Harajuku, Shibuya, Akibahara

..continued

So after the imperial gardens this morning, we took the metro over to Harajuku to see the Meiji Shrine, a famous Shinto shrine. It has beautiful wooden gates leading up to it, the largest of their kind...



Before going into the shrine you should perform a ritual hand washing

Outside, many people leave prayers on wooden tokens

the entrance gate
the shrine (no pics allowed inside)
Beautiful!


We were already in harajuku, which is famous for trendy young fashion, so we decided to start shopping. I thought these shirts were great
...particularly this one
This is the entrance to Takeshita street, with lots of cheap clothes and accessories stalls, and crepe stands. Almost bought one of those giant hair bows, but didn't. Picked up a tshirt nearby.

um, wha?
We then walked to Shibuya and shopped a bit more, and saw Shibuya intersection (from Lost in Translation, if you've seen it) and the bustling Shibuya station.

I insisted we take a trip up to Akihabara (Electric Town) before dinner, which is the home of electronic and otako (geek) culture. An interesting novelty of this area is the 'maid cafe' - a cafe where you are served by girls in maid outfits. They try to recruit you on the street.
An arcade just like Lost in Translation :0D

For dinner we stopped into a sushi bar. I had some delicious tuna, salmon, and yellowtail sushi and miso soup. I could not believe when my bill came and was only $8. Whattttttt? I would eat this every day.

-K