Japan

[TRAVEL] Japan – Harajuku, Tokyo

Harajuku Cosplay Gloomy Bear Mango Shave Ice
Gwen Stefani catapulted ‘Harajuku’ into the Western world. All of a sudden we all knew a little about this interesting district of Tokyo. But what is Harajuku really all about, do people there really dress like anime characters and what about that famous cosplay bridge?

Harajuku Bridge

Harajuku Bridge

Harajuku Bridge; it used to be a very famous cosplay spot for Japanese youth on Sundays. We all remember Gwen Stefani introducing the Harajuku Girls and raving about all the inspiration she got from the streets of Harajuku (including Harajuku Bridge). The above is what I expected to find on a Sunday – formerly THE day for cosplaying – on Harajuku Bridge. Reality turned out to be a little different.

Harajuku bridge tokyo Harajuku bridge

This is what we found. Nobody and nothing. When I got home from my trip to Japan I did some googling and found this forum. It pretty much explains that the hype of cosplaying on the bridge died down. The youth of Tokyo noticed that more and more tourists discovered the bridge and thus fore the bridge was no longer a ‘cool’ place to hang out.

Takeshita Street

Harajuku Tokyo Guy in bear custume harajuku

Harajuku cosplay Big school bags Harajuku

Luckily there are still a lot of cosplayers/uniquely dressed people in Takeshita Street. The guy in Gloomy Bear costume is apparently always there. Takeshita Street is were you can find all kinds of interesting fashion belonging to different Japanese subcultures like Gyaru, Lolita and Decora.

Daiso Tokyo Harajuku Japanese crepe

Takeshita Street is also home to one of the biggest Daiso stores I’ve ever been to. It’s a 100-yen store that sells amazing products. You can’t compare it to your typical one euro or dollar store. Almost al of the stuff you get at Daiso is super cute like you expect from Japan and the quality is great for the prize you pay. I highly recommend checking this store out!

Tokyu Plaza Omotesando

Harajuku unique mallHarajuku mall
 Schermafbeelding 2012-09-19 om 19.29.06
And for those of us who aren’t that into Japan’s unique subcultures there is Tokyu Plaza Omotesando. This cool looking mall offers a lot of different clothing and jewelry stores and has a great cafe near the entrance. Around Tokyu Plaza are a lot of American and British stores like Topshop and American Eagle.

Want see all the places I travel to first hand? Follow me on Instagram & Twitter! And have you ever been to Japan? If not would you like to visit? 
With Love,

Elise Mooijman

 

12 Comments

  1. dobeglobe
    11/09/2014 / 00:37

    Ahhh, ik mis Japan als ik deze foto’s zie! Nog even volhouden hier in NL en dan weer lekker terug! x

    Reply
    • thebeautysuitcase
      Author
      11/09/2014 / 00:46

      Ik mis Japan ook ontzettend!! Ben net een blogpost aan het tikken over Osaka en mijn openingszin is dat ik Japan mis haha!

      Reply
      • dobeglobe
        11/09/2014 / 01:21

        HAHAHA FEEL YOU GIRL! Ik ben bezig met een post over Kyoto! Te toevallig dit ! Can’t wait to read yours ! x

        Reply
  3. Jasmine
    19/08/2014 / 13:47

    De coole kids gaan natuurlijk niet tussen alle toeristen hangen 🙂 Volgde vroeger een fashion blog enkel over deze extravagante en unieke stijl in Azië (Shibuya of dergelijk). Erg inspirerend en leuk om naar te kijken. Btw shaved ice?

    Reply
  4. weandbeauty
    18/08/2014 / 14:21

    Het blijft apart hoe andere levenstijl zij hebben en ook hun kleding is zo anders dan hier in Nederland. Als je in mijn dorpje er zo uitziet kijk letterlijk iedereen je na. Heel leuk om te zien! Liefs, Jessie

    Reply
    • thebeautysuitcase
      Author
      18/08/2014 / 14:23

      Echt he! Daar is het ook niet super normaal overigens, ‘gewone’ mensen zijn er aan gewend maar het is niet 100% sociaal geaccepteerd als je begrijpt wat ik bedoel!

      Reply
    • thebeautysuitcase
      Author
      16/08/2014 / 15:36

      Is het ook! Echt als je de mogelijkheid hebt ga naar Japan, het is zo’n uniek land. Qua prijs is het op dit moment ook heel gunstig!

      Reply
  6. youniqueblog
    16/08/2014 / 11:26

    Ik vind de Harajuku-stijl echt cool. Vind het een goed iets dat Gwen Stefani het wereldwijd bekend heeft gemaakt. Maar of ik zelf zo zou gaan rondlopen? Neuh 😉

    Reply

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