GINZA’S NEW GROOVE

When Matsuzakaya Ginza closed down in 2013, its departure marked the end of an era. It was the first department store in the Tokyo shopping district, with successive iterations on the same site drawing buyers of high-end fashion since 1924. Its glittering replacement—a retail and office complex named Ginza Six— seeks to do much the same, by pairing an impressive lineup of local and international luxury brands with art installations. Chief among these is Yayoi Kusama’s pyschedelic Pumpkin, suspended from the ceiling of the central atrium until February. Elsewhere at Ginza Six, tired shoppers can head upstairs to the 4,000-square-meter rooftop garden, while seasonal Japanese ingredients are used for French haute cuisine at The Grand Ginza, a sprawling 13th-floor venue where two restaurants adjoin a lounge, a plush salon, and a bar ( ginza6.tokyo).