Trip to Tokyo - best niche perfumeries?

Can someone in the know please recommend stores to visit?
I'm primarily interested in niche brands, fragrances I won't be able to sample elsewhere. I'll be in Tokyo.

I did find a wonderful brand list here: your-perfume-guide.blogspot.com.au/2012/01/tok yo-japan.html
But I would love some personal opinions or lesser-known brands.

I haven't been, sorry. But if I were to go to Japan I would be on the lookout for Shiseido fragrances, because many of their gems are only available there. Hope you have a fabulous trip!

boisdejasmin.com/2013/02/shiseido-white-rose-n atural-perfume-review.html

I'm envious but for reasons other than perfume appreciation. I'd be checking out all the amazing, world class goth silver jewellery and leather goods designers!

Don't worry Triffid, more than only perfume on the cards. Most of all I am looking forward to visiting some Shinto shrines. But there will also be kit-kats of EVERY flavour raining down from the sky, and I love nigiri-zushi so I will basically be eating sushi ALL WEEK.

My trip isn't until May but I've had an unbelievably stressful last couple of weeks (applying for a passport with estranged parents... GG. I've lived in Aus my whole life but I have to fill out a 119 for immigration, and due to lack of parental documents I had to go the long way around... let's just say OMG BUREAUCRAP!) so I'm trying to stack up all the things I'm looking forward to, to keep the goal in sight.

I'm so jealous! I want to visit Harajuku so badly! Le sigh...*green with envy*.

This is my first real flight/holiday, so I'm nervous and excited about it! My partner snapped up these tickets, two-way tickets for about $500 per person, a cheap deal in the off-season. But keep in mind that price is Melbourne to Japan, a relatively short distance.

the list on the blog link you provided is pretty awesome.
I would just add that Serge Lutens can be found in some department stores in the fragrance section, most often in the men's section, not at the Shiseido makeup counter. The fragrance selection in Isetan Shinjuku Men's store (different building from Isetan Shinjuku) is great.
Regarding Shiseido perfumes, they are usually sold at Shiseido counters in drugstores. The counters in the department stores focus on skincare and makeup.

here is a list of the brands currently available at Isetan Shinjuku
www.isetan.co.jp/icm2/jsp/shops/beauty/cosmeti cs_brand/index.jsp;jsessionid=71188F129D417224 27F3150229958955#fragrance

and the list of brands in Isetan Men's
www.isetan.co.jp/icm2/jsp/store/shinjuku/mens/ floor/map_1f.jsp

Thank you Eurochick. I'll definitely be seeking out more Serge Lutens while I'm there, it's very hard to locate here and when I tried to get their Little Black Book sent out they told me they no longer deliver it to Australia. So they are high on my sniff hitlist!

You're welcome. The last time I was at the Shiseido The Ginza boutique, they didn't have the bell jar bottles. That was 3 years ago or so (I live in Osaka, not Tokyo). I doubt they have them now, because when I see a rare jar bottle pop up on the Japan yahoo auction site it always says "bought in Paris" and they get snatched up in a second.
Have fun on your trip.

Shinjuku Isetan in addition to Lutens, have Malle, Byredo and Creed. Tomorrowland has Diptyque, there's a store in Shibuya. You can also find Montale and Creed in Est Nation in Roppongi Hills.

If you like incense, I would highly recommend checking out Shoyeido incense in Aoyama. They've been around since 1705 and have incredible incense made from natural ingredients. There premium range is spectacular and surprisingly affordable from USD $8, all the way to USD $330 for Kyara. www.shoyeido.co.jp/english/products/

Just got back last night so unfortunately Mixerscent I did not see your post until it was too late. I spent most of my time (and money) in Shinjuku Isetan... gosh, I wish I had infinite arms on which to test, the range in Isetan is just worlds apart from when we have here in Melbourne!

Yeah Tokyo is wonderful. If you ever go back they have excellent sales in Shinjuku Isetan in mid-July. Extremely high quality clothing at 30-70% off. Btw I've found Essenza Nobile the best place so far to purchase fragrances, excellent selection and the prices are very good after they deduct the sales tax. They're also generous with the 2ml sprayers, I usually get 5-7 based on my selections!!

Unfortunately clothing shopping is more of a chore than a pleasure for me. It's actually a little issue I have, it's not that I look unkempt, but I do have a different sense of style to the mainstream, so often when I walk into a perfume section of a high-end department store I don't get treated seriously until I drop some perfumista cred on the table. Perfumery is unique in that it's an interest where people of various backgrounds and financial situations come to appreciate one of our most basic senses, so I am a tad resentful of so many wonderful perfumes being situated in a place that can be snobbish and judgemental re: the appearance of wealth.

But to clarify, I did not have this issue with the lovely and polite staff at Shinjuku Isetan! I think they knew I was clothed for touristy travelling and not a night on the town. In Australia though, I do find there's an underlying sentiment that high-end perfume is reserved for those used to the "finer things".
Oh, but that was quite a tangent!

When I finally settled on Tonka Imperiale I was given two 2ml samples, which was nice. The lady was very sweet and we got along well so I assume 2 is the normal amount they give there... next time I will definitely visit Essenza Nobile, the magical font of sample sprayers!

Scarletting, do you think the Japanese are much more accepting of individual style? That's the impression I get from reading fashion blogs like TokyoTelephone. I suppose it depends on the district but if a man can wear a dress over pants without anyone raising an eyebrow then I guess scruffy/bohemian/tourist is pretty pedestrian.
I chuckled when you mentioned the attitude change one encounters when the cash appears. Mr Triffid and sons (as I've mentioned previously) visited Paris last December and under strict instructions from me found their way to the Chanel boutique in the Place Vendome.
They were wearing football jerseys, hiking boots and backpacks and felt seriously embarrassed amongst the champagne-sipping madames with fur coats and little dogs in their handbags. Mr Triffid held out my note, which read 'Cuir de Russie 75ml' and suddenly became A Very Special Customer. He wasn't English, he wasn't browsing, just 'gimme the perfume, here's the cash, let's go'. Probably the ideal customer aside from the wealthy French regulars.

There is an emphasis on individual style, especially in certain 'cool' districts, but I think the bigger factor is politeness. It's simply impolite to stare, impolite to interfere in someone else's business... so the visually judging/accepting part of the social dynamic is much less constant (or at least, to a tourist, feels less constant). Both positive and negative experiences when you're out in public seem to be 'your own', for example I was in a queue and a man dropped a coin just under my feet, and here in Australia both parties will generally make an effort to pick up the coin as a polite gesture, but he had snatched it up before I even bent down and nobody else had moved a muscle. At the Skytree Aquarium a particularly beautiful fish came up to a woman and I against the glass and I casually smiled at her as if to silently say, "Hey, this is a cool moment we are experiencing" but she just blinked at me and looked away. I assume I was being a bit too friendly. Sharing emotions- even the most casual- seems to be kept for with friends or at home.
I found it relaxing, quite the balm to the anxiety I normally experience in public. Once you get used to everyone walking around in their own personal bubbles it was a wonderful contrast to other cities I have known where everyone is silently sizing-up and assuming this and that just from you walking past.

I'm grinning at the mental image of that, hehe. It really is like that for me at times... I just don't look like the fancy perfumista type. And why should I? I should smell like the fancy perfumista type!
I have had so many people suggest I work in a perfume store or behind a high-end counter, and the idea is nice (sniff! sniff! all day sniffing and helping others find their perfect fragrance!) but I just don't see myself as the dainty, perfectly coiffed sales assistant type. How do they even manage to stand in one place all day... in those shoes? MAGIC! It's magic, it must be.