Wandered around town on Saturday after the fish market. We headed back to Shibuya to meet Heather, an expat friend of Andrea's who is from the US as well. Heather's children were performing taiko drumming at the annual gathering for the Miyabi Arashi Taiko School. Of course, no visit can be complete without a meal somewhere. We headed for lunch at My Lebanon- a great Lebanese restaurant. Since we overdid it at lunch, we needed to walk off our meal, so we did a bit of shopping and wandered around Andrea's old neighborhood in Motoazabu before calling it a night. The weather in Tokyo has been rainy and windy so we weren't able to get a lot done.
Today, we headed out for Omote-sando, Harajuku and the Meji shrine. We hopped the train from the hotel and got off at Omote-sando to begin our adventures. Omote-sando, the boulevard that runs from Harajuku to Aoyama is lined with upscale shops found in all the major cities. We did some shopping and met Heather for lunch at Fujimamas. After lunch, we headed to Harajuku. This is a place where parents do
not want their children to be at. Every Sunday is Cos-play-zoku (Costume Play Gang). This is a group that consists of many kids from the small towns who ride out to Tokyo to participate at Harajuku to strut their stuff.
The Cos-play-zoku will pose for you when asked and they are quite proud of their outfits and makeup. We saw everything from Goth, punk, fantasy, S&M, Victorian, anime and more often than not, nursery rhyme characters. It was basically the Rocky Horror Picture Show comes to life or the freak show circus. The streets were packed and we arrived at the height of the crowd. We were lucky that the weather was nice and it was filled with many people. We found a spot and just hung out to see the different costumes walking past us.
After hanging around and people watching, we headed over to Meji shrine. Compared to the mayhem that was going on around the corner, the Meji shrine was a much needed respite. It was so peaceful and calm that its hard to believe just right outside the park is the freak circus. We were lucky to see three brides at the shrine. They were each dressed in the traditional Japanese wedding kimono and were really beautiful. We left the shrine to continue our adventures and saw the remants of the Cos-play-zoku group at Harajuku. It was an interesting day and I must say, when we go back to Tokyo as a family, I'll make sure that Matthew does
not get to see Harajuku.
Wandered around town on Saturday after the fish market. We headed back to Shibuya to meet Heather, an expat friend of Andrea's who is from the US as well. Heather's children were performing taiko drumming at the annual gathering for the Miyabi Arashi Taiko School. Of course, no visit can be complete without a meal somewhere. We headed for lunch at My Lebanon- a great Lebanese restaurant. Since we overdid it at lunch, we needed to walk off our meal, so we did a bit of shopping and wandered around Andrea's old neighborhood in Motoazabu before calling it a night. The weather in Tokyo has been rainy and windy so we weren't able to get a lot done.
Today, we headed out for Omote-sando, Harajuku and the Meji shrine. We hopped the train from the hotel and got off at Omote-sando to begin our adventures. Omote-sando, the boulevard that runs from Harajuku to Aoyama is lined with upscale shops found in all the major cities. We did some shopping and met Heather for lunch at Fujimamas. After lunch, we headed to Harajuku. This is a place where parents do not want their children to be at. Every Sunday is Cos-play-zoku (Costume Play Gang). This is a group that consists of many kids from the small towns who ride out to Tokyo to participate at Harajuku to strut their stuff. 
The Cos-play-zoku will pose for you when asked and they are quite proud of their outfits and makeup. We saw everything from Goth, punk, fantasy, S&M, Victorian, anime and more often than not, nursery rhyme characters. It was basically the Rocky Horror Picture Show comes to life or the freak show circus. The streets were packed and we arrived at the height of the crowd. We were lucky that the weather was nice and it was filled with many people. We found a spot and just hung out to see the different costumes walking past us. 
After hanging around and people watching, we headed over to Meji shrine. Compared to the mayhem that was going on around the corner, the Meji shrine was a much needed respite. It was so peaceful and calm that its hard to believe just right outside the park is the freak circus. We were lucky to see three brides at the shrine. They were each dressed in the traditional Japanese wedding kimono and were really beautiful. We left the shrine to continue our adventures and saw the remants of the Cos-play-zoku group at Harajuku. It was an interesting day and I must say, when we go back to Tokyo as a family, I'll make sure that Matthew does not get to see Harajuku.
