Harajuku. All things cute and adorable, and everything inbetween.
Harajuku is two stops from Shinjuku (about 7 minutes) by train and should be on your list of places to visit when you are in Tokyo.
Next to the station is Yoyogi Park which houses the Meiji Shinto Shrine, a casual 15 -20 minute stroll from the station. There are some amazing Tori gates on the way, and walking through the forest you wouldn't even know that you were in the middle of Tokyo.
As the shops in Harajuku didn't open until around 10, this was a lovely way to fill in the time before we could go shopping!
Walking back to the station you will have two options, head straight for Takeshita Street or the surrounding streets and shops.
We didn't make good use of our time here, we could have fitted in more but the weather was not kind to us (cold, windy, and for part of it raining and wet) and we were still finding our feet. Harajuku has some of the most amazing stores and weird fashion that it will really depend on what you want to see.
Below is a google map link for some of the best places we visted outside of Takeshita Street and a second one on how to get to Takeshita Street.
Walking map for Harajuku
Takeshita Street
As you can see, the whole trip takes about 30 minutes to walk. (Bring your good walking shoes!) I highly recommend the Awesome Store, it is worth the extra few blocks. We came away with a bag full of weird and wonderful house items (some we needed, others we didn't!)
Remember to look down and in doorways as you walk, there are many second hand clothing stores scattered down this main street. While they aren't the cheapest you will find, they certainly have some interesting clothes for sale!
We had lunch at Eggs 'n things, a strange mishmashed Hawaiian theme eatery. The food was amazing and everything was in English, and just across the road under the 6% Doki Doki, was a caricature shop where we bought this adorable picture of our girls. That was a tad hard to pack to come home with, but it made the trip safely without getting squished)
After lunch we were so full that we skipped the Monster Cafe (mainly due to the 500Yen cover charge and the requirement that everyone must order something) and headed into Takeshita Street. I really can not stress enough that if you can get there during a weekday you should really go then rather than the weekend. It will make the difference between being able to go into shops and actually look, or being swept along with a crowd. If you want to come and see the fashion and not shop, then the weekend is purported to be the best time, as often there will be events on in Yoyogi Park.
Even mid week it was busy, not sardine busy, but crowded enough in some places that you all walked single file to get past. We went for the fashion (well my girls did) and at one of the t-shirt places that was up stairs we even managed to find a Star Wars fleece jacket for my husband (who is 6ft3) so he was pretty happy with himself.
Our best buy this trip would have had to have been at Closet Child (a second hand store selling Lolita Fashion) where I bought a second hand top for my younger daughter for 60Yen (about 10c AUD) This off set the cost of the skirt that she found and fell in love with that was 3400Yen (About $40 AUD)
The closer it got to 3pm the more people flooded into Takeshita Street, so we skipped some of the stores I really wanted to look in (the 100Yen stores like Daiso) to give us enough time to get back to Shinjuku without 'rush-hour' (which is more of 'rush-hours') being too bad.
As I said at the start, we didn't plan this day very well. Getting up earlier would have given us more time in the shops and the 90 minutes we spent at the temple should have been timed to be earlier, so that we were done there when the shops were opening. We didn't even make it into either of the larger department style stores of Tokyu Plaza (famous for it's mirror entrance) or LaForet.
The day was still a successful shopping trip as we came away with a huge amount of items, including clothes, shoes and the home wares from the Awesome Store, we could have spent considerably more money here and more time.
Next to the station is Yoyogi Park which houses the Meiji Shinto Shrine, a casual 15 -20 minute stroll from the station. There are some amazing Tori gates on the way, and walking through the forest you wouldn't even know that you were in the middle of Tokyo.
The shrine sells protective charms (we bought one for my mum for safe driving) and for 500-600Yen you can purchase a wooden tablet and add your own wish and hang it in the grounds of the shrine. We opted for this so that we could leave a little something of ourselves there.
As the shops in Harajuku didn't open until around 10, this was a lovely way to fill in the time before we could go shopping!
Walking back to the station you will have two options, head straight for Takeshita Street or the surrounding streets and shops.
We didn't make good use of our time here, we could have fitted in more but the weather was not kind to us (cold, windy, and for part of it raining and wet) and we were still finding our feet. Harajuku has some of the most amazing stores and weird fashion that it will really depend on what you want to see.
Below is a google map link for some of the best places we visted outside of Takeshita Street and a second one on how to get to Takeshita Street.
Walking map for Harajuku
Takeshita Street
As you can see, the whole trip takes about 30 minutes to walk. (Bring your good walking shoes!) I highly recommend the Awesome Store, it is worth the extra few blocks. We came away with a bag full of weird and wonderful house items (some we needed, others we didn't!)
Remember to look down and in doorways as you walk, there are many second hand clothing stores scattered down this main street. While they aren't the cheapest you will find, they certainly have some interesting clothes for sale!
We had lunch at Eggs 'n things, a strange mishmashed Hawaiian theme eatery. The food was amazing and everything was in English, and just across the road under the 6% Doki Doki, was a caricature shop where we bought this adorable picture of our girls. That was a tad hard to pack to come home with, but it made the trip safely without getting squished)
After lunch we were so full that we skipped the Monster Cafe (mainly due to the 500Yen cover charge and the requirement that everyone must order something) and headed into Takeshita Street. I really can not stress enough that if you can get there during a weekday you should really go then rather than the weekend. It will make the difference between being able to go into shops and actually look, or being swept along with a crowd. If you want to come and see the fashion and not shop, then the weekend is purported to be the best time, as often there will be events on in Yoyogi Park.
Even mid week it was busy, not sardine busy, but crowded enough in some places that you all walked single file to get past. We went for the fashion (well my girls did) and at one of the t-shirt places that was up stairs we even managed to find a Star Wars fleece jacket for my husband (who is 6ft3) so he was pretty happy with himself.
Our best buy this trip would have had to have been at Closet Child (a second hand store selling Lolita Fashion) where I bought a second hand top for my younger daughter for 60Yen (about 10c AUD) This off set the cost of the skirt that she found and fell in love with that was 3400Yen (About $40 AUD)
The closer it got to 3pm the more people flooded into Takeshita Street, so we skipped some of the stores I really wanted to look in (the 100Yen stores like Daiso) to give us enough time to get back to Shinjuku without 'rush-hour' (which is more of 'rush-hours') being too bad.
As I said at the start, we didn't plan this day very well. Getting up earlier would have given us more time in the shops and the 90 minutes we spent at the temple should have been timed to be earlier, so that we were done there when the shops were opening. We didn't even make it into either of the larger department style stores of Tokyu Plaza (famous for it's mirror entrance) or LaForet.
The day was still a successful shopping trip as we came away with a huge amount of items, including clothes, shoes and the home wares from the Awesome Store, we could have spent considerably more money here and more time.
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