hairfish

I’m down to my last three days in Tokyo. On the one hand, I’m stupid excited to come home, but, on the other hand, my everyday rituals are starting to bring tears to my eyes. Looking back on the rough patch I had here a few months ago, it’s hard for any of those feelings to register anymore. I didn’t realize just how much I really love it here until, of course, it’s time for me to leave; but I think most experiences (of this sort) can do that to you.

Last Sunday, my host mom and I went out, just us two, to hang out in Harajuku. We caught a glimpse of Togo Shrine Flea Market and walked around Yoyogi Park on what seemed to be one of the colder days in Tokyo. It was really an awesome day.

I’m going to miss her so much…

Togo Shrine Antique Market happens once a month, every first Sunday of the month at Togo Shrine in Harajuku. It's well worth it too; so many treasures to find.

This guy was loads of fun. And very drunk. Just look at that smile!

Vendor's table filled with rare knick knacks and whatnots.

More goodies!

I didn't ask how much those advertisements were but I really feel like I should have bought them >_<!

Togo-jinja. The shrine is located near the intersection of Takeshita Street and Meiji Avenue, and is accessible from Harajuku Station. Besides the Antique market, Togo was really quiet but that's probably because most people were at Meiji-jinju.

Me and Megu-chan, myspacing it up :p

The pond area in Togo was really beautiful

We were feeding the koi, which I'm sure wasn't allowed, but you know. They were hungry!

Golden ginkgo trees! The leaves fall on the pavement, people walk all over it, and suddenly you've got fairy dust all over Tokyo. It's gorgegous!

Yoyogi Park! Despite the fact that visiting Harajuku on an almost daily basis for a month was my favorite thing to do, last Sunday was the first time I was actually inside of Yoyogi

People watching the Rockabillies perform and dance. They've been gathering on sundays at Yoyogi for years...

Totally posing for the camera~

Rockabilly "gang"?

Creepy, but they were nice. They did, however, scare the crap out of some small child. KAWAI SO~

See, they really were nice! Very well mannered and polite

Mama <3

Me!

Yoyogi-koen is MASSIVE huge.

That "little" hump in the background is Fuji-san, or Mt. Fuji. It was such a clear day, we could see Fuji-san as we rode the train into Saitama

There were ridic amounts of girls squeeing "kawaii", and "kakkoi", and "ikimen" after the show. The kid is pretty gorgeous.

The show begins!

Last night was, hands down, of the best nights I’ve had in Tokyo. There was a torrential downpour during my walk to Akasaka with my friend Alyssa, which added the complication of getting dry while trying to get ready for the show. The temperature has finally decended into a crisp, fall coolness, so I knew it was going to be a good night based on that alone. My only, only qualm is that the show was so short — but any good concert is always a short concert!

Justin’s set was only an hour long and he basically sang all of Holly save for two songs which he replaced with covers (Ain’t No Sunshine and Sittin’ At the Dock of the Bay). Having had Holly and listening to it almost religiously over the past four or so months I was happily suprised to see two guitars and a keyboard on the stage. Astro Hall is suuuuuper tiny so the show was very intimate; he interacted with us throughout and we did back. I was really amazed how much better he sounds live, as in the album (which is wonderful, go get it if you haven’t!) does his voice no justice. You have to see him live to really appreciate the tone and texture of his voice. He sang one song, ‘Oh Momma’ with out the mic and it was just beautiful.

I waited a bit after to see if I could get an autograph but having to take a two hour commute back home, I really couldn’t wait very long, so I didn’t get my autograph nor did I manage to snag a setlist. However, the show is definitely one of the highlights of my time here and has made me fall all the more in love with the album. I’ll be excited to see where he’s at in the next few years; it seems he just gets better with time.

We weren't supposed to take pictures but I'm not one to follow rules often. Heh.

I was really, really close! This is the view from where I was standing

A really awesome woman let me take a picture of her setlist since I didn't get one. I think Justin wrote himself. LUCKY!

Ambience~

JR Harajuku Station and Tokyo Metro Meji-jingumae Station. The adventure begins...

Ayu is EVERWHERE.

Which leads to the infamous Takeshita Dori, the reason most people go to Harajuku

Walking towards Harajuku St./Takeshita Dori

Crowds on Takeshita Dori

Another view of the crowds in Harajuku. It happened to be a holiday on Monday so everyone was out and about!

If you go to Harajuku, you MUST have crepes. They are absolutely decadent and cheap, and there are crepe stands EVERYWHERE!

Becky and Hayleigh eating teh crepes.

I had the banana chocolate mille fieulle crepe. Did I mention the Japanese are crazy about the french language and french pastries? (And rightfully so:)

From the balcony of a small punk shop, the crowds below.

Harajuku is internationally known for its outrageous fashions as shown here. Most people, dress up on the weekend specifically for the purpose of showing off their style and being photographed. From what I'm told, this is more of a weekend thing than an everyday thing but for some, it's a way of life.

Harajuku's Sex Pot Revenge, a store catering to punk fashion.

Fashionable Harajuku girls. Did you know our beloved Seven-Eleven is actually a Japanese company?

Too cool for school. Harajuku is a major hang out and fashion spot for teens in Japan.

Harajuku is internationally known because of it’s fashion and it is as advertised: a bit garshish, overwhelming, but extremely fun! There are bargans to be had in Harajuku beginning from the four-story Daiso 100 Yen Store to the small, indie shops selling new and used clothing from less than 600 YEN! Harajuku is also great if you’re looking for designer fashions engrained in certain subcultures such as Vivenne Westwood’s punk style or Baby, the Stars Shine Bright’s lolita stylings. I also saw a mild hip hop/”urban” presence as well as some surfer/SoCal fashions.

Some of the sales people can be pushy but if you just pretend like you have no idea what they are saying, they’ll lay off. If they don’t, just leave. One of the stores we went to tried to push a friend of mine into buying a thirty dollar shirt. Granted it was cute, but the sales tactics were hilarious. The sales girl spoke to her about how alike they were and how they had the same budget, how cute she would look if only she’d buy the shirt. In the end, she narrowly escaped, but she did and we laugh it off only to continue our search for cheap, cute clothes. Trust me, it didn’t take very long to find a myraid of shops that fit that category.

Harajuku’s crowd also has to be the most gorgeous crowd of people I’ve seen since being in Tokyo. If you focus your attention away from the gyaru and the lolis and whoever else is out playing dress up, the crowd is suprisingly well dressed (and I don’t mean they’re wearing the latest trends for the heck of following a trend) and tame for such a busy, notoriously outrageous place. Then again, Harajuku is just a smaller district of the Shibuya-ward.

I found myself much more in awe of the culture fostered in Harajuku but not surprised by the subculture and subsequent interesting fashions, however, a lot of the kids weren’t out because it was Monday and I wasn’t really going to Harajuku for the purpose of staring at high schoolers playing dress up. There is so much more to Harajuku than the infamy and I’m glad I got to see both faces of the district. I also visited Meiji-jingu on my way out of Harajuku which I recommend as it is a great way to get back to a more level state of mind after the mayhem that is Harajuku. I was lucky enough to be there while a wedding ceremony was being conducted, but more on that later.