Page 69 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Tokyo

WESTERN T OK Y O  67

8 Harajuku District
Harajuku District
Map 1 B4, 1 C4.  Meiji-jingumae
stn, Chiyoda line. £ Harajuku stn,
Yamanote line. Ukiyo-e Ota Memorial
Museum of Art: Tel (03) 3403-0880.
Open 10:30am–5:30pm Tue–Sun.
Closed Mon and 27th–end of each
month. &
Harajuku Station was the main
station for the 1964 Tokyo
Olympic village; that concen-
tration of international culture
left a great impact on the area,
attracting the young and inno-
vative of Tokyo. Today Harajuku
remains a fashion center
from high-end inter national
stores to bargain boutiques. The
neighboring chic and expensive
Omote sando and Minami- Visitors browsing at Design Festa Gallery in Harajuku
Aoyama areas (see p70) cater
to the more urbane shopper. mall complex, design ed by the land mark Oak Omotesando
Takeshita-dori, a narrow alley renowned architect Tadao Ando. Building. This recent addition to
between Meiji-dori and Harajuku The central atrium is encircled by the area has an impressive glass
Station, is the place to find what a spira ling walkway, which repli- facade which is reminiscent of
is hot in teen fashion and cates the angle and incline of the the iconic Hanae Mori Building,
culture. Prices range from outside pave ment, creating which formerly sat on the site.
cheap to outrageous, as do an effective interior-exterior Just before it is the Oriental
the fashions. Starting from flow of line and form. Many Bazaar, a large multi-story shop
the Harajuku Station top-brand stores such as full of real and fake antiques
end, about 660 ft (200 m) Yves Saint Laurent are and handicrafts (see p139). After
down, a left turn repre sented here. checking out the attractions along
leads up some stairs The com plex’s Omotesando, it is a good idea to
to Togo Shrine, trendy restaurants walk along the narrow lane that
founded for Admiral and cafés pro vide leads off the main street, just
Togo, the commander respite from the intensive before the pedestrian bridge. The
who defeated the shopping experience. lane is lined with a growing num-
Russian fleet in the Battle As you walk from ber of small stores and boutiques,
of Tsushima, which took Harajuku Station, just including those of up-and-
place during the Street performer before the inter section coming designers, and extends
Russo-Japanese War. It in Harajuku with Meiji-dori, a small almost all the way to Shibuya.
was a huge naval victory, the street off to the left leads
first of an Asian country over a to the Ukiyo-e Ota
Western one. Admiral Togo Memorial Museum of Art,
remains a hero in Japan, and his which houses one of the
shrine has a beautiful garden best collections of ukiyo-e
and pond. Located a few blocks prints (see p57) in Japan. A
east of the shrine across Meiji- vivid image of a Kabuki
dori is Design Festa Gallery. This leading actor by Sharaku
bohemian space focuses on and a masterful program
future generation artists and has of a memorial Kabuki
a design-themed café and bar. perform ance by Hiroshige
Running parallel to, and south are among many familiar
of, Take shita-dori is the more works. There is a small res-
sophisticated Omotesando. With taurant and a shop selling
its wide, tree-shaded sidewalks prints and other ukiyo-e
and dozens of boutiques show- related souvenirs. Just to
casing top fashion designers and the left down Meiji-dori is
brands such as Celine, Fendi, and LaForet, a fashion mecca,
Dior, this is one of the best strolls with more than 150
in Tokyo. More fashion can be boutiques. Past the pedes-
found in the Omotesando Hills trian bridge to the right is Unique fashion of lolitas in Harajuku district

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