Harajuku and Shibuya, the youth strikes back.
Today is the third day I’m in Japan of the almost 90 days I will spend here. Both today and yesterday went by so fast that it feels silly. Too fast for my taste, truth be told. I’ve already known since earlier that I love Japan, but after spending three days here and ontop of that living here makes you just fall in love with Tokyo anew. I have very high expectation and wish to meet nice people. Starting tomorrow we have our first schoolday so I hope to make some new good friends. The day will consist of a placement test which we are to take so we can be placed in the proper class. The groups will be divided in different levels depending on your Japanese skills. I hope to meet alot of Japanese students from Nihon University as well so that you can make contact and do all sorts of stuff with Japanese students and not just the other exchange students.
Today me, Lina and Gustav spent the day in Harajuku and Shibuya. It’s easy to say that you know when it’s Sunday. Sunday is, just like in Sweden, a weekend day but in Japan Sunday is the only weekend day (except for other holidays of course) when people aren’t working or going to school (with the exception of stores of course). In Sweden we normally work from Monday to Friday while the Japanese works on Saturday as well. Both Harajuku and Shibuya were full of people. Both are quarters or districts of Tokyo and alot of young people hand out here. Shibuya is especially reknown for it’s fashion shops and night life. Harajuku has alot of clothing and shoe shops as well, but doesn’t feel as big as Shibuya. Anyways, we started out in Harajuku and there you can find places such as Meiji Shrine and Yoyogi Park.
Right before you enter the domain of the Meiji Shrine there’s a spot where some people who like to cosplay shows up on Sundays. Since Meiji Shrine is a pretty big tourist attraction, the cosplayers gets alot of attention as well. Of course they love to have their pictures taken, that’s why they’re there right?
Above: A bizzarr example of cosplayer.
Above: Here we see what kind of attraction the cosplaying turns into during Sundays.
Above: It's me! Infront of the first Tori gate out of... two or three I think?
If I'm not mistaken these are gifts to the Gods. Gods like to drink sake too, right?
Above: Main entrance to the shrine.
Above: Accordingly to tradition, you are supposed to cleanse yourself before you enter a shrine. (Cleansing = Kiyomeru in Japanese). On this picture Lina and Gustav wash their hands. Why they didn't just grab water from the well instead of the tap I've no idea. It took longer than necessary I think!
Above: A threshold? Yepp. I think accordingly to Shinto belief if you step on the
middle threshold the Gods will get upset and electrify you or turn you into a Dango.
Above: And finally a picture of the shrine itself. Taking pictures inside the shrine
is forbidden though so there's none. You'll have to go and see it for yourself!
Anyways, continuing... From the picture just below here it might seem that there aren't so many people in Harajuku, but once you step onto Takeshita Doori (Street) you will notice right away. Just outside of the station there're usually alot of people standing there, waiting for someone or just chatting with eachother.
In Takeshita Street are alot of stores and smaller streets leading from and to Takeshita which those too have alot of stores on them.
Above: Takeshita street taken from just outside the station exit.
Above: Do you see all the people down there? It's crazy I tell you and it's like a war. The biggest problem is when someone stops in the middle of the street to look into one of the shops. This makes the side of that street totally stop where the window shoppers are the guilty ones for making everyone wait. It happened several times that we had to stand and wait for the mass to start moving again. It was narrow, hot and sweaty and not enough water to drink, but it was still fun!
Above: In Harajuku you can find this place, Condomania. A pretty small shop but funny!
Above: No comment :D
Above: H&M in Harajuku? Cool, some Swedish design in Japan isn't bad. Too bad they shut down the WESC-shop though.
Oh well, next is Shibuya. Gustav and Lina thought that we should walk from Harajuku since it was a pretty straight forward road. And it was and it only took us like 10 minutes, except for the stop we made in a Quicksilver shop on the way there. I must go back there though cause I love Quicksilver. The shop was big and nice, compared to the smaller ones I've seen in Stockholm. Anyways, when we finally got to Shibuya I recogniced the place from two years ago. Have you ever seen THE pedestrian crossing? No?
That's what it looks like. I didn't get a very good shot though since it was from street level, but you can imagine that there are quite a few people passing that crossing. This is what it looks like everytime it turns from red to green. It feels like you are advancing towards an army in a 19th century warfare where you are in the first row of soldiers about to fall. Tokyo has about 8.7 million citizens which can almost be compared to Sweden's almost 9 miljon. I think I bumped into at least 1 million of them there or at least it felt like it.
And lastly a picture of a tired Simon with the dog Hachiko (and some random kid apparently). The history behind the Hachiko statue is pretty sad. I think it goes like this: Each day Hachiko would say goodbye to his master, who left for his work at Tokyo University, and eacy day Hachiko would come to the station to greet his master welcome home. However, one day his Master died of a stroke but Hachiko still came to Shibuya station every evening waiting for his master. Hachiko was given away to another master, but still sneaked out in order to wait at the station. This continued for 10 years before Hachiko died.
That's how it went. Now I'm gonna study some kanji. Good nighters!
