9 posts tagged “harajuku”

A little glimpse of DAIKANYAMA...

Some more of Harajyuku. This is mainly the "Urahara" area, which is the neighborhood behind Omotesando street & the Omotesando Hills shopping center. There are also a few pics of Omotesando street... As you can see...I love Japanese architecture. The buildings are so unique and amazing; and since there are less strict construction and land laws/restrictions/codes, the architects have more creative freedom to create even more beautiful, crazy designs.

It's day two everyone!!! Yes, we were back to our old "stomping grounds" again. Harajyuku desu. It's always Ura-Hara and the quiet streets of Aoyama, the posh suburban district of the ever-bustling Tokyo.

Ah...I almost forgot one more thing!! We ALWAYS gotta make a trip to eat at the lovely BAPE Cafe!? (and yes, this restaurant's name has an exclamation mark and question mark in it...don't ask me why...it just does.) This cafe always showcases the Simpsons collaboration artwork drawn by the Original Fake artist KAWS (a.k.a. Brian Donnelley). This series of artwork is titled "the Kimpsons". Not only that...but the food is pretty good, and the prices are very affordable, even for kids on a tight budget. If you ever get a chance to go to Harajyuku and/or the Ura-hara side...you should definitely make a trip to BAPE Cafe!? . If not for the food, then for the incredible artwork....and pretty much everything's got a Bathing Ape print, logo or design on it...right down to the ice cubes.

Yep...just like I had promised...there's a PART 2 to my previous post about Omotesando Architecture!!! And since you've all been good boys and girls, I'm going to reward you with this delicious treat............

 

Link: http://pingmag.jp/2008/03/19/omotesando-architecture2/
Article Title: Architecture in Tokyo: Omotesando Steet, Pt II
Written by: Chiemi
Translated by: Natsumi Yamane
Provided by: Pingmag
Article Snippet:
"Walk by some of the finest architecture in just twenty minutes: In the first part of our little Architecture in Tokyo: Omotesando Street special, we tried to share with you some of the archtectural profile of Omotesando Street, beginning from the recent luxurious GYRE complex, up to the chic Louis Vuitton Omotesando building (completed in 2002). For today, we take a stroll up the road beyond Tod’s Omotesando, past the crossing of Aoyama Street, towards the Nezu Museum."

I am a lover of many things, and two of them would be 1. cool & unique architecture design and 2. Omotesando Street in Harajuku, Tokyo, JP. So I guess Pingmag (my favorite design culture website) must have read my mind, because they wrote this KICK-ASS article about...what else....unique architectural design on Omotesando Street in Harajuku! Seriously folks, this is a very interesting (and informative) article about all the cool buildings that line up like lego blocks on the main strip of Omotesando Street....It's not only the fancy, high-end shopping malls or the brand name department stores....it's also the universities, academies, churches and even living spaces that neatly pepper the booming street!

So come and check out this awesome article provided by Pingmag (with pictures and references) here.

Link: http://pingmag.jp/2008/03/12/omotesando-architecture/
Article Title: Architecture in Tokyo: Omotesando Street, Pt. 1
Written by: Chiemi
Translated by: Natsumi
Provided by: Pingmag
STAY TUNED...THERE WILL BE A PART TWO TO THIS ARTICLE!

 

And if you still can't get enough of the design culture in Japan...check out this cool article (also by Ping mag) about unique taxi-cab lights that flood the streets like the neon signs in Las Vegas...

Link: http://pingmag.jp/2008/03/13/taxi-lights/
Article Title: Flashy Lights: Taxi Illumination in Japan
Written by: Ryoko
Translated By: Kevin Mcgue
Provided by: Pingmag
Article Snippet:
"Prowling the city of Tokyo are hoards of taxis, chasing down lonely passengers on their way, to and fro. Characteristically, all are equipped with automatically opening doors and a driver’s white gloves. However, little distinguishes these roaring vehicles, classically Japanese, outside the small glowing beacon perched on the center of their tops - each company from every region set themselves apart with their own special logo and shape. How practical, since, from far, a passenger can see what type of ride they are in for that night! Today, PingMag spots some of the great variety of roaming lights for you."

Check this out! Metropolis put together a condensed guide to nearly all the popular districts of Tokyo.

Each district is separated into individual guides. Each guide provides a list of: popular shopping boutiques, shopping malls (shopping centers), restaurants (by type, including vegetarian) & bar/club/nightlife...and under each listing is a short description along with the address and telephone number. Under the restaurant and bar/club listings, each description provides a price listing ($ ----> $$$$) from cheap to expensive. Each guide also comes with a map of each district. Also, as general information, the guides provide useful travel tips, a listing of popular sightseeing destinations, a listing of reccomended hotels and lodging, as well as useful information such as: car rental, currency exchange, Embassy telephone numbers, Emergency information, ATM/Cash machine information, translation services and weather information. Click on the links below to check out your desired district destination...............

SHINJUKU
http://metropolis.co.jp/vg17/shinjuku.html

HARAJUKU
http://metropolis.co.jp/vg17/harajuku.html

SHIBUYA
http://metropolis.co.jp/vg17/shibuya.html

YOKOHAMA (I highly reccommend this city area because it's my dad's hometown!)
http://metropolis.co.jp/vg17/yokohama.html

AKIHABARA
http://metropolis.co.jp/vg17/akihabara.html

ROPPONGI (including TOKYO MIDTOWN)
http://metropolis.co.jp/vg17/roppongi.html

GINZA
http://metropolis.co.jp/vg17/ginza.html

EBISU
http://metropolis.co.jp/vg17/ebisu.html

ASAKUSA
http://metropolis.co.jp/vg17/asakusa.html

AKASAKA
http://metropolis.co.jp/vg17/akasaka.html

USEFUL TRAVEL TIPS
http://metropolis.co.jp/vg17/travel_tips.html

HOTELS & LODGING
http://metropolis.co.jp/vg17/hotel.html

SIGHTSEEING
http://metropolis.co.jp/vg17/sightseeing.html

 

Today's the day where we just felt like blah. No, not really...I just wanted to say that for the hell of it. But anyway, we headed back to Harajuku and Aoyama. Today's the day where we could go back and get the last minute stuff we wanted or to get the stuff we were thinking twice about getting the first time. There wasn't much going on today except some casual browsing and walking down Omotesando in the Harajuku part. During the other times we visited Harajuku, we mostly walked around Meiji-dori and Harajuku Street. Today, we really focused on Omotesando Hills and a lot of the back and side alleys because that's where most of the cool, underground urban stores are. Most of the shops we were looking for were all in the back alleys, in the most un-noticeable places  (not in some over-priced, stuffy shopping complex). And they don't have very big or ornate storefront signs either....sometimes no signage at all.

After visiting Harajuku...again...we walked all over Aoyama (wich isn't that big of a district...but it's not small either). We of course had to visit the BAPESCLUSIVE store again. And we met the same sales clerk that helped us out the last time. I couldn't believe he remembered us. I know it's only been 3 days and all, but there's so many customers coming in and out of that store, and there are a lot of tourists who visit that store too, so I was a little surprised when he was acting so familiar with Jian. One thing I regret though is that I didn't ask for his name. This sales clerk guy was so friendly and so nice to us, and he tried so hard to speak to us using the limited amount of English he knew. He helped Jian try things on; he helped us pick stuff out, and he would even give us advice on things that don't match. He was trying so hard and I really admire him and appreciate that he tried to make us feel welcome and feel comfortable. In contrast, when we visted the BAPE Store in Harajuku, the sales clerks weren't exactly friendly, but they weren't mean either. They were just really quiet and hard to talk to.

We went to Harajyuku (and Aoyama) with a mission. We had 2 maps (one Tokyo atlas map and one Superfuture brand shopping guide) and a compass. Yes, a compass. Surprisingly, that compass came in handy more than the maps. We would use the maps as a reference for all the street names, but then we'd ultimately use the compass to figure out when we had to head west or north or something like that. That's the best, most efficient way to get around town without having to constantly stop and ask for directions.

So, what about that mission? Oh right! I forgot to tell you about our mission. When we went to Harajyuku, we were in search of some major urban streetwear. So that means that we were looking for some custom-designed, urban, semi-specialty clothes................for Jian of course. You know...such brands as: Comme des Garçon, A Bathing Ape, Undefeated Tokyo, Neighborhood, Original Fake, etc. Check out HypeBeast or Cliff Edge for examples of custom-designed urban streetwear.

 

And now...........for some pictures!! 

* Please keep in mind that most stores DO NOT like you taking pictures in front of their stores. It's not a set rule/law that you can't, but it's best to ask the store first. I know for a fact that the A Bathing Ape brand stores do not allow any pictures to be taken inside or outside of the store. From what I know, they do not want people taking pictures of their goods or their store, in order to prevent bootlegging and illegal copying. Most of the stores we went to had surveilance cameras everywhere (i.e. the BAPE Store). The Bounty Hunter brand store has only one storefront window with only the store's sign hanging in the window. The surveilance camera is right under the store sign, pointed straight at you. So we took most of these pictures really early in the morning before any of the stores opened.

 These were some interesting things we saw along the way:

 

Out.

 

 

Today we went to the Harajyuku district and Aoyama district. Let's just say, "We came, we saw, and we concquered." We were in Harajyuku so early in the morning, the stores weren't even open yet. And I mean, we were there at least 2 hours before any store was open. It seems crazy, I know, but had a nice time walking around and getting to know our surrounding areas more intimately. We were sort of trying to map out places to go by following a shop map we had before the crowds started getting rediculous.

Since we knew where to go and where things were located, we had an easy time shopping, so we were done shopping in just a few short hours. We had originally planned to spend the entire day in just Harajyuku alone, but after shopping, we had plenty of time to travel elsewhere, so we walked all the way to the Aoyama district (which is about a 10 minute walk down Omotesando dori).

Oh my God, we were so burnt out by dinnertime! Our feet and legs were so sore and so strained, we had to hobble back to our hotel. It was the most painful experience of the entire trip. Let's see, it's been 4 hours since we got back, and our legs still feel like they're being hit repeatedly with a sledgehammer.

 

That's the story of our day. Stay tuned for pictures!!!!!!!

 

Out.