Hey Steemit,
I hope you all had a fantastic Christmas and New Year. I'm back revitalised and ready share some more of my adventures from around the world. In the next few weeks I'll be wrapping up my adventures in Japan and I'll begin blogging about my 2 week adventure in New Zealand.
In this episode of Xcape however we’ll continue our adventure through Tokyo, Japan and explore the bustling district of Shibuya/Harajuku. I’ll show you around a few of my favourite attractions which includes some great shopping districts, Shibuya Crossing, food stalls, Yoyogi Park and Takeshita Street. If you'd like to check out some of my experience from Tokyo feel free to check out my video below.
Shibuya Crossing
Shibuya is one of the main districts within Tokyo and is one of the most popular areas for shopping and entertainment. It’s perhaps one of my most prominent districts of bright neon lights anywhere in Japan and in my opinion one of the busiest areas in Tokyo. The area is bustling with tourist and day to day commuters and provides a number of insanely large shopping complexes, exciting eating joints and quirky time killing establishments.
The famous Shibuya Crossing is one such attraction and is situated outside the Hachiko Train Station Exit and adjacent to the popular Starbucks which overlooks the crossing. The crossing was famously featured in the 2006 movie: The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift and serves more than one thousand-people during peak periods. Check out the crossing below in my photos as well as some of the shopping district in the area.
I highly recommend you visit the crossing during the day and at night. At night neon lights tower over the crossing which adds a certain amount of magic to visiting the crossing. Check out a few of my photos below. Unfortunately, all my photos from my camera at Shibuya Crossing during night were corrupted and I lost those memories. To give you a sense of what you can expect though I've provided some supplementary photos below.
One of the smaller but popular attractions in the area is the statue of Hachiko. Hachiko was an Akita Dog who captured the hearts of many for his loyalty to his deceased owner.
Apparently Hachiko use to be an abandoned pet and later became friends with a local professor at the University of Tokyo who eventually took Hachiko as a pet. Hachiko formed a strong bond with the professor and would leave the house each day to greet his master at Shibuya Station. One day however, the professor suffered a cerebral haemorrhage during a lecture and never returned to Shibuya to greet Hachiko. The dog waited over 9 years at Shibuya for its master, before it’s death. Hachiko actions captured the hearts of many and has accordingly been immortalised through a statue adjacent to Shibuya Crossing.
Looking around Shibuya you’ll also find some amazing shopping districts and some amazing examples of great street design. Some shops I recommend you check out are: Bic Camera (which now accepts bitcoin as payment), forever 21, Shibuya 109 and Shibuya Hikarie which is what I’d describe as a giant shopping skyscraper.
Yoyogi Park
Yoyogi Park is another major attraction I highly recommend tourist visit. The park is approximately 54 ha which provides plenty of rooms for the thousands of people who use this park. On a Sunday you'll be amazed at just how many people visit the park to see local youth gather with friends and perform for visitor to the park.
Some of these performances can be quite different but are definitely interesting and entertaining to watch none the less. I’d highly recommend that you visit Yoyogi Park on a Sunday as you’ll no doubt appreciate the happy vibes. Check out a few of the performances below.
Whilst you’re in the Park I also highly recommend a walk to Meiji Jingu which is a shine located within Yoyogi Park. The shrine was dedicated to Emperor Meiji in 1920, who was the first emperor of modern Japan. During each new year the shrine host more than three million visitors who participate in the year’s first prayers. If you’re lucky you might even, see a traditional Shinto Wedding when you visit. Check out some of my photos from the park the shrine and park below.
Harajuku
When you visit Yoyogi Park be sure to also make a stop over by Harajuku which is another trendy part of Tokyo. The region is famously known for its colourful youthful vibrancy and cosplay shops along Takeshita Street. The region is particularly popular with young locals who dress up in fun and quirky outfits, like the image below. Sadly, I couldn’t grab any fashion tips from these hipsters as I did not see any on my trip during the winter. Perhaps it’s more of a summer thing.
Again due to file corruption, I unfortunately lost the majority of my photos from this part of the trip. I’ve hence provided some supplementary photos below for you to enjoy.
Takeshita Street is the main attraction in Harajuku, which is a small alley street crammed with local shops, where you can get almost anything.
One of my favourite stores was Daiso, which you may see in your Country. Products in Harajuku Daiso are amazing, and you’ll get a lot of useful stuff for 100-200 Yen ($1-$2 AUD). The store is spread over several stories and I probably spent close to 2 hours inside looking at all the cool stuff on offer. Below are a few items I managed to snap up all for 700 Yen (~$7 AUD). They also have a wide range of really cool souvenirs, like chop sticks, Japanese fans, and your favourite KitKat chocolates to bring back with you after your trip.
Check out a few of my photos below from Takeshita Street as well as my horde of goodies from Daiso below.
After my shopping expedition I decided to stop and grab a quick snack. Having a bit of a sweet tooth I stopped at Santa Monica Crepes, which is one of the many popular crepe franchise you’ll see in Japan. They have a wide variety of sweet crepes on offer which are usually loaded with cake, fruit, ice-cream and whipped cream. The choices are endless and you’ll no doubt have difficulty in choosing a single crepe. After several minutes I decided to try the crème-Brule crepe (470 Yen) which I had previously seen prior to my visit. See image below.
It was nearly evening by the time we finished up at Harajuku and we decided to call it a night. Regardless of what you decided to see and do in Shibuya and Harajuku and I recommend that you go with and open mind and try things you would not usually do. You’ll most likely meet a many friendly locals along the way but even if you don’t I highly recommend just immersing yourself in the culture and trying to get the most out of your time in Tokyo. Whether that be going to a few of the busy night clubs, trawling through endless anime stores and game centres or just jamming at one of the many karaoke bars I'm sure you'll enjoy your time in Shibuya.
I hope you enjoyed reading about this travel blog. If you want to hear more about my adventures, please upvote this post and resteem with friends. Additionally, please follow me to hear more about my latest adventures. ✌️
About the Author
If you'd like to learn more about me or my blog series check out my introduction post
FML news!!!
💬 A special thank you to my new and existing followers. Thanks for supporting my blog series. I'd definitely love to get to know more of you so feel free to get in contact if you enjoy my post.
💬I've recently passed the 100 followers milestone on steemit. As a thanks I'll be giving two (2) followers (one male and one female) $30 worth of steem dollars (each). If you'd like to be chosen simply follow my blog and actively comment on any one of my next 5 blogs. Please also resteem one of my blogs. At the end of Xcape #10 I'll draw the winners out and announce in Xcape #11.
Congratulations to the winners of my SBD Giveaway
Male - @lordkingpotato
Female - @sandypham
Thanks for visiting my blog and introducing yourself. I'll send through your Steem Dollars shortly.
You have good feedback.
Thanks for your SBD. It's fun to get to know Japan through your Xcape, and have a reward.
For your lost photos, It is pity
Hi @Sandypham. No worries. Yeah I was pretty gutted I lost those photos but I guess I have a reason to go back eventually.
Many thanks fml! This is so unexpected. Dang that's some mouth watering crepe you got there. I'll buy one from the sbd. If I can find one hereXD
no worries mate. Yeah I sure miss those delicious crepes. It's probably a good thing we live in different countries otherwise I'd probably be diabetic. :) Enjoy.
Thanks @feedmylife, you made me missed this place so much and I had my best Pork Chop Japanese Curry there 6 years ago.
Hey @jerrywjl. You're definitely overdue for another trip to Japan. So many good places to eat in Japan. Your worst meal is probably the best meal you have at home. Hopefully soon I might be able to do another trip. Fingers crossed.