Good morning!
Today we're going to Harajuku
So I can do my clothes shopping for the whole year
And we're just having our breakfast
From the convenience store
Probably should have filmed it before I opened it
I've got this fruit sandwich
It's got
Fruits, kiwi fruits
Peach
And the cream's sweet
The bread's really soft & fluffy
The crusts are already cut off for you
I found Fanta Melon!
It's got that really artificial taste
That you want from Japanese melon flavour
Phil had a plain rice ball
Chop & Rach have gone for the katsu sandwich
Healthy breakfast!
How is it?
It's delicious
It's a bit plain, but it's quite nice
I miss the heat
Of having a proper katsu
And all the juices
But it's nice
We're walking through Meiji Jingu Shrine
To get to Harajuku
It is walkable
From Shinjuku
It's a fairly long-ish walk
It's about 40 minutes from Kabukicho
Or if you're staying near the station
It's more like 20 minutes
We're just sitting down in Yoyogi Park
Before we hit the shops!
First stop is the Tamagotchi Shop
Look how cute they are
And they have special Tamagotchi doughnuts that they only have in the Harajuku shop
Tama - Funashi!
They've got Nemos on the sign!
It's McDonalds pumpkin & chocolate fries
For Halloween
Do you think they'd be nice?
Gudetama socks!
And Sailor Moon
Phil's looking at a jacket
"Swag dude duck vibes - Quackers!"
Here's the Etude House shop
It looks really cute
I don't think this was here when I came last time
This is their Halloween display
Pink skull
Here's what Rach got from Etude House
I got a panda hand cream
Which is really cute
And it smells of peaches
Aah!
So cute!
And I got...
Some sparkly nail varnish
Which is pretty cool as well
You can buy it? I thought it was just for the display!
97,000 yen
Let's get it!
We can't fit it in our suitcase
Bananya
That's amazing
Wow
Rar!
Neko Atsume
Here's possibly my favourite shop: ACDC Rag
There's a special Closet Child shop
Just for Vivienne Westwood stuff
Look - it's a Shining Store!
I don't know what they sell
I think it's really good they've got clothes for men along Takeshita Street as well
I always feel bad for guys
Because mens clothes are so boring usually
It's pretty cool
I read a really interesting article
On Tokyo Fashion dot com
About how Harajuku is changing
And how all the tourist guide books say you should come to Harajuku on Sunday
And see all the crazy fashion
So it's being swamped by tourists
And a lot of the tourists aren't into wearing the fashion themselves
So they just have a look round
Take lots of pictures
And don't really buy much
I did find a couple of times
That when I went into a shop to buy something
The shop assistants seemed kind of surprised
That I'm not just looking round
That I actually want to buy clothes
So because all the tourists are coming
And not spending their money
It means it gets really crowded in Harajuku
And the people who are part of the Japanese fashion subcultures
Aren't so keen to come here
Because they don't want to go to a place that's full of tourists
Who just want to take pictures of them
So instead they go somewhere else
Or they stay at home and post their pictures on Instagram
Which is kind of sad
But I guess it's similar to the things you see in London
Where Carnaby Street used to be really popular
And then Camden
And now that's getting more commercial
And it's moved somewhere else
Maybe to East London
So the message that I've taken from this
Is: When you come to Harajuku
Buy as much as possible!
And support the shops!
Look it's an alpaca shirt
And the colours are really nice on this one
With the mushrooms
And: cactuses!
Nyai-fi!
Aww, so cute!
This shop looks cool. I really like their wallpaper
And this bike's covered in their stickers
That was a really cool shop!
And how rare is it you find a whole shop just with stickers in it?!
I really like the art style of the stickers
What's really great about it is that
People are buying them because they like the designs
And the character designs
Not just because it's a sticker
So we got some for all our friends
Nile Perch - they're who designed my duck skirt that I got in Closet Child last year
All very cute and pastel
It's Kiddyland!
This is a shop that has all character goods
And lots of cute things
I've been to the one in Odaiba before
But the one in Harajuku is the biggest branch
If you're wondering what that noise is,
It's a load of birds up there!
They're so loud!
*loud birds*
Bananya!
Phil, you can get some Funassyi pants!
There's a crab by the lifts!
We're in the basement floor of Laforet
Or "La-foret"
Shopping centre
And this is where you can find some really big name brands
That you'll recognise
And some big lolita brands as well
It's really strange walking around and seeing this style of clothing
In what is otherwise a normal department store
It's getting dark!
We've been here all day
We're going to have a last walk up Takeshita Street
And pick up the things we saw earlier
Then we're going to meet our friends
At Genki Sushi!
This is the main street, Takeshita Street
There's so many people here still!
It's about 6 o'clock on a Friday night
And it's been as busy as this all day
At the weekends it's even more rammed
So try and avoid them if you can
And come on a weekday
I turned round to find this was behind us!
They're ghost ones!