Harajuku

After a long time of day dreaming about going to Harajuku, I finally decided to go and check out what all the fuss was about. My friend Riccardo and I met up in the busy Harajuku station two weekends ago to explore the fashion district of Tokyo together.

When I got off the train, I couldn't tell I was in the famous Harajuku district though- the station was pretty shabby in comparison to places like Shibyua, Shinjuku, even my little station Kamata! I was pretty surprised by this. When I finally found Riccardo (westerners stand out here...) we decided to check out a near by Meiji Temple. It was so bizarre how the city was right beside us, but we found ourselves in the forest, surrounded by nothing but beautiful trees and amazing temples.


This is an example of the walk through the woods to the temple. It was absolutely beautiful. The sun was shining through the trees and lit up the entire place this brilliant bright green. I felt almost like I was back home in British Columbia! It was amazing. Riccardo thought it was funny that I was more impressed by the forest than the temple itself- but I can't help but get the feeling like once you've seen a couple temples, they all start to become one and the same. I have got to say that the Meiji Temple was beautiful, and I was lucky enough to watch a marriage being held while I was there. The bride was stunning, and dressed obviously in Traditional Japanese Wedding attire, huge head dress and all.

With their heads bowed, slowly walking through the temple grounds, I realized that the difference between West and East cultures is pretty amazingly huge. Weddings are always a celebration, and it was clearly a celebration in Japan, but it was so solemn and serious. The bride was not smiling at all, instead she looked about ready to cry under her gorgeous veil. Although I haven't been to many weddings anyways, I get the feeling that a western wedding is more of a giant party. People laughing and dancing, music playing as the bride glides down the isle. It was very different here to say the least.

This is a shot of the temple, and some geisha I saw in Harajuku!


It was amazing.


Now for the fashion of Harajuku!

I went back later on that weekend with Naomi, to spend some more time in the city part of Harajuku. I wanted to know where Gwen Stefani got all her inspiration from! Walking down the streets I was not surprised that a westerner like Stefani would be delighted at the style here. The girls wore freaking CRAZY outfits, ranging from Little Bo Peep, to hard core punks with boots like you wouldn't believe and face masks with drawn on sad mouths. I wandered around with my mouth hanging open, trying not to stand out as much as I knew I was.
While you're not supposed to take photos of the clothes in the stores, I could not resist when I saw this line up of outfits. I was trying to picture the reaction my mother would have to something like this and was uncontrollably laughing with Naomi as we picked out which outfit we would for sure go out clubbing in (sarcasm insert here...). After I snapped the shot however I thought that it might be a good idea to head out, I was worried the store owner would be upset if he caught me and I didn't want to cause a scene. We left and continued down along one of the most packed streets I have ever laid eyes on. (Pictured to the right) I felt so overwhelmed at all the people, all the colours, designs and noise. But it was amazing. Naomi and I got an ice cream at "Mac-u-don-al-u-do's" and continued to wander down the street in awe.


After finishing up there, we found a place called "Kiddie Land" and decided to check it out. It was an entire building (at least 6 floors) dedicated to toys and different themes ranging from Hello Kitty to Snoopy to random stuffed animals to Miyazaki. I thought I had died and gone to heaven! They had everything you could ever imagine as a child; cool T Shirts, awesome headphones, Ipod covers with various themes, stuffed animals in every inch of the place and toys and toys in between. It was amazing. they have this popular animation here which is basically any type of bean cartooned with a smiley face on it. They had life sized stuffed animals of these beans and I thought that they were pretty cute. Everything was brightly coloured, making little noises and there were impressed kids all around me. I loved it.

I hope to go back to Harajuku again soon to explore a little more of the district. I feel like it has so much to offer and I know that two trips will not cover even half of it. I can't wait to see it again- who knows, maybe I'll come back with crazy style after all the exposure here.