Harajuku & Aoyama
Tokyo’s grandest Shintō shrine is dedicated to the Emperor Meiji and Empress Shōken, whose reign (1868–1912) coincided with Japan's transformation from…
Must-see attractions in Harajuku & Aoyama
Harajuku & Aoyama
If it’s a sunny and warm weekend afternoon, you can count on there being a crowd lazing around the large grassy expanse that is Yoyogi-kōen. You'll…
Harajuku & Aoyama
This broad, tree-lined boulevard is lined with boutiques from the top European fashion houses. More interesting are the buildings themselves, designed by…
Harajuku & Aoyama
Nezu Museum offers a striking blend of old and new: a renowned collection of Japanese, Chinese and Korean antiquities in a gallery space designed by…
Ukiyo-e Ōta Memorial Museum of Art
Harajuku & Aoyama
This small museum (where you swap your shoes for slippers) is the best place in Tokyo to see ukiyo-e. Each month it presents a seasonal, thematic…
Harajuku & Aoyama
This is Tokyo’s famous fashion bazaar. It's an odd mixed bag: newer shops selling trendy, youthful styles alongside stores still invested in the trappings…
Harajuku & Aoyama
Had enough of the Harajuku crowds? Exit, stage right, for Cat Street, a meandering car-free road with a mishmash of boutiques and a little more breathing…
Harajuku & Aoyama
This boulevard inside Jingū-gaien (the public outer gardens of Meiji-jingū) is lined with gingko trees. For a couple of weeks around late November and…
Harajuku & Aoyama
Design Festa has long been a champion of Tokyo’s DIY art scene and its maze-like building is a Harajuku landmark. Inside there are dozens of small…
Harajuku & Aoyama
The asymmetrical, geometric shape of architect Maki Fumihiko's Spiral Building (1985) may not look very sinuous on the outside, but the name will make…
Harajuku & Aoyama
On the grounds of Meiji-jingū (accessed via the shrine's main approach) is the strolling garden, Meiji-jingū Gyoen. It once belonged to a feudal estate;…
Harajuku & Aoyama
Kengo Kuma's design for Taiwanese pineapple cake shop SunnyHills uses 3D-modelled latticework that's supposed to evoke a bamboo basket but also resembles…
Harajuku & Aoyama
A painter and sculptor, Okamoto Tarō was Japan's most recognised artist from the post-WWII period, a rare avant-garde figure with mass appeal. His works…
Harajuku & Aoyama
This early masterpiece by architect Tange Kenzō was built for the 1964 Olympics (and will be used again in the 2020 games for the handball event). The…
Harajuku & Aoyama
Of course you could shop here, but pretty much everyone comes just to ogle the curvaceous glass bubbles of the boutique's exterior, designed by Herzog &…
Harajuku & Aoyama
This five-storey glass building (2003) uses clever lighting and acrylic screens to pull off the effortlessly chic look of a breezy tiered skirt. Pritzker…
Tokyu Plaza Omotesando Harajuku
Harajuku & Aoyama
The entrance to this castle-like structure by Nakamura Hiroshi is a dizzying hall of mirrors (which makes for a great photo); there’s a roof garden on top.
Watari Museum of Contemporary Art
Harajuku & Aoyama
In a building (1990) by Swiss architect Mario Botta, Watari-Um stages exhibits that range from retrospectives of established art-world figures (such as…
Harajuku & Aoyama
This deceptively deep concrete mall (2003), designed by Tadao Ando, spirals around a sunken atrium. Andō’s architecture utilises materials such as…
Harajuku & Aoyama
Artist and stylist Sebastian Masuda is behind the lurid colours, surrealist installations and other-worldly outfits of this darkly cute cafe. In the…
Harajuku & Aoyama
Aoki Jun’s design for Louis Vuitton (2002) features offset panels of tinted glass behind sheets of metal mesh of varying patterns and is, fittingly, meant…
Harajuku & Aoyama
Pritzker Prize–winner Itō Toyō designed the Tod's boutique (2004). The criss-crossing strips of concrete take their inspiration from the zelkova trees…
Harajuku & Aoyama
On the top floor of Aoki Jun's Louis Vuitton boutique, this light-filled gallery hosts contemporary exhibitions backed by the luxury brand's well-endowed…
