Harajuku
:''For other uses of Harajuku, see the
disambiguation page |
Harajuku Station at night |
 |
Street performers on the bridge by Harajuku Station |
Harajuku (原宿) is the common name for the area around
Harajuku Station on the
Yamanote Line in the
Shibuya ward of
Tokyo,
Japan.
For external observers, it has been primarily known as a hangout for teens and contains the department store
Laforet, which has many trend-setting brands for young people. But the majority of shoppers are from Saitama, Chiba, or other areas outside of Tokyo.
Harajuku became famous in the 1980s due to the large numbers of
street performers and wildly dressed teens who gathered there on Sundays when
Omotesando was closed to traffic. Those movements lead to the vibrant "Hokoten Band Scene". This was stopped at the end of the '90s and the number of performers,
Visual Kei fans,
rockabilly dancers and
punks has steadily decreased since. Today on Sundays one can see many
Gothic Lolita as well as many foreign tourists taking pictures of them on the way to
Meiji Shrine. Some tourists are surprised to see such a large exhibition of Japanese youth dressed up in often shocking outfits.
Near the train station there is the
Meiji Shrine, which is famous for the large number of people who come to visit every year, as well as
Yoyogi Park. Also nearby are
Takeshita Street, a street lined with fashion boutiques and various goods mostly for young teenagers, and
Omotesando, a very long street with cafes and upscale fashion boutiques popular with residents and tourists alike.
The area known as "Ura-Hara" (backstreet Harajuku) has become well-known for independent casual fashion designs, footwear and so on. The more playful styles are exposed globally in publications such as
FRUiTS.
Its origin goes back to the early '90s, with the opening of
Bounding Hunters and following gathering of fashionable on the residential backstreet of Omotesando. The street is called "cat-street" for the fact that there are many cats crossing the street. The streets are heavily crowded on the weekend when teens gather to shop and hang out with their friends. Local landmarks include the headquarters of
NHK.
Harajuku is a popular iconic location in the entertainment world, both inside and outside of Japan. The
American singer
Gwen Stefani references Harajuku in several of her songs and incorporates four female dancers dressed like Americanised
Harajuku Girls into her background act. A song is even dedicated on her album,
Love.Angel.Music.Baby, titled 'Harajuku Girls' and the word "原宿" (
Harajuku) is depicted on the stage surface during her
music video for
Hollaback girl. Her use - what critics call her appropriation - of Harajuku girls and Harajuku fashion has been criticized by many Asian-Americans for perpetuating stereotypes of submissive Asian women. [
1]
The
Scottish group
Belle & Sebastian also refers to Harajuku in their album
Dear Catastrophe Waitress. A winter-themed special edition of
Takeshi's Castle (known as
MXC in the United States) contained a scene filmed at the station where
Hayato Tani (aka "Captain Tenneal") gives one of his pep-talks to the contestants. Well known pop-artist Gwen Stefani also dedicates an album and fashion line to Harajuku and its subcultures in her song "Harajuku Girls". She also refers to them in the song "What You Waiting For?"
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