Harajuku (原宿) in a 360 video
Harajuku (原宿), with funky retro clothing stores and cosplay shops along Takeshita Street, and conventional, upmarket boutiques on leafy Omotesando Avenue, is renowned for vibrant street art and youth fashion. The surrounding lanes are packed with small, trendy bars, while dessert shops and carts specialise in sweet crêpes, doughnuts, and bubble tea. The Watari Contemporary Art Museum presents temporary, cutting-edge exhibits.
Harajuku (原宿) is the popular name for the district around Harajuku Station in Tōkyō. The name is not used on most maps - officially the area belongs to the Jingumae (神宮前) district of Shibuya. Harajuku is especially popular with young Japanese and, with its many shops and boutiques, is considered one of the most important fashion centres in Japan. The small shopping street Takeshita-dōri and the Harajuku section of Meiji-dōri are the main shopping areas. The somewhat punk-heavy youth fashion predominantly on offer here gave its name to a style of its own, Harajuku-Kei.
On Sunday afternoons, the small bridge between the station and the entrance to Yoyogi Park is the largest regular meeting place in Japan for elaborately and fancifully dressed up young cosplayers, especially so-called Lolitas. There are often as many photographers as photographed people there. In the adjacent part of the park, many young bands of various, mostly rock music genres also play along the paths on Sunday afternoons. It is mainly through international artists that this part of the city has become popular in the western world today. The dance project Harajuku was named after it and the district is also sung about by Gwen Stefani, SISMA and Belle and Sebastian, among others. In contrast to Takeshita-dōri, which is dominated by young people, the Jizō-dōri (地蔵通り) shopping street is popular with older people. This is located in Toshima Ward, north of Sugamo Station. Popularly, the area around the Jizō-dōri is also called Grandmother's Harajuku (おばあちゃんの原宿, Obā-chan no Harajuku).
The Ukiyo-e Ōta Memorial Museum of Art is located in Harajuku.
On Sunday afternoons, the small bridge between the station and the entrance to Yoyogi Park is the largest regular meeting place in Japan for elaborately and fancifully dressed up young cosplayers, especially so-called Lolitas. There are often as many photographers as photographed people there. In the adjacent part of the park, many young bands of various, mostly rock music genres also play along the paths on Sunday afternoons. It is mainly through international artists that this part of the city has become popular in the western world today. The dance project Harajuku was named after it and the district is also sung about by Gwen Stefani, SISMA and Belle and Sebastian, among others. In contrast to Takeshita-dōri, which is dominated by young people, the Jizō-dōri (地蔵通り) shopping street is popular with older people. This is located in Toshima Ward, north of Sugamo Station. Popularly, the area around the Jizō-dōri is also called Grandmother's Harajuku (おばあちゃんの原宿, Obā-chan no Harajuku).
The Ukiyo-e Ōta Memorial Museum of Art is located in Harajuku.
