On Saturday H&M opened it's second Tokyo store in Harajuku. For about a week now security guards have been making neat lines of eager shoppers, stretching way back to the Meiji Dori intersection. Tokyo trend hunters hungry for H&M were camping out in the chill and rain days before the opening. Today as we wandered around in the area it seemed like everyone was carrying their own little piece of H&M.

Rei Kawakubo's COMME des GARÇONS and H&M timed a collaboration for the Harajuku opening. Paper H&M shopping bags are sporting the H&M and COMME des GARÇONS logo combo. A very clever and ultimately lucrative combo for H&M's second dip into the Japanese market.

While H&M are up against fierce competition in the Tokyo market we are intrigued to note the impact this major new player, dazzling it's pretty lights over Meiji Street, may have on other shopping epicenters for young and budget conscious shoppers in the area e.g. La Foret and Takeshita Dori.