Japan - May 2019

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. 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 c...

Shinjuku station is a curious beast, with so many exits and entrances it would be pretty easy to get disorientated. One thing to note is that the signage in there is amazing. Look online for a map. It will save your life. This map is great (even though it is upside down with South pointing up) but it gives you a pretty good idea just how many trains come in and go out from Shinjuku Station. (View the original here: Shinjuku Station ) We went into the station via the South Entrance every time, so we knew which way we needed to walk to catch our trains leaving from their platforms. Coming off was more of a hit and miss, we just followed people from the platform to the main station area and found somewhere to stand while we looked around for an obvious exit. Don't stress too much, there are signs everywhere pointing to various exits. As long as you know where you are heading it shouldn't be too much of a problem. For example the West Exit and the Central West exit are the ...