Harajuku Takeshita Street.

This morning, I read this news. "Gwen Makes Digital History with One Millionth Commercial Download of "HOLLABACK GIRL". I like this PV "What you waiting for?" I checked her official site before and I found she and her Harajuku girls. Here is a good post about them.

Harajuku is interesting town, because it has some different faces in each area, each street. Here is good English Harajuku guide site. (Map) and I will write my own recommendation later in theme writing page. Today I will write about Takeshita street.

Takeshita street would be the most famous street for young girls and boys in Japan. Actually provincial students visit there on their class trip. It is a narrow street which is just 100m or so long. Along the street, there are clothes, jewellery shops, sundries shops, and of course prices are quite cheap. In a word, Takeshita street is a toy box having a tatty but fantastic mood, it reminds me of the annual school festival in junior high. 
In Takeshita street, you will see various fashion like costume play, cult type, Lolita and Gothic etc,. Lolita fashion is a style of dress which one attempts to look excessively freaky cute and little-girlish. Gothic Lolita is called "GothLoli" whose origin is a combination of Lolita and Gothic. ( I had to go to visual band lives often, I can tell they are nests of GothLolis. (Ah a Vocalist of Psycho Le Cemu admitted his drug use at court.) It is very funny, on weekend they looks so busy to be taken pictures by foreign people. Well we can enjoy as if we entered the haunted house :-p. You can see tons pictures in this pages.
By the way here is comedy movie of Lolita and Yankee girl. "Shimotsuma Monogatari".(Shimotsuma is super country area.)

On the other hand, the area is well know as the good spot for scouting. I heard Miki Nakatani, Megumi Okina, Ranran Suzuki and many other actress were scouted in Harajuku. (but be careful, many scouts look for people for "porn movies" too (> <;). I want to introduce some good shops, but I'm not close to that area on weekend (sooooo crowded), ah! please try crepes there, I heard it's very yummy.

Comments

[Harajuku Photos]

There are lots of great photos and more detailed information on Harajuku and Takeshita-dori (street) at Japanese Lifestyle.(http://www.japaneselifestyle.com.au/tokyo/harajuku.htm)

[Mari]

Hi Gwen and Suzy.
Yes yes Harajuku is interesting place to see people. Not for shopping. :-)
For me, Gothic costume is as same as "a play", if I have a costume party, it would be fun to be Gothic Lolita girl.

[suzy]

I really like this post and the links are great - the article on kissui.net is really interesting. I like the songs on Gwen Stefani's album but all the stuff about Harajuku really annoys me - especially all the giggling girls and "irrashamase!" bits... it feels like she went to Harajuku for one day and now won't stop talking about it! It is kind of weird when unique things from my local area are turned into some mass culture attraction... especially as it's not just one song, but all through her album.

[Gwen]

I like to see harajuku girls, gothic and lolita. It's so special since the style is very radical and not contemporary, but yet you can still wear it out everyday.