In summer, Isetan and Marui were my go-to spots for extra-tall yukata and bathing suits. Before going in to work, I would shop for clothes and shoes at the Subnade underground shopping center near the Shinjuku-Dōri thoroughfare and buy cosmetics at the Isetan department store, where the counter staff would teach me the latest make up techniques. I was a regular visitor to Shinjuku from 1995 to 2003, when I worked as a hostess in the cross-dressing bars and “new half” pubs on Shinjuku Kuyakusho-Dōri.