Must see attractions in Harajuku & Aoyama

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Tokyo’s grandest Shintō shrine is dedicated to the Emperor Meiji and Empress Shōken, whose reign (1868–1912) coincided with Japan's transformation from…

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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…

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This broad, tree-lined boulevard is lined with boutiques from the top European fashion houses. More interesting are the buildings themselves, designed by…

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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…

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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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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;…

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…

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…

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…

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 &…

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…

In a building (1990) by Swiss architect Mario Botta, Watari-Um stages exhibits that range from retrospectives of established art-world figures (such as…

This deceptively deep concrete mall (2003), designed by Tadao Ando, spirals around a sunken atrium. Andō’s architecture utilises materials such as…

Artist and stylist Sebastian Masuda is behind the lurid colours, surrealist installations and other-worldly outfits of this darkly cute cafe. In the…

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…