Taking the Yamanote and doing an anticlockwise turn from Shinjuku, we find in just a few minutes the stations of Harajuku and Shibuya. Like at Shinjuku station, at Harajuku station we can choose to see two separate worlds depending on the exit we take. The Takeshita exit takes us to Takeshita street, the street that best represents Harajuku. This area is considered one of the hot spots for young people’s fashion and trends, in particular the very unconventional and transgressive ones. If you go to Harajuku for the first time everybody will tell you that you are going to see so many bizzarrly dressed people with crazy hairstyles, cosplay and the like. If this is what you are looking for, though, Takeshita can actually be often disappointing. It has become a very commercial street, full of shops selling odd clothes and accessories, but the atmosphere is no more exciting than the one you may find in London’s Camden Town.
Oddly enough, just two minutes from Harajuku you can find Omotesando, a large avenue with shops of the most prestigious brands where Rolls Royce’s wait in front of Vuitton or Prada stores. It is also full of foreigners and tourists, who for some reason like taking photos in front of shops that you can find in any capital city in the world.
On one side of Harajuku station you can find these two very important –although very different- shopping spots, on the other side you will find a forest, with a path going through it. It takes you to the Meiji Jingu, among the most important Shinto sanctuaries in Japan. It was built in 1920 and dedicated to the Meiji Emepror, under whose reign Japan went through reforms that took it from feudalism to the industrial revolution. Still today, the Meiji Jingu is a very important centre for ceremonies and rituals linked to Shinto and you can often see traditional weddings be celebrated. It is also the most important place to pray for the Shogatsu –New Year’s Day-, which in Japan is seen as a rather religious event to be spent with the family. If you want to make a wish for the coming year at the Meiji Jingu you might have to queue up for hours.
The dozens of Burgundy wine barrels that you find at the entrance as a sacred offer are one of those things that leave the Western tourist confused.
Shibuya, the stop after Harajuku, is one of the most popular places in Tokyo and considered one of the most important and dynamic areas for fashion and young people’s trends. It is also a very important entertainment spot, full of restaurants, izakayas, clubs for a young clientele and love hotels, a very Japanese creation: in a world of narrow and crowded living spaces it is very normal that many couples –sometimes even married ones- seek some intimacy in hotels that offer rooms for a few hours. The rooms can be extremely refined or offer special services –so if you are looking for some hours of intimacy in a Roman Empire themed room or in a chamber of torture you will surely find a love hotel of your taste.
In front of Shibuya station there is a statue of a dog. It’s Hachiko, whose store is known to many: the dog that used to greet his master every day at the station and kept going to the station for years even after his master died. The statue of Hachiko is every day a very important meeting point for thousands of people looking for a recognizable fixed spot in such a crowded and chaotic area.
An area that is not directly on the Yamanote line but still inside the quarter of circle that we have seen so far is Roppongi. The homesick Westerner can go to Roppongi to feel the atmosphere of home. It is, in fact, the most Westernized area in Tokyo, with most embassies being located here. It is very easy to see diplomat’s families or young Western-looking kids maybe wearing an international school’s uniform. Many shops, restaurants and streets remind of France or have a European taste. Roppongi is also a very important spot for night life, with bars and clubs full of foreigners and of Japanese people who like foreign culture. Although the average Japanese speaks very little English or is too shy to speak to you in a foreign language, in Roppongi you will find dozens of Japanese people who cannot wait to practice their English with you.
very cool!
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