From a JET in Kagoshima to lululemon Harajuku: lululemon Opens Its Japan Global Flagship in Harajuku

By Chris Chiba-Tow, Co-Director, JETAA Tokyo

Fellow JETs and JET Alumni —

Some of you know me from JETAA events; what you might not know is what I've been doing on the retail side of Tokyo. This August, I got to help open one of the biggest projects of my career: lululemon's new Global Flagship Store in Harajuku, where I now serve as Assistant Store Manager.

It's been twelve years since I first came to Japan on JET, and eight years since I first joined lululemon in Japan. I started out as a part-time staff in Osaka before moving into store leadership in Tokyo. Like a lot of us in this community, my path here started with the JET Programme — and it's been a genuinely full-circle moment to go from teaching in Japan to helping lead the opening of my company's third Global Flagship worldwide, after London's Regent Street and SoHo in New York.

A JETAA connection

If you're in Tokyo, the store is right by Harajuku and Meiji-jingumae Stations — come say hello. I'd love to show any fellow JETAA members around, and I'm always happy to talk shop about building a career in Japan after JET.

Chris Chiba-Tow is Assistant Store Manager at the lululemon Harajuku Global Flagship Store and Co-Director of JETAA Tokyo.