with the usuals, like the ability to pile toppings on those homemade noodle buns and “NY-style chopped salads,” whatever that may be.
Tokyo’s version of the train station seafood outpost is, fittingly, located inside the Shinagawa terminal station, where locals munch on delectable-sounding oyster varietals from the nutrient-rich waters of surrounding prefectures.
Though Danny Meyers’ parkside gem will be gracefully bowing out of its namesake home when its lease is up at the end of this year, the change shouldn’t have any locals worried. Union Square Cafe’s menu and vibe was easily translated to an overseas clientele, where the parkside views, delicious steaks and pastas, and “Italian spirit” are intact thousands of miles from their origins.
The restaurant that gave Marcus Samuelsson his stripes has a long-distance life in Tokyo’s Aoyama neighborhood. At this outpost, the tenure of famed chefs tenure is no different — Chef Shinji Yokoyama, who has made it the go-to locale for Nordic flavors in Tokyo, spent time studying under the world’s best at Noma.
If you’ve never made it through Clinton Street Baking Co.’s skull-crushing Saturday morning wait times (four hours!), you may have better luck overseas, where locals devour the same delicious breakfast delicacies as we do.
We know the Japanese take their meat seriously, so it’s no surprise BLT Steak has taken off with hungry Tokyo patrons. Just like how the chain tends to pop up all over Manhattan, BLT recently opened a second location in the affluent neighborhood of Ginza within a year of opening its first.
In New York, Freeman’s Sporting Goods is the first stop in a private alley. In Tokyo, it’s a three-floor empire, complete with a barber shop on the top level that is so reminiscent of the spot on Rivington that you’ll be convinced you stepped into a wormhole when you visit here. The haircuts, though, differ just enough — barbers churn out uniform styles with shorter sides and longer tops, as is the current trend among Tokyo’s hippest gents.
Like its New York counterpart, Bookmarc Shibuya is filled with coffee table books, fashion hardcovers, and art editions that shoppers probably just peruse more often than actually purchase.
Doesn’t sound familiar? That’s becuase Mister Donut is not stateside, but its Brooklyn-themed mission has led to menus with knockoff cronuts, plates by Fishs Eddy, and rotating collaborations with borough-based brands like Baggu and YakPak.
To say Saturdays is all the rage in Tokyo is an understatement. Reminiscent of the laid-back cool of their original Crosby Street shop, this outpost also has surfboards, coffee, and the best outdoor patio in town.
:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/47738959/GettyImages-497348543.0.0.jpg)
:format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/62482974/original.0.0.0.jpg)
:format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/62482975/DSC0226-1.0.0.0.jpg)
:format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/62482976/original.0.0.0.jpg)
:format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/62482977/maxbrenner_open_01.0.0.0.jpg)
:format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/62482978/mariebelle005-640x480.0.0.0.jpg)
:format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/62482979/dsc08051.0.0.0.jpg)
:format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/62482980/japan-595x360.0.0.0.jpg)
:format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/62482981/img_4800.0.0.0.jpg)
:format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/62482982/17850838299_01b05ab684_b.0.0.0.jpg)
:format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/62482983/image.0.0.0.jpg)
:format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/62482984/281630_193636377365655_1372441_n.0.0.0.jpg)
:format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/62482985/11046432_473358216147854_5939800221656829974_n.0.0.0.jpg)
:format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/62482986/12032250_956440421065743_2194535178157410485_n.0.0.0.jpg)
:format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/62482987/blt_065.0.0.0.jpg)
:format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/62482988/5184e1bb5758c.0.0.0.jpg)
:format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/62482989/harajuku1.0.0.0.png)
:format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/62482990/201202231135084b7.0.0.0.jpg)
:format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/62482991/nicholaswray.com-20131116-23.0.0.0.jpg)
:format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/62482992/the_greatest-shopping-city-on-earth.0.0.0.jpg)
:format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/62482993/11951107_871923366229666_3478355465848500218_n.0.0.0.jpg)
:format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/62482994/city-bakery-japan.0.0.0.0.jpg)
:format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/62482995/2015-09-12_DOUGHNUT_PLANT_Yoga_Japan.0.0.0.jpeg)
:format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/62482996/Magnolia-Bakery-Tokyo-31-1024x682.0.0.0.jpg)
:format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/62482997/bkcjpstorefront.0.0.0.jpg)
:format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/62482998/tokyostore1.0.0.0.jpg)
:format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/62482999/RIMG0367-cropped-790x445.0.0.0.jpg)