Harajuku

Harajuku (原宿 "meadow lodging") "Audio|Harajuku.ogg|listen" is the common name for the area around Harajuku Station on the Yamanote Line in the Shibuya ward of Tokyo, Japan. The area is known internationally for its youth style and fashion.(2005-10-21), "Shop-till-you-drop hints in fashionable districts of Harajuku and Omotesando". "The Japan Times", [http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fl20051021a2.html] .] Otake, Tomoko (1998-06-02), "High-fashion bikes hit the streets of Harajuku". "The Japan Times", [http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn19980602b3.html] .] Godoy, Tiffany (2007-12), "Style Deficit Disorder: Harajuku Street Fashion".] Lomrantz, Tracey (2005-11-28), "Hipsters of the World, Unite! Rebellion via consumption comes to Tokyo". "men.style.com", [http://men.style.com/news/style/112805] .] (2007-09-10), "Geekipedia: Tokyo". "Wired", [http://www.wired.com/culture/geekipedia/magazine/geekipedia/tokyo] .] Ashcraft, Brian (2007-10-23), "Japanese Schoolgirl Watch: Take-What-You-Want Sample Salons". "Wired", [http://www.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/magazine/15-11/st_jsgw] .] Altman, Daniel (2005-10-09), "Sneakers in Tokyo". "The New York Times", [http://travel.nytimes.com/2005/10/09/travel/09forage.html?_r=1&oref=slogin] .] Considine, Austin (2004-12-19), "A Scene-Hopper's Atlas". "The New York Times", [http://travel.nytimes.com/2004/12/19/travel/19music.html] .] O’Flaherty, Mark (2005-01-09), "Fashion: Tokyo teen spirit". "The London Times", [http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/style/article406432.ece] .] Harajuku street style is promoted in Japanese and international publications such as Kera, Tune, Gothic & Lolita Bible and "Fruits."

Location

Harajuku is an area between Shinjuku and Shibuya. Local landmarks include the headquarters of NHK, Meiji Shrine, and Yoyogi Park.

The area has two main shopping streets, Omotesandō and Takeshita Street ("Takeshita-dōri"). The latter caters to youth fashions and has many small stores selling Gothic Lolita, visual kei, rockabilly, hip-hop, and punk outfits, [cite web
url= http://metropolis.co.jp/tokyofeaturestoriesarchive299/252/tokyofeaturestoriesinc.htm
title= Face to face with Harajuku
accessdate= 2007-07-16
publisher= Metropolis
date=December 1999] in addition to fast food outlets and so forth.

In recent years Omotesandō has seen a rise in branches of expensive fashion stores such as Louis Vuitton, Chanel, and Prada. The avenue is sometimes referred to as "Tokyo's Champs-Élysées". [cite web
url= http://travel.nytimes.com/2006/02/15/travel/15tokyo.html?8dpc
title= Attention Avid Shoppers: A High-End Complex Opens Its Doors
accessdate= 2007-03-11
publisher= The New York Times
date= February 15, 2005 ] Until 2004, one side of the avenue was occupied by the Dōjunkai Aoyama apāto, Bauhaus-inspired apartments built in 1927 after the 1923 Kantō earthquake. In 2006 the buildings were controversially destroyed by Mori Building and replaced with the "Omotesando Hills" [cite web
url= http://www.mori.co.jp/projects/omotesando/en_index.html
title= Omotesando Hills Project Page
accessdate= 2007-07-16
publisher= Mori Building
date= January 19, 2006 ] shopping mall, designed by Tadao Ando.cite web
url= http://metropolis.co.jp/tokyo/619/feature.asp
title= The view from the Hills: Minoru Mori defends the Omotesando Hills development and reveals big plans for Tokyo
accessdate= 2007-07-16
publisher= Metropolis
date= February 3, 2006] The area known as "Ura-Hara" (back streets of Harajuku) is a center of Japanese fashion for younger people — brands such as A Bathing Ape and Undercover have shops in the area. [cite web
url=http://metropolis.co.jp/tokyofeaturestoriesarchive349/321/tokyofeaturestoriesinc.htm
title= Behind the Scene
accessdate= 2007-07-26
publisher= Metropolis
date= January 19, 2006 ]

ubcultures

The term "Harajuku Girls" has been used by English-language media to describe teenagers dressed in any fashion style who are in the area of Harajuku.Knight, Magda [http://www.mookychick.co.uk/style/harajuku_girls.php "Harajuku Girls - The Heart of Modern Japanese Fashion] Retrieved September 10, 2007] These girls may be members of various sub-cultures including Gothic Lolita, Ganguro, Gyaru, and Kogal, or may often cosplay as characters from an anime, movie, or manga. Most recently this phrase has made it into mainstream pop culture by Gwen Stefani, who lauched a clothing and accessories label in 2004 called Harajuku Lovers. Stefani also hired "Harajuku Girls" as back-up dancers for her solo albums.In the 1980s large numbers of street performers and wildly dressed teens including "takenoko-zoku" (竹の子族, "bamboo-shoot kids") gathered on Omotesandō and the street that passes through Yoyogi Park on Sundays when the streets were closed to traffic. The streets were reopened to traffic in the 90s, and a great number of teens stopped gathering there. Today there are still teenagers hanging out in Harajuku, mostly on the bridge across the train tracks from Harajuku station to Yoyogi Park.

Visual kei is associated with Harajuku. In attendance one will find Visual kei cosplayers (those dressed as their favorite bands) and those in the Gothic Lolita subculture/fashion.cite web|url=http://www.fashionlines.com/2007/jan/fashionPrettyBabies.php|title=fashionlines.com e-magazine, January, 2007]

ee also

*Amerikamura in Osaka
*Dōtonbori in Osaka
*Harajuku Girls (a dance entourage associated with Gwen Stefani)

References

Further reading

*Suzuki, Chako [http://www.fashionlines.com/2007/jan/fashionPrettyBabies.php "Pretty Babies: Japan's Undying Gothic Lolita Phenomenon] fashionlines.com
*Perry, Christian [http://www.scribd.com/doc/38260/Harajuku-Rebels-on-the-Bridge "Harajuku: Rebels on the Bridge] scribd.com

External links

* [http://www.harajukustyle.net www.harajukustyle.net] Harajuku Photos and Fashion Information.
* [http://www.mustlovejapan.com/area/tokyo_west/harajuku/ Video Tour of Harajuku]
*
* [http://www.japaneselifestyle.com.au/tokyo/harajuku.htm Harajuku] Photos and Guide
* [http://picturetokyo.com/en/city/harajuku.html Harajuku Photo Gallery and Travel Guide]