Harajuku
(原宿) Harajuku is one of the most popular shopping districts with various places to visit, such as the main street with stores of world’s famous apparel and product brands, the huge shrine surrounded by rich nature, historical places, and so on. Also, Takeshita Street stretching from the right front of Harajuku station is the focal point of Japanese teenage culture where you will see the heartland of “Kawaii” (in Japanese, cute) culture.
Takeshita Dōri Street
竹下通り The shopping street that stretches from Harajuku station to Meiji street in 350m is very popular for the young generation as an epicenter of Japanese “kawaii” culture. There are a bunch of unique and small apparel stores, cafes, and restaurants, and you can see large crowds on weekends, which is one of the representative scenery of Tokyo. Enjoying sweets/snacks sold here upon strolling is the major way to enjoy the street.
Omotesandō Street
表参道 The main street in Harajuku (Omotesando) used to be the approach to Meiji-jingu shine and now it’s the sophisticated shopping street full of many stores of upscale brands, cafes, and restaurants. The large symbolic shopping mall, Omotesando Hills, is situated here. Famous for the beautiful scenery of Christmas lights coloring the entire street in Dec.
Omotesandō Hills
表参道ヒルズ Once you enter the very narrow street from Kagurazaka street, you will enter this backstreet, Hyogo-Yokocho. On the stone pavement, there are quaint Japanese restaurant and ordinary residences on both sides of the street. Hyogo means the warehouse of arms dealers, and this street was named because arms dealers lived here.
Meiji Jingū Shrine
明治神宮 One of Tokyo’s representative shrine enshrines the Meiji Emperor and Queen as gods. With around 100 years of history, this religious shrine is proud of the splendid shrine gate, shrine buildings and lush greenery in the vast ground. You can feel the solemn and spiritual atmosphere, and you might be able to see the traditional wedding ceremony with historic music by chance.
Tokyu Plaza Omotesando Harajuku
東急プラザ表参道原宿 Located at a convenient location, in modern architecture, the commercial complex has 29 unique stores, cafes, and restaurants, and some of which are available only here in Japan.
Tōgō Shrine
東郷神社 Constructed in the year of the 1930s, this shrine worships the general of the former Japanese government, Heihachiro Togo. Wedding ceremony often takes place here so you might encounter a traditional Japanese wedding ceremony, surrounded by calm and solemn atmosphere in contrary to the hustle and bustle in Takeshita street.
Yoyogi Park
代々木公園 Tokyo’s representative large park where you can enjoy walking around, have a picnic, and view cherry blossoms in spring. It’s an excellent place to evacuate from the busy city area and to feel the nature, surrounded by various sorts of plants. Large-scale events often take place here.
National Yoyogi Stadium
This large gymnasium with a unique architecture was constructed as one of the main stadiums for the first Tokyo Olympic, and well-known as one of Japan’s top modern architecture. Currently, nobody can enter the inside due to reinforcement construction.
Shinjuku
(新宿) One of the typical downtowns in Tokyo, Shinjuku is famous for its huge red-light towns, Kabukicho, and Shinjuku Golden Gai, where many bars and night recreations are available. Besides those sights, Shinjuku Gyoen garden will give you a pleasant evacuation from hustling and bustling city areas, and there are departments and shopping complexes where you can buy anything. Also, Busta Shinjuku adjacent to JR Shinjuku station is the express bus terminal which you can go to other regions in Japan from via express buses at cheap prices, though taking many hours.
Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden
新宿御苑 The huge national garden located in the middle of the city of Shinjuku has three types of gardens; Japanese, British, and French. It's proud of the variety of plants and flowers, and 65 kinds of 1,300 cherry blossom trees full-blooming in spring. This urban oasis is the best for evacuation from the hustling and bustling city areas.
Kabukicho
歌舞伎町 The largest red-light district in Shinjuku has many restaurants, shops, love hotels and night recreations, well known as a never-sleeping town. Kabukicho was known for high crime rate compared to other areas in Tokyo, while it’s getting improved. Still, be careful about your valuable belongings and yourself.
Robot Restaurant
ロボットレンストラン One of the must-visit spots in Shinjuku area, the 10-billion-yen-invested entertainment restaurant has many robots and sexy dancers dancing, showy demonstration, and gorgeous events, that well stand for the chaotic Japanese contemporary culture and technology. Though it’s named restaurant, the available menu is just two kinds of bento (Japanese lunch box) and a can of beverage.
Shinjuku Golden Gai
新宿ゴールデン街 The large and traditional gourmet streets are full of around 200 of small Japanese restaurants and bars (izakaya), getting popular among foreign travelers in these years as a place to enjoy Japanese local drinking culture. It’s classic to visit three to four bars per night, and each bar requires minimum (seat) charge for around ¥500-1000 per person in addition to your orders.
Shinjuku Isetan
新宿伊勢丹 Shinjuku Isetan is the representative department store in Tokyo. Upscale famous brands’ apparels and items for male/female are sold and delicious foods and sweets are available on the underground floor.
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