Takashimaya’s Nihombashi flagship store, originally built in the 1930’s by Nippon Life Insurance, was given the status of Important Cultural Property in 2009. Living in a building of historic importance gives one of the world’s pre-eminent luxury department store companies that extra little bit of cache — the trick now is to find ways of being a retailer of future importance, a stiff hurdle upon which so many department store companies are stumbling. At the moment, Takashimaya looks up t