The Internet Bedroom Guide to Harajuku
All my recs for the grrrls looking for the real Harajuku (really, this is a love letter to LaForet <3)
Growing up in the 2000s in rural Ohio, Harajuku was little more than ear candy. The name evoked everything that I was just starting to see with a dial-up Internet connection — cute girls and boys with multicolored hair dripping in charms throwing fits that I would get laughed out of my suburban high school for wearing. And it felt so far out of reach it might as well be an imaginary place.
Sometime in the late 70s, Harajuku became an epicenter for youth culture when two larger malls, Palais France and LaForet, were constructed just off the Takeshita Street train exit. Soon, the neighborhood became an incubator for a range of native styles advanced by the kids who gathered along Takeshita Street and Harajuku’s back alleyways. From the many substrata of Lolita (gothic, sweet, punk, ouji) to the campy fakery of Gyaru and the extreme ornamentation of Decora, over the years the Internet has learned the different vernaculars of Japanese fashion.
Computer programmer turned photographer, Shoichi Aoki, began documenting the Harajuku street scene in his publication, FRUiTS, in 1997, printing the portraits he snapped of the kids who were drawn to the area until 2017. These images were how many of us overseas learned about the fashion in Harajuku in those early Internet days, before Gwen Stefanie decided to hire three Japanese backup dancers and rename them after her Harajuku-inspired solo album (“What You Waiting For” is still a bop, I fear).
Cynics will tell you that Harajuku as a Mecca for art and fashion peaked in the late 90s and early 2000s. That it doesn’t exist anymore. That the girls got tired of being stopped by tourists to have pictures taken of their outfits. That fast fashion brands saturated the streets by the 2010s, effectively killing the scene. That subcultures all dried up thanks to TikTok.
But in a lot of ways, the Internet became Harajuku. A gathering place where we make it ourselves, show off our fits, drive the culture forward. At least, on my very, very optimistic days, that’s how I feel.
So here is the Internet Bedroom Guide to Harajuku, filled with all my picks, the places I’m drawn back to every time I come back to Japan. I’m also un-gatekeeping my favorite indie Japanese fashion designers (with links!!!) for paid subscribers at the end of this letter as well as dropping links and directions to all my other picks soooo…
Skip Takeshita Street & Head to Harajuku Street
Skip the animal cafes (which mostly smell weird and make you feel a little sad). Skip the strawberries dipped in liquid sugar. Skip the rainbow cheese pulls (the cheese tastes bad anyways). Personally, I skip taking pictures of the girls who are dressed up. It feels tacky even though they’re most likely going to be super nice about it.
You can walk down Takeshita Street once and really be done with it. A lot of the stores are generic, low quality tourist trap stuff, but I do love the stores selling socks and cellphone charms and decoden glue, so it’s not completely a bust if you spend a half hour exploring Takeshita.
But instead of getting sucked into a tourist trap, I would walk down Takeshita until you get to Meiji-Dori Avenue, cross that and hit Harajuku Street. This street is usually much less crowded and is packed with great vintage shops, tattoo parlors, and a 3D latte art spot that’s worth checking out. Look at this latte art I asked them to make of my pug, Wallace:
Spiral Toy Store
If you walk to the end of Harajuku Street and wander down a back alley, you’ll find Spiral Toy Store. Like most things in Harajuku, I stumbled upon Spiral and was immediately entranced by how many toys from the 80s and 90s they had crammed into the tiny store. Whether you’re looking for Bratz blind boxes (which are a real thing?) or weirdo handcrafted stuffed animals that look like your 1986 fever dreams, Spiral has a little bit of everything. And even if you aren’t looking to buy, it’s still fun to wander through the store, which feels like an art installation in and of itself with every square in crammed with stuff.
This is definitely one of those blink-and-you’ll-miss-it hole in the wall type spots, so I dropped the address after the jump.
LaForet
After a trip to Jimbocho, I was digging around Instagram for any leads on where I could buy back issues of FRUiTS and came up with a bunch of posts that my phone couldn’t translate. They all were tagged to LaForet, though, so I decided to find whatever LaForet was on my next trip to Harajuku.
LaForet was built over a church in 1978, so it’s appropriate that this mall has become the Holy Ground for Fashion Girlies the world over. And this isn’t gimmicky bullshit either. LaForet is the real deal, housing dozens of indie Japanese designers, a healthy rotation of pop ups, as well as the Vivienne Westwood Red Label, which is a concept store exclusive to Tokyo that boasts Westwood designs you can’t get anywhere else in the world (not even on the Internet, I fear). Plus, at the very top of the mall is the LaForet Museum, which hosts fashion and art exhibitions celebrating the legacy and innovations of Harajuku.
My tip for LaForet is to hit the Vivienne Westwood Red Label on the first floor and then head straight to the half floor that sits between the basement levels and the first floor. This floor is entirely dedicated to indie designers and pop ups, and you’ll find everything there from bags with eyes and teeth to art installations and the best clothes I have ever seen in my entire life. The designers who rent out a rack or cubby on this level are always changing, so you’re always going to discover something new that you won’t be able to stop thinking about unless you buy it.
After the jump below, I have un-gatekept my fave indie designer discoveries at LaForet for paid readers <3
Nails of Avarice
If you’re looking for a set of nails that will survive international travel, hit up Hee at Nails of Avarice. Tucked away in one of Harajuku’s many back alleyways, her nail spot is super chill and it was easy to book in with her. Hee specializes in hand painted sets, so if you’re looking for a more over-the-top install, you’ll need to look elsewhere. When she put on Mad Max: Fury Road for my appointment, I knew I would trust her with my hands any time. I ended up getting these black and white smiley faces last time I saw her and this set lasted me about two months.
Eats: Tamago Kitchen, milkmilkmilk!
Harajuku is The Spot for Grabbing A Little Treat, and one walk down Takeshita Street offers plenty of food you’ve probably seen online: those strawberries, rainbow cheese dogs, pastel cotton candy, candy shops, etc. etc. But there’s also good eats to be found around the neighborhood and a spot I always make sure to hit is Tamago Kitchen, which has my favorite omurice I’ve had in Tokyo.
Omurice is a Japanese-style omelette that’s served over rice. Tamago Kitchen’s menu is pretty simple: you get to pick your style of omurice (rolled or fluffy with ketchup or demi glaze which is like a rich gravy) or you can get one of their special plates with omurice and beef stew, potato and mayo, etc. I always get fries with my omurice and the spot also has chargers, which is a rarity in the city.
If you do want something sweet, I’d go to milkmilkmilk! which is in LaForet’s foodcourt. I got this amazing strawberry parfait and now I’m addicted to eating strawberry parfaits which is fine. It’s fine.
🔐Ungatekeeping My Fave Indie Designers Discovered at LaForet