Japan (Day 5) – Harajuku

This was the first (of 2 days) in Japan that I got to do some solo traveling! The excitement and exhilaration that stem from facing an utterly foreign city alone is something I haven’t experienced in a long time. As much as I love spending time with my friends, there would never come a day when I would stop craving for the freedom in going solo.

Each time I walked from my hotel to the Shinjuku subway station, I would pass by this particular Shinto shrine. (the two primary religions of Japan are Shintoism and Buddhism.) a typical Shinto shrine consists of these:

The torii gate. It is the orangeish red structure above. Made out of wood and consisting of two upright supports and two crossbars on the top, it is commonly found at the entrance of the shrine.

I noted its resemblance with the Giant Swing I saw in bangkok. Anyone else see the resemblance?

The main building where visitors make their prayers and offerings. There is also a chamber in this building where the most sacred objects of the shrine are kept.

A stage used for outdoor performances, dances and stuff.

Another torii gate at the same temple. This time it is grey in color and made out of stone. I like it better when it is bright orangeish red though.

As I came out of the shrine, I noticed this huge crab on the front of a building! Advertisement for a seafood restaurant perhaps? Whatever it was advertising, it sure grabbed my attention!

This rainbow-colored building caught my attention too. What a nice splash of colors!

Another brightly-colored building in shades of purple and pink!

In the late afternoon, I paid a visit to Harajuku.

The wooden dark brown and white Harajuku station looked rather unique to me, very much unlike other subway stations.

Outside the station this guy was writing and selling calligraphy.

Photo by lao-ocean

Harajuku is an area in Shibuya that’s a popular haunt for cosplayers. If you go there on a weekend, you would see Japanese teenagers dressed up in various anime and goth characters. But well, I was there on a weekday so I missed all the action. That wasn’t what I was there for anyway.

The evening before, I was also in Harajuku when I chanced upon a tiny shop selling Care Bear merchandise. But it was late and the shop was already closed! Authentic vintage Care Bear merchandise is just so rare and expensive in Singapore. So this time round I was there again to browse all the stuff to my heart’s content.

I was contemplating whether to get a jumbo-sized Care Bear plush toy. (it was a rare vintage edition that could never be found in Singapore.) but carrying it with all my heavy luggage back to Singapore would be a total bitch. So in the end I got just these tiny little Care Bears instead:

Care bear keychains! Say hello to bedtime bear (in blue) and love-a-lot bear (in pink)!

As I came out from Harajuku station, I spotted this colorful mermaid signage made out of balloons! With something that striking, I knew I would never lose my way. If I needed to get out of Harajuku, all I had to do was keep a lookout for it. It opened the way to takeshita dori.

Takeshita dori is a popular street at Harajuku with many trendy shops catering to teenage fashion. You would find shops selling hip-hop fashion and cosplay costumes such as these:

I managed to get some shopping done along this street (though not from the store above).

Graffiti spotted in an alley along takeshita dori.

More graffiti!

King kong signage that stood out from the top of a building. I wonder if it had any significance. A godzilla signage might have been more apt.

On my way out of Harajuku, I stopped by Snoopy Town. This was a huge store situated directly opposite Harajuku station.

The entire store was dedicated to Snoopy merchandise!

This wasn’t the only Snoopy Town store in Tokyo. I spotted a few other branches too.

Snoopy-themed food miniatures! They are so cute and so detailed too!

I love miniatures!

Snoopy plush keychains in the shape of the statue of liberty!

Remember those pooh-themed snacks we saw in disneyland in day 2? There are Snoopy-themed snacks too!

After Harajuku, I went to Shibuya again in an effort to buy back all the things I lost in the cab ride the previous night. Eventually I ran out of yen (it’s only day 5!) and the banks and currency exchangers had all closed for the day! So I had to call it a day and head back to the hotel for a good night’s rest.

But not before having a simmering hot, slurp-icious bowl of udon for dinner.

As usual, rather than making loud, appreciative slurping sounds, I only succeeded in making soft sucking noises. But it was good for me.