Global demand is reshaping secondhand fashion in Japan

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For decades, Tokyo's fashion scene has held a certain cultural cachet among sartorial enthusiasts. Yohji Yamamoto, Issey Miyake, Comme des Garcons, Kenzo, Sacai and Junya Watanabe — innumerable brands have helped define Japan's global fashion identity, but so, too, have Harajuku-inspired subcultures, avant-garde streetwear aesthetics and an overall ethos of impeccable craftsmanship.

However, accelerated by social media, an increasingly weakening yen, a record-breaking tourism boom and the rise of online resale platforms, Japan's secondhand fashion industry — where many valuable pieces of apparel could once be had for a fraction of their retail prices — is no longer a market for domestic consumers alone.

It's a global one.