Shibuya and Harajuku

  Yesterday morning was different from all mornings before. First off, it was actually pretty cold, secondly, we had a late start leading to a relaxing morning, and finally Charlie-san couldn't be there so we had the wonderful Oogi-san instead.

 

  After breakfast our guide led us out into the cold windy air. Most of us were wearing our cutest outfits in preparation for spending our day in two of Tokyo's biggest shopping districts. BJ was rocking her whiter tiger kiragumi and Shelby had on cat tights.

 

 Arriving in Shibuya's train station, we gazed out the window at the gigantic square teaming with people before us. As we left the station overlooking the square, our guide stopped to show us the statue of Hachi. Hachi was a dog renowned for his loyalty, and today his statue is a common meeting spot.

 

After that we headed over to 109, Shibuya's gigantic department store. We only had 30 minutes to shop there, so racing around the store was super hectic!Since fashion changes so quickly you are not allowed to take pictures in the stores, so that the shops can stay ahead of their competitors. The Shopgirls who run the shop are all very well dressed in their stores style of clothing, since they are their not just to man the register but to show of the store's style. We were all very disappointed to learn that most of the clothes only came in one size, which tended to be a bit small on us.

 

We bought the skirts/dress at 109. Photo taken by the wonderful Morgan Dalton.

Pic Source Super Cute Pear Mascot!

 

 After Shibuya, we stopped by a temple and saw lots of ice sculptures. We always saw a traditional Japanese wedding and some of us tried Octopus balls (you could definitely taste the suckers on the tentacles).

Then we headed over to Harajuku, an area famous for its shops and its crepes. We had about 2 hours of free time here to shop and get lunch.While Harajuku had some big department stores, it also had lots of small shops. We had a meeting place outside of a shop called Kiddyland, which is like ToyRus. It has a pear mascot, who is super cute.

 

Some notable purchases are: Helen bought Elsa chopsticks because why not; Shelby got a skirt and sweater; BJ bought a great hat; and Gracie bought a skirt and jacket.

Gracie