Harajuku: A study in contrasts

Hi everyone,

If I had to pick one thing I most love about Tokyo (well, one thing not related to food or drink), it would be the willingness to juxtapose the modern and the traditional, the new and the old.  Temples are tucked away in the most unlikely places, a pleasant surprise in the hustle and bustle of the city.  It's this attitude that underpins so much of what makes this such a cool city--they are open and willing to embrace new things, but never forget where they came from and never fail to honor that past

There's nowhere else I've ever been like it--and nowhere is this more apparent than in Harajuku, one of my favorite neighborhoods in Tokyo.  Let's go for a walk:



A mere thirty seconds' walk from the station gets you to Takeshita-dori, a pedestrian mall that is the root of Harajuku's rep as the heart of young people's fashion in Japan

Always crowded, Takeshita-dori is where all the cool young people go to hang out, eat crepes, and check out all cool fashion and accessories.  The talk is that designers from around the world come here or send reps, as it's a great place to get a pulse on what's cool today (or what will be cool tomorrow)

We've got the girly . . .

. . . the goth . . .

. . . and the I'm not quite sure but I'm cool if you're cool

No trip to Tokyo is complete without a wander down Takeshita-dori.  Head on down, grab a crepe from one of the ubiquitous stands, and even if you're not going to buy anything enjoy some of my favorite people-watching in the world

You didn't really think I'd get through an entire post this long without *something* food related, did you?

But this post is about contrasts and juxtapositions, so let's head back to the station.  If you walk thirty seconds in the other direction, you end up in Yoyogi Park and Meiji Shrine--which might as well be another world from the craziness and sensory overload of Takeshita.  175 acres of park in the middle of Tokyo, with a gorgeous shrine in the middle, a little oasis

A little different from the gate at the beginning of Takeshita-dori

Aerial view, courtesy of wiki.  Go donate!!!

Relatively young, Meiji Shrine will be celebrating a mere century pretty soon.  It was formally dedicated in 1920 to house the remains and honor the memory of Emperor Meiji, who presided over Japan during the period now known as the Meiji Restoration.  I'll skip over the history lesson, but the fact that Japan went from self-imposed isolation to a major international industrial power in just about a single generation (straddling the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries) is largely due to the leadership of Emperor Meiji.  After his death, both he and his consort were deified in the Shinto religion, and this shrine was built for them

The opening gate to the shrine

Wash your hands before paying your respects, of course

How cool do you have to be in life to continue to get barrels of sake given to you after you die?  Because that's now my goal

Just as no trip to Tokyo is complete without the trip to Takeshita-dori, I don't think it's complete without a visit to Meiji-jinja.   And if you see them both on the same day, you'll have a touch of understanding of one of my favorite things about this city

You might even make a friend!

Noah out