Harajuku

Hi all, Jennifer here. Last Monday was loads of fun and "firsts" as I ventured out during the week with some of my new girlfriends to Harajuku in Tokyo. Although I feel quite confident navigating transit systems, it was still a small victory to find my way into the city on my own. After meeting at Harajuku train station, Karen, Marilyn and I took to the streets to explore this part of town.

Harajuku is most well-known for people dressing up in Anime costumes and is the center of teenage culture in Japan. It proved consistent with its reputation, however Marilyn came prepared with a Trip Advisor recommended walking tour which also guided us through a beautiful park and a high-end shopping district.

I was too slow on the draw to capture Little Bo Peep, but this is a good example of some of the fashions in Harajuku.

Our first stop was Yoyogi park, which proved a peaceful respite from the busy city. As we are finding to be the norm, the park also included a temple and shrine, and we were able to watch as some visitors prayed and performed religious rituals. We also came upon an area where guests could write their own prayers on wooden plaques and hang them on a fence surrounding a divine tree for 500 yen ($5). According to the sign, the prayers are offered to the deities enshrined at Meiji Jingu Shrine and are conveyed by the priests every morning.

Me, Marilyn and Karen in front of the shrine welcoming us to Yoyogi park.

Wall of sake barrels in the park. Maybe we should have brought cups :-)?

Ritual cleansing before entering the temple.

Visitors composing their prayers before hanging them around the divine tree.

Next, we wandered down Takeshita Dori (Takeshita Street) which is the crowded epicenter for youth fashion shops. Both sides of the streets were lined with unique stores focused mostly on hip fashion for the younger crowd. There was an undeniable increase in the number of visitors to this area around the time that school let out. No coincidence there.

View at the entrance to Takeshita Dori.

Nearby we discovered other streets also geared toward shopping, but at an entirely different level. We're talking Louis Vuitton, Guess, etc. Let's just say we focused our time in the Oriental Bazaar, a store selling Japanese goods in a more acceptable price range :-). 

All-in-all we had a fantastic day out and about with each other and with the local population. It really is amazing how many people are walking along the streets in the middle of a Monday work day. Such is Tokyo, I suppose!

Come to Tokyo, join the crowd!