Food Glorious Food!

Tokyu Food Show
One of my two favorite stores in Shibuya, an underground grocery store/food court.

We found this place by happy accident. It's located in the basement of the Tokyu department store in Shibuya right near the big intersection. I nearly fainted when I walked in. It is a foodie's dream: counter after counter of the most delicious items you can imagine. They have every cuisine from Italian to Chinese and the most beautiful pastries which you can watch the chefs prepare. It is also a grocery store with the freshest vegetables, meats and seafood I've ever seen. Here's a link to their Japanese site, with photos of the various food counters: http://www.tokyu-dept.co.jp/foodshow/shop/index_deli.html

Shibuya!

Shi-BOO-YA! We were saying that a lot on this trip because we loved Shibuya! It's a neon shopping extravaganza and home to one of the world's busiest pedestrian crossings and biggest jumbo tv screens. Click on the picture of the tv screens where the sky is black and look at the bottom of the image - see the crowds lining up to cross the street?

Arizona Freedom

After Yoyogi park, we walked down Omete-sando and the side streets that branch off of it. The windy side streets are filled with a variety of little boutiques like this one called "Arizona Freedom" which we had to get a picture of. It sold, what else?, western wear. I actually saw a lot of fashionable Japanese men with very funky and very pointy cowboy boots all over the city.

Rockabillies

Probably the coolest, and funniest part of Yoyogi park are the Rockabillies. They all hang out by one of the entrances, their hot pink and red Cadillacs parked nearby. There was a gang of greasers redoing their hairspray every 5 minutes, and a group of girls dancing to 50s music in their poodle skirts. Ha! From what I've read, they're there every Sunday.

Yoyogi Park

Yoyogi Park is a lot like any other city park I've seen. It has sidewalks, large grass areas, water fountains, people walking dogs, Frisbee throwing and picnics. We put down our jackets to sit in the grass for a while. The weather was just right. The park also had a beautiful rose garden with a wide variety of colors.
Besides the dressed up kids, the other fun thing about Yoyogi are the bands. They set up along the outer sidewalk of the park, sometimes within 20 ft of each other which is funny because one band might be playing punk rock really loud and the one right next to it could be playing reggae and when you walk by the sounds mix. We stood and watched this punk band for a while. They were really good and they clearly had a devoted following. The short guy with the purple hair in the crowd was really into it.

Cosplay

Well, apparently we didn't get to the park early enough to see all of the cosplay kids, or maybe it was just a slow day. There were a few stragglers hanging out on the bridge though.
I was hoping to see some outfits like the picture on the right. (from Wikipedia)

Harajuku

On Sunday morning we took the train to Harajuku. It was only a couple of stops West. Harajuku is a funky area where teenagers dress up like manga or video game characters (called Cosplay) and hang out at Yoyogi park to show off their costumes. It's also a big shopping area for fashion. Harajuku station looks like an old fashioned train station. In the picture I'm across the street from it. The other picture was taken at a nearby intersection on Omote-sando Dori, the "paris" of Tokyo, a long tree-lined street with lots of cafes and fancy clothing stores. Unfortunately, you can't see the tree lined street in this photo though. It's a really nice street to walk down. We began the morning by walking down Omote-sando to find a cafe for a light breakfast. After that we walked back up to Yoyogi park.