Posts Tagged ‘shibuya’
Mayhem in the Karaoke Room
From 11pm to 5am, I karaoked with a group of friends in Shibuya. I highly, highly recommend trying this if you ever come to Japan. It’s a really fun experience. I usually karaoke for about two hours but it’s a nice challenge to try and do it for six whole hours. I took the challenge — and I conquered it!
Step 1: Hydrate yourself! Nomihodai karaoke, or all you can drink, during the weeknight cost us 980 yen. That's about ten dollars for six hours of karaoke plus all the Melon soda you can handle. For alcohol nomihodi, it's 1980 yen, or twenty bucks per person. -- this however is only offered during the weekend at the particular karaoke place we went to
Step 2: Everyone should participate in someway, preferably by joining in with the tambourine and sporadic yelling of song lyrics, as seen here.
Step 3: Cameras must be ready at all times to capture and record mayhem with in the karaoke room. (hide doll optional.)
Step 4: Lubricate those vocal chords!
Step 5: Sing your HEART out!
Like this.
Perhaps a more mellow approach...
Duets are always fun and encouraged
Solo air guitar to unleash the rocker within
Please feel free to bust a move
And finally, group participation is the key to a successful night of karaoke
Window Shopping in Shibuya 109
Shrines & Temples: Meiji-jingu
The bridge to Meiji-jingu. The walk is pretty long but so peaceful.
The beautiful wood Tori (gate) leading to Meiji-jingu
Large sign near the shrine entrance
I got lucky as a wedding ceremony was happening right in the shrine!
Another shot of the wedding
Salaryman watching the wedding procession
After all that wedding business, I wrote down a prayer and put it in the prayer box. Someone is busy doing the same thing 
Another succesful shrine visit!
For more information on Meiji-jingu, check the wiki entry!
Special Wards of Tokyo: Shibuya’s Harajuku District
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.
Special Wards of Tokyo: Shibuya
The JR Yamanote Line takes you to all the major 'hot spots' in Tokyo
Shibuya Crossing, steps away from Shibuya Station - Tokyo's busiest train station
The Shibuya 109, a popular department store for Women. Shibuya is a fashion hub for young people in Japan.
HMV from Shibuya Crossing. HMV = music, music, music!
Hot pants are all the rage this summer
Store selling 'hip hop' and 'urban' ware in Shibuya
Shibuya as the sun sets
Busy street in Shibuya; the Center Gai, I believe.
Purikura, or interactive photobooths, which are popular among high school girls
Purikura with Me, Hayleigh, and Ryuji (l to r)
Hachiko Statue, the popular meeting place in Shibuya. Hachiko's story is really cute so look it up on wikipedia!
Inside Hub the English Pub, where all the cool Japanese kids hang out.
Book store selling the newest manga for NANA, my FAVORITE manga. A lot of the story is set in Shibuya.
Heels with socks. Another new trend this season.
FREE HUGS! I haven't had a really nice hug since coming to Japan, and since they were giving them away for free, I hugged them all. They gave really good hugs! It was the perfect ending to a perfect night
Everyone goes nuts over Roppongi, and I admit, its interesting but Shibuya is where it’s at, mainly because it’s where the locals hang out. It’s far more affordable to spend a night in Shibuya and even go to a pub or a club without spending over 5,000 YEN (that’s about 50 USD). For my train fare, food, and karaoke, I only spent 2,000 YEN. There is so much to see and do. Shibuya really is something to see at night. There are arcades everywhere, purikura, places to go shopping, great clubs to dance in or even hang out at, pubs and bars to have a drink and mingle with the locals. Plus, Shibuya is a stop away from Harajuku, two stops away from Shinjuku and you can walk to Yogogi Park as well.
Next weekend, I’ll be back in Shibuya, but this weekend, I’ll be heading out to Harajuku and Meiji-jinga for some more exploring. Until then, I have homework to do…
