Tackling Tokyo #2: Harajuku - Yoyogi Park - Shinjuku - Shimokitazawa
Unmissable pop culture, shopping and eats in some of Tokyo's most exciting neighbourhoods.
Whether you are travelling with kawaii obsessed kids, or just love Japanese pop culture, Harajuku is likely to be high on your Tokyo hit list.
Harajuku
Takeshita Street makes it an easy one to tick off… just make sure you allow plenty of time and money if cute food and fashion are your thing.
Finding the fun stuff couldn’t be easier. Head to Harajuku station, take the Takeshita exit, cross the road and walk through the adorably welcoming Takeshita Street arch.
Home to almost every genre of cool or kitsch Japanese shopping and in our experience pretty much constantly packed, if you’ve got the time and the inclination, you might want to work your way down the street one way and back the other to make sure you don’t miss anything.
Kawaii Foodstuffs
Here the streets are literally lined with places selling everything from bubble waffles and crepes to rainbow corn dogs.
We loved giant rainbow candy floss from Totti Candy, Harajuku cheese dogs and Tornado Potatoes (huge curly fries on a stick) at Longer! Longer! Longest!! And cute character gelato from Eiswelt.
Kawaii Shopping
While you can’t move for cute merch here our favourite shops and products were the DIY Slime Lab and the vast keyring selection at Picnic and the incredible array of accessories at Alta, who have a build-your-own bracelet section if you are not short on time (or money).
Daiso
The Japanese equivalent of £1 shops, 100 Yen stores, are almost all impressive. But the Daiso on Takeshita Street was our favourite. They stock everything from food to cosmetics, tools and electronics, which means it’s a great place to pick up anything you have forgotten to bring, such as phone chargers (in our case). What’s especially amazing is the amount of character and Sanrio merchandise available, all still at the 100 Yen price point (which is 55p at the time of writing). Get in there and fill your boots, fill a bag, basically just fill anything - these prices are insane.
Mame Shiba Cafe
If travelling to Tokyo with kids, I’d recommend researching how you feel about animal cafes in advance. From the more commonplace cat cafes, to otter and owl cafes, they are a big thing in Harajuku especially. Having read that broadly speaking, cafes that have animals who are usually found in domestic settings e.g. cats and dogs, are the most ethically sound, we reluctantly gave in to Iris’s request to visit a dog cafe. Having conducted her own research on the only travel platform kids need, YouTube, it was decided that it HAD to be the Mame Shiba Cafe on Takeshita Street.
You can’t book online or in advance but you do need to book a slot beforehand on the day. The cafe opens from midday and tickets for all of the day’s sessions go on sale then, so it’s best to arrive close to opening and queue for the next available session, or select a later slot. While it’s hard for the dogs to live up to the huge hype, when we visited they seemed happy and comfortable with the staff and long line of visitors wanting to play with them. It’s not really a cafe though - your ticket (roughly £5 for 30 mins) just gets you a drink from a machine in the wall to enjoy while you hound the dogs.
Pompompurin Cafe
Have you even been to Tokyo if you’ve not been to a character cafe? Given that Pokemon weirdly never took off in our house and we were too late to book the Kirby Cafe, we were delighted to discover the Pompompurin Cafe in Harajuku. There’s a screen outside the door which takes your details and gives you a ticket, then you receive a message when your table is ready (in our case we had to wait about 45 minutes so went and did some shopping while we waited). Once inside absolutely everything is adorable, from the decor and staff uniforms to every dish. A place to see this cute cartoon dog appear on your plate, perfectly formed in rice or chocolate. Then eat it.
Yoyogi Park & Meiji Jingu Shrine
Harajuku can be a bit of an onslaught on the senses, fortunately it sits right next to a vast green space where you can head to decompress. Also accessed from Harajuku Station (just turn right and right again on exit, instead of crossing to Takeshita Street), Yoyogi Park is one of Toyko’s biggest and best parks. Known for stunning cherry blossom in spring and abundant orange leaves in autumn, it’s a pretty place to visit all year round.
It’s also home to one of one of Tokyo’s most popular sights, the Meiji Shrine. A ten minute walk from the station takes you through an amazingly tranquil forest to the entrance of the shrine grounds, marked by a massive torii gate and a distinctive display of sake barrels. Entrance to the main shrine is free of charge and there’s ample seating, bathrooms and a small cafe at the discreet modern visitor centre.
Shinjuku
When we arrived the children kept asking when we would be in “real Tokyo” and by that, they meant the bright lights of Shinjuku.
We spent the last leg of our trip staying right at the heart of this downtown area by Kabukicho, known for its small smoky bars and adult entertainment. Like everywhere we went in Japan, we felt safe, despite the district’s seedier spots.
For the kids, the main attractions were the massive Godzilla statue and huge 3D Cat Billboard, for the grown ups it was a walk down Omoide Yokocho, a landmark alley lined with tiny taverns (that we sadly couldn’t go in, due to aforementioned kids).
Kura Sushi
In Shinjuku we had conveyor belt sushi from Tokyo chain Kura Sushi on the recommendation of friends. While a lower belt displays dishes you can take if you see something you like, the top belt delivers menu items you order from your on table screen. The absolute highlight for us was our beers whizzing into view on the top belt (we are easily entertained or maybe just really needed a beer after a busy day in Tokyo with children).
While I imagine there are far better sushi joints in the area, we really loved the ease of this one as a family. You can reserve online, or turn up and take a ticket and wait for your table.
Ichiran Ramen
With conveyor belt sushi ticked off the list, the meat eaters in the family were keen to try another famous Japanese dining experience… ticket vending machine ramen. They opted for legendary chain Ichiran’s Shinjuku Kabukicho branch which serves authentic tonkotsu broth. Was there a big queue? Yes. Was the ordering quite confusing? Yes. Was it worth it? Absolutely. As they sat in their little individual booths and their ramen was passed to them through a little hatch they could hardly contain themselves. Sadly, as I couldn’t establish whether there was a meat-free option, I had to settle for roaming the surrounding streets with the youngest child on the hunt for some chips for her and a 7 Eleven egg salad sandwich for me (spare your tears, I LOVE those sandwiches).
Shimokitazawa
From Shinjuku, it’s just 7 minutes on the Odakyo Line to one of Tokyo’s coolest neighbourhoods, Shimokitazawa.
It’s a total change of pace as you switch big streets with bright high-rises for a charming warren of small streets packed with vintage shops and cafes.
While it’s a great option in terms of places to stay away from the busy centre, if like us you are just dipping in, here are some of our highlights.
Flipper’s
While service was on the slow side, these famous Japanese souffle pancakes were worth the wait - both the Royal Sweet Milk Tea and the Guerande Salt Caramel Butter flavours were pretty special. Like with many Japanese cafes and restaurants, everyone has to order their own dish (rather than share or just have a drink), so go hungry.
Shimokitazawa Shopping
This neighbourhood is a vintage-lovers paradise. We had fun browsing all the general bric-a-brac stalls and abundant vintage fashion stores, but our favourites were Monk for vintage men’s workwear, SOUNDSGOOD for antique toys & collectibles and Toyo Department Store for a cool mix of vintage and small designer fashion and accessories in an industrial-chic setting.
Shiro-Hige’s Cream Puff Factory
If you are a fan of Studio Ghibli and have time to venture just to the south of Shimo-Kitazawa, consider a visit to Shire-Hige’s Cream Puff Factory. Here you’ll find little rows of irresistibly cute Totoro-shaped pastries, in a shop said to be owned by Ghibli founder Hayao Miyazaki’s sister in law. We didn’t make it there and I feel this alone justifies a return visit toTokyo alone.
Coming next: Tackling Tokyo #3: Tsukiji Fish Market - Ginza - TeamLabPlanet - Akihabara
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