Harajuku

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For other uses of Harajuku, see the disambiguation page

Harajuku (原宿) listen (help·info) is the common name for the area around Harajuku Station on the Yamanote Line in the Shibuya ward of Tokyo, Japan 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-dōri. Takeshita-dōri caters for youth fashions and has many small stores selling gosurori, visual kei, rockabilly, hip-hop, and punk outfits.

In recent years Omotesandō has seen a rise in expensive fashion stores such as Louis Vuitton, Chanel, and Prada. The avenue is sometimes referred to as "Tokyo's Champs-Élysées". Until 2004, one side of it 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" shopping mall, designed by Tadao Ando.

The area known as "Ura-Hara" (back streets of Harajuku) is a center of Japanese fashion for younger people — brands such as Bathing Ape and Undercover have shops in the area. Harajuku street style is promoted in Japanese and international publications such as Fruits.

In the 1980s large numbers of street performers and wildly dressed teens gathered on Omotesando and the street that passes through Yoyogi Park on Sundays when the steets were closed to traffic. The streets were reopened to traffic in the 90s. Small groups of rockabillies and gosurori still gather on Sundays.

Contents 1 Harajuku in popular culture 2 See also 3 Notes 4 External links

[edit] Harajuku in popular culture

The Japanese female duo Puffy AmiYumi refer to the area "We ain't no Harajuku girls" in the track "Call Me What You Like (If You Like Rock-N-Roll)" from their album Splurge.

Japanese musician Matsumoto Hideto (松本 秀人) (“hidé”) refers to the area in the track "Space Monkey Punks from Japan" on the Zilch album “3.2.1.”, with the lyrics "Ichi, Ni, San, Juu, All the way from Harajuku"

Harajuku is also used as an avatar style for new registrants to the popular online world Second Life.

The Scottish group Belle & Sebastian also refers to Harajuku in the single "I'm a Cuckoo" from their album Dear Catastrophe Waitress.

A winter-themed special edition of Takeshi's Castle (known as [[MXC]] in the United States) contains a scene filmed at the station where Hayato Tani (aka "Captain Tenneal") gives one of his pep-talks to the contestants.

Joe Strummer (of The Clash) had a song "Sanposuru Harajuku" (A Stroll through Harajuku) that he sang live at concerts with his band The Mescaleros in 2002, although the song did not appear on his posthumous album.

Brian Setzer mentions the area in his song "Bad, Bad Girl (In a Bad, Bad World)" off of his album 13.

The American singer Gwen Stefani mentions Harajuku in several of her songs^[1] and has incorporated four female dancers, "Love," "Angel," "Music," and "Baby," dressed like Americanised Harajuku girls, into her background act. A song is dedicated to them on her solo debut 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--or appropriation--of Harajuku girls and Harajuku fashion has been criticized by a number of Asian-Americans, notably Margaret Cho, for perpetuating stereotypes of submissive Asian women.^[2] Slant magazine stated that the album's "obsession with Harajuku girls borders on maniacal".^[3] Stefani has also released a line of clothing and accessories called "Harajuku Lovers" with designs similar to Hello Kitty-style children's products.^[4]

[edit] See also

• Ginza, for the middle aged
• Amerikamura in Osaka
• Dōtonbori in Osaka
• Harajuku girl

[edit] Notes

1. ^ In her songs, Stefani mispronounces the word Harajuku. Instead of the Japanese pronunciation [haɺ̠adʲʑɯkɯ], Stefani says "hair-ajuku," though the Japanese speakers on her album pronounce the word correctly.^{[citation needed]}
2. ^ MiHi Ahn, "Gwenihana: Gwen Stefani neuters Japanese street fashion to create spring's must-have accessory: Giggling geisha!".
3. ^ Cinquemani, Sal. "Music Review: Gwen Stefani: Love. Angel. Music. Baby.". Slant. 2004. Retrieved March 17, 2007.
4. ^ Site

[edit] External links

• harajuku videos
• Tokyo/Harajuku travel guide from Wikitravel
• Harajuku Guide @ Picturetokyo.com Harajuku Information & Gallery
• Pictures of Harajuku, Tokyo ( including Jingu bashi, Takeshita street, Cat street, Jingumae and Omotesando )
• Harajuku @ Japanese Lifestyle - Pictures & Harajuku shopping Information