Neighborhood (styled NEIGHBORHOOD) is a Japanese streetwear brand founded in 1994 by Shinsuke Takizawa in Tokyo’s Harajuku district. One of the foundational brands of the Ura-Harajuku movement — the scene that gave birth to A Bathing Ape, Undercover, and modern Japanese streetwear — Neighborhood built its identity around motorcycle culture, punk rock, and American military and workwear heritage, filtered through a distinctly Japanese sensibility.
Key Facts
- Founded: 1994
- Founder/Designer: Shinsuke Takizawa
- Headquarters: Harajuku, Tokyo, Japan
- Industry: Streetwear, Menswear
History
Takizawa was born in Nagano Prefecture and came to fashion through an unusual route: a student exchange to London in the early 1980s exposed him to the final years of British punk culture and a musical world that would define his sensibility. Back in Tokyo, he began working as a freelance stylist and through a roommate was introduced to Hiroshi Fujiwara — the Japanese hip-hop pioneer and streetwear godfather — for whose record label Major Force Takizawa began designing graphics. In 1994, alongside friends including Tetsu Nishiyama (who would later found WTAPS), Takizawa opened a small, cheap store in Harajuku, naming it Neighborhood — after the community of friends and collaborators surrounding him.
Neighborhood was one of three brands that launched in 1994 from the Ura-Harajuku scene, alongside A Bathing Ape and Undercover. Where BAPE drew from hip-hop and Undercover from avant-garde, Neighborhood focused on biker culture, heavy metal, American military clothing, and the world of motorcycle customisation. Takizawa himself is a dedicated rider, and his passion for machines has guided the brand’s direction for over thirty years. Notable collaborations have included Adidas, Supreme, Vans, and Converse. In his own words: “The brand’s creations focus on making products inspired by my lifestyle.”
Aesthetic
Neighborhood produces selvedge denim, leather motorcycle jackets, military-spec outerwear, graphic T-shirts, and accessories defined by a vocabulary of skull imagery, chain details, distressed finishes, and American Heritage references refracted through Japanese precision. “Craft With Pride” has been the brand’s consistent ethos across three decades. Stocked by END. Clothing, Dover Street Market, SSENSE, and select international retailers.
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