Harajuku

[Jent]

I searched your website for this place and actaullly found quite a bit on it. I was surprised. But I really want to know about Harajuku in general. I heard that every Sunday is when all teens go there, all decked out in cosplay and such, gettin' their picturs taken by tourists. I love that, I think it's really fascinating.

So, I come to this:

Has anyone ever been to Harajuku? If so, explain what it was like..

And can I get some pictures .. There are some on this site, but I have trouble finding them... or a lot of them.

Your help would be much appreciated.

 

[den4]

Harajuku is the hangout for the young preppy wannabes and the gaijin that want to hangout with the wannabes. Next to Shibuya, perhaps one of the most so-called trendy places in Tokyo (the Ginza crowd tend to be more for the wealthy and business types)...
When I was working in Shibuya, every Spring we'd go to the Jingu-mae park and watch the hanami (cherry blossom watching) and that was the big thing.....on Sundays, they'd have the '50's rockers dancin' to Elvis and all had them funky '50's hairdos.....until the gothic crowd became popular....and now the cosplay, I guess.....lots and lots of shops for the teenybopper crowds selling all sorts of trendy fashion clothing and items for the wannabe crowd, and they do have some decent more mainstream shops as well, hidden amongst the crowd...sorry no pics available... :O

 

[Jent]

:shrugs: That's okay. (never thought of herself as a wannabe)
Thanks for the info. I personally think that it seems like a neat place.

 

[eimik]

Mmmmmm

crepes.

Mmmmmm

 

[den4]

nothing wrong with harajuku, it's just a place for people into young fashion styles being generated by some hidden marketers trying to create new trends of the moment...since the trends tend to change by the day at times, it just comes off as being somewhat shallow to me.....but since the young j-folks can't play in the outdoors because the parks and recreation areas are so limited (in the large cities), I suppose it's only natural that they have to create other forms of amusement to keep the people from going berserk....

 

[Jent]

:nods: I understand. I've just always really liked the elegant gothic fashions. I wish I had some of those clothes. There it might be common, but here in Nebraska everyone would be shocked... (or something)

And yes, I think it's better they do something that is atleast a little constructive with their time.. ... I mean, Japan doesn't have a very high crime rate does it?

 

[den4]

crime rate in japan is still not as great as in other countries, but the shocking crimes of late have made headlines.....and many are real sickos that are coming out of the woodworks....

just some examples:
http://mdn.mainichi.co.jp/news/20030423p2a00m0dm003001c.html
http://mdn.mainichi.co.jp/news/20030423p2a00m0dm021001c.html
http://mdn.mainichi.co.jp/news/20030423p2a00m0dm001000c.html
http://mdn.mainichi.co.jp/news/archive/200304/21/20030421p2a00m0fp016001c.html
http://mdn.mainichi.co.jp/news/archive/200304/21/20030421p2a00m0dm010000c.html
although the mainichi tends to lean towards sensationalistic news, so you get that trend there....

http://www.japantimes.com/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?nn20030423b5.htm

and this is one disturbing one: http://mdn.mainichi.co.jp/waiwai/0304/0422cat.html

 

[den4]

having written all that, Japan does tend to make a BIG news item out of some minor incident, too, so you need to see it from the big perspective of the entire country, rather than one small village or one city....
but the trend of disturbing crimes is on the rise....

 

[momo]

Originally posted by Jent
Has anyone ever been to Harajuku? If so, explain what it was like..

I go to Harajyuku and Shibuya everytime I go back to Japan~!
I usually meet friends there. It's fun to go shop around there and
find your favorite brand~! hehe
and speaking of "Harajyuku", there is a good Okonomiyaki restaurant, too~! it's called "Sakura tei" I recommend you to go there during a lunch time(11:30-15:00), because it's cheaper and all-you-can-eat.
Sakura tei's web site:
さくら亭,お好み焼き,もんじゃ,鉄板焼き,原宿,渋谷,新宿

 

[eimik]

Yah, there are some really baaaad bullying done in their Junior and Senior High schools. And the girls are apparently really really mean. Therefore the victims are usually suicidal. Its unfortunate because the teachers ignore it, and also the Japanese seems to shun and do not promote counselling.

 

[Erik]

Originally posted by eimik
Yah, there are some really baaaad bullying done in their Junior and Senior High schools. And the girls are apparently really really mean. Therefore the victims are usually suicidal. Its unfortunate because the teachers ignore it, and also the Japanese seems to shun and do not promote counselling.

This happens in any country.

 

[den4]

scary avatar, Erik....would be effective to scare the bullies and mean girls, though...

 

[Shadow]

Originally posted by Erik
This happens in any country.

How about the suicidal rate in Japan? I heard that it was pretty high considering the unemployment rate...

 

[den4]

suicidal rates are always high in the month of April, the month of death.....

 

[mdchachi]

There's some Harajuku pictures here:

Harajuku Photos | TrekJapan
Harajuku

The scene was much bigger and more interesting when the street going through there was closed to vehicle traffic on Sundays.

 

[Erik]

Originally posted by Shadow
How about the suicidal rate in Japan? I heard that it was pretty high considering the unemployment rate...

Tragic of course, but not limited to only japan... plenty of depressed areas all over the world to fuel suicide.