Photo by Hannah Morgan on Unsplash
If you’ve spent any time in Harajuku or Shibuya, you’ve almost certainly seen one: a boxy canvas backpack with a wide, clam-shell mouth that snaps open with a brass clasp instead of a zipper. That’s Anello, and it’s one of the quiet success stories of Japanese street fashion — a backpack brand that went from practical school-and-commute gear to a must-buy souvenir for visitors from Taiwan, Korea, Hong Kong, and increasingly Europe and North America. This guide covers what the brand actually is, where to buy it for a fair price, and the mistakes that trip up first-time buyers.
What Makes Anello Worth Seeking Out
Anello’s signature piece is the “mouth” backpack: heavy cotton-polyester canvas, a wide top opening secured by a metal clasp (instead of a zip), and a boxy silhouette that holds its shape even half-empty. It’s not a luxury brand — it’s a mid-market Japanese label built on durability and a distinctive look, which is exactly why it caught on. The bags are sturdy enough for daily commuting and school use, but the retro clasp design photographs well, which fueled its popularity across Asia in the mid-2010s and kept it in steady rotation ever since.
Beyond the classic mouth backpack, the current lineup includes mini and large sizes, tote and shoulder bag versions, and frequent colorway drops — plain canvas, denim-look fabric, pastel seasonal colors, and collaboration prints. Some collabs (anime tie-ins, designer crossovers) sell out fast and get resold at a markup, so if you see a print you like, don’t assume it’ll still be there next week.
Where to Buy: Official Stores
The most reliable place to buy genuine Anello at list price is an official or authorized store. Tokyo has the best concentration:
- Shibuya and Harajuku — both areas have standalone Anello shops or large counters inside bigger fashion buildings, stocking the fullest range of sizes and current-season colors. Expect typical Japanese retail hours of roughly 10:00–20:00, though you should confirm the exact hours for whichever location you’re heading to before you go, since storefronts in this area change seasonally.
- Osaka’s Shinsaibashi/Dotonbori area also has Anello retail presence, useful if you’re doing a Kansai-based trip rather than Tokyo. If you’re coming from Tokyo for a day of shopping, the Nozomi is the fastest Shinkansen option to Osaka and back in a single day.
Official stores are the safest bet for authenticity and for catching new-season or collaboration releases first, but they rarely discount — you’ll pay full retail.
Where to Buy: Department Stores and Chains
You don’t need to hunt down a dedicated Anello shop to find the brand. It’s carried widely enough that casual buyers can simply pick one up while doing other shopping:
- Loft and Tokyu Hands (now rebranded as Hands in some locations) — both lifestyle chains stock a rotating selection of Anello backpacks, usually the classic mouth style in a handful of colors, at standard retail price. Convenient if you’re already browsing stationery or travel goods.
- Don Quijote — some larger branches carry Anello alongside other bag brands, occasionally at a slight discount, though selection is inconsistent store to store.
- Shopping malls and station-adjacent fashion floors in major cities often carry Anello as part of a multi-brand bag section, so keep an eye out even outside Tokyo and Osaka.
These outlets are good if your schedule doesn’t allow for a dedicated trip to Shibuya or Harajuku — you can grab a bag as a practical add-on to unrelated errands.
Price Guide: Budget to Splurge
Anello sits deliberately in the affordable-to-mid-range bracket, which is part of its appeal:
- Budget (¥2,900–¥3,900): mini and small mouth backpacks, basic solid colors, no special print.
- Mid-range (¥4,000–¥6,500): the standard regular and large mouth backpacks, most of the mainline colorways, and most of the shoulder bag and tote variants.
- Splurge (¥7,000+): collaboration prints, limited-edition fabrics (denim, leather-trim), and occasionally repro or “boost” series with premium materials. These are the ones that sell out and get resold above retail on secondhand apps, so buy in-store if you spot one you want rather than waiting.
Tax-free shopping (consumption tax exemption for tourists) generally requires a minimum spend per store, per day, so it’s worth bundling an Anello purchase with other shopping at the same shop if you’re chasing the tax-free threshold — ask at the register, since eligibility rules depend on passport presentation and the specific retailer.
Best Time to Shop and Common Mistakes
Shibuya and Harajuku shopping streets are busiest on weekend afternoons and during school holiday periods, when both tourists and local teenagers crowd the same small shops — weekday mornings right after opening are noticeably calmer and give you first pick of stock. If your trip overlaps with peak Japanese school excursion season, be aware that the same Harajuku/Shibuya crowding pattern shows up around temples and cultural sites too, similar to what’s described in our guide to shugaku ryoko season.
The most common mistakes buyers make:
- Assuming airport shops carry it. They generally don’t — Anello is a city-retail brand, not an airport souvenir brand, so buy before you head to Narita or Haneda, not after.
- Not checking the clasp mechanism in person. Because the signature closure is a metal clasp rather than a zipper, it’s worth testing it open and shut in the shop — quality can vary between the budget and mid-range lines, and a stiff or loose clasp is immediately obvious by hand.
- Overpaying for “limited edition” resale listings online or through secondhand marketplaces when the same print is still sitting in a Harajuku store at retail price. Check in person before paying a markup.
- Buying from unmarked street stalls expecting an authentic bag. See below.
How to Spot a Fake
Anello’s popularity has produced a steady stream of counterfeit and “inspired by” bags, particularly in discount electronics-and-goods districts like Ameyoko in Ueno, where stalls sometimes sell visually similar mouth-clasp backpacks without the Anello branding or at suspiciously low prices. A few checks: genuine Anello bags have a clear woven brand label inside (not just a printed tag), consistent stitching along the clasp mount, and a QR-code or barcode tag typical of Japanese retail rather than a generic hangtag. If a price feels too low for the size and style — well under the ¥2,900 budget floor — treat it as a red flag rather than a bargain. Buying from an official store, Loft, or Tokyu Hands removes this risk entirely.
If you’re building out a wider shopping list of authentic Japanese goods to bring home — alongside workwear-inspired pieces like jika-tabi split-toe boots or kitchen items from our sushi-making tools guide — an Anello backpack is a practical, wearable souvenir rather than a shelf item, which is a big part of why it’s stayed popular for over a decade. And if language is a worry while navigating smaller shops outside the main tourist strips, a tool like those covered in our translation gadget guide can smooth over basic questions about sizing, stock, or tax-free eligibility.