Harajuku

Meiji Jingu | Harajuku

If you have nothing else to do on a Sunday, and possibly even if you do, Harajuku Broadway is the place to be...or at least that is what half Tokyo's population and every teenage superstar wannabe thinks! I never cease to be amazed at how readily people will make complete idiots of themselves in public all in the vague hope that they may one day be "discovered". But here in Tokyo's musical fantasy land it seems as though nobody really cares; they are all there just giving vent to their urge to...express themselves. From the girly Pinky Piglets, through hard core heavy metal, has-been rock 'n' rollers who really should know better to earnest young men and women exposing their souls to the world. Mostly awful, but great fun and one or two passable acts, often with their own little entourage of groupies and, more likely, family and friends for moral support. Once you tire of the cacophony of Harajuku, it is not far to wander through the forest to the Meiji Jingu (National Shrine) for some peace and quiet, or alternatively to the shoppers' delights of Omotesando...even more expensive than Ginza.