KOJIMA - THE JEANS CITY
Kojima is one of the most interesting places to visit for any denim head who is in Japan. Known as the ‘ Jeans City’ , the whole city has been officially branded as such with support of government and private companies. The city is in Okayama Prefecture and is about 4 hours from Tokyo station by Shinkasen (Bullet train). If you are near Sunshine City, you will need about 30 min to reach the Tokyo station and from there it will take around 3 hours to Okayama and from there you need to take a smaller train to Kojima - which will take about 30 minutes. The total ticket for one way travel will be about $180 . Once in Kojima train station you will be welcomed by Denim props all throughout and it gets you mentally prepared to see tons of great denim ! The taxi will hardly take 5 minutes to Jeans Street and then the fun starts as you visit shop after shop of most well known Japanese brands at one place. The selvedge strip on the road, or the huge jeans flying atop a pole adds to the whole atmosphere being in one of the most well known Jeans place globally !
You can easily do a day trip leaving around 6.30-7.00 train in the morning and returning back in the evening by another Shinkasen train.
Besides visiting great brands like
Japan Blue, Momotaro, Big John on the Jeans street , you may also want to see the museum
- A History of Denim - by Betty Smith Jeans - which is not very far from the Jeans street.
Founded in 1962, Betty Smith is one of the more well-known denim brands in Japan, and offers visitors to Kojima some unique experiences, one of which being its “Jeans Museum”. Just a short cab-ride away from Kojima Station, the Betty Smith Jeans Museum gives an interesting visual history of denim, and not just limited to Japanese denim! Stepping into the museum felt like stepping into a saloon in the Old-West.