In Tokyo again: Day One

 Harajuku, Shibuya, Akihabara and Asakusa covered in cherry blossoms

I slept like a baby tonight. The bunk beds in my hostel all have their own doors so you can have a little privacy while sleeping. They look like little capsules and you have your own light and plug with free wifi... Aaah it's so comfy! Exactly what u needed after that hangover flight! Although I busted about wanting to do "unconventional" sightseeing I ended up doing some touristy stuff today. After I found out that the Ghibli Museum is sold out completely for the next two weeks I was a bit blue at first but then decided to go to Harajuku and look for cute Japanese cosplayers! In the lonely planet it says they are on the yo-yogi bridge every Sunday although there numbers have declined. Well, when I was there I couldn't see many. One cute Gothic Lolita girl was heading towards Harajuku but not to do cosplaying.

 Actually I wanted to see loooads of girls wearing outfits like this!

Anyway, on the bright side I had a "home experience". I found a big sports wear seller, selling football shirts from my hometown team Dortmund. Actually they became pretty famous in Japan due to Shinji Kagawa, the Japanese player that won the German Bundesliga championship with them in the last two years.

crowded Takeshia street in Harayuku on a Sunday

 Anyway, I ended up entering Takeshia Street (竹下通り), the most popular J-Pop and Harajuku-Style street in Tokyo. It was crowded! Well it usually is always crowded but it is even more crowded on Sundays when the Japanese and other weekend tourists come to Tokyo. It is also a lovely place to buy small weird souvenirs and check out the Japanese street style. If you ask me now, since I have lived in Seoul for the past month, compared to the Hongdae street style it is a bit less quirky/hipster and more like a super cute grandmother meets punk-rock. Still, a lot of the goods can be bought in Korea much cheaper. Too bad I cannot buy cat dresses or one of the puffy skirts or cute polka-dot shoes...or any of the other cool clothes here because they are usually one size only and shoes are made to fit Japanese height and not huge Amazon woman giantess. If you ever happen to be here, make sure to check the crepes which are sold almost everywhere, cause they are the snack Takeshia Street is famous for. 

famous crepes

Harayuku street style

CAT SHOES!!!

Me with Hello Kitty glasses

When you exit Takeshia you can enter Harajuku street, a less crowded area with shops more quiet. This is the way I took to make my way towards Shibuya! On the way I took a walk along beautiful cherry trees and some Ralph Lauren shops with hot artificial men models on their front. Shortly before I arrived at Shibuya I saw a HUGE music store. What the hell. I was still looking for CD`s from my new favorite Korean Indie band Glen Check (Thanks Antonia!). Well they had one floor only dedicated to J-Rock and J-Indie. So, I discovered a new favorite of mine: Base Ball Bear!

Of course, there was also a whole floor dedicated to foreign music, one half consisting of K-Pop. Oh, Big Bang! After this exciting new discovery I walked the last kilometer to the Shibuya crossing. You have all seen this once in TV. Don`t deny it, the huge crossing with no less than 5 zebra pathways where cars from all directions are stopped every time to allow pedestrians to cross the street. Its is simply amazing how many people cross this intersection every time the traffic light switches. While I was sitting in the Starbucks upstairs overlooking this human spectacle I felt really tiny. This does not happen often, trust me on this.

After some sentimental time, I went to take a look at my favorite Japanese store: Loft! My mother would say it is a high class junk shop but I LOVE it. For me it is more like a `everything` shop with supplies ranging from make up, kitchenware to electronics and costumes. I made some pictures of the most weirdest things I found there, which you can buy.

weird naked dolls with buny ears ???

everything on strawberries

Sailor moon (or something else) costume for men

Time for Akihabara, the electronic/manga/anime/pop-culture district. The electronics town of Tokyo. Whenever you go here you can enjoy walking through the used electronics shops, find weird costumes for every occasion or, if you are brave enough, take a look inside the hidden sex shops where they sell kinky toys. For men, maybe the many Maid-Cafes are intriguing. They are literally at every corner. Petty girls dressed as servants will take care of you and serve you food and drinks, accompanied by games at the table. Later on you can buy merchandise of you favorite girl but I made the experience that the food is expensive and as a woman you fell slightly awkward when a pretty girl in a maid costume approaches you and squeaks flowery phrases while serving you coffee. However, Akihabara is definitely worth a look because you can find everything here  ranging from old Nintendo Consoles, to cotton Fish hats! They have a great deal of book shops selling everything related to manga and Anime and here is where I finally found my one and only Cosplay couple! A bunny butler and a blond Japanese Lady in front of K-Books.

My one and only cosplay couple!

a shop for retro gaming supply...old Mario games, etc.

...old Nintendo, bring back the memory!

just a red fish hat

At night I met my lovely friend Asami at Asakusa. Since it is cherry blossom time the view was ever more stunning. Last summer I had already visited this area multiple times and it was already beautiful but now the atmosphere is just so different. With cherry blossoms around and the illuminated buildings gliming in the dark it felt like you are set back in time... until you see people making pictures with their tablets or kids running around with toy guns.Let the pictures speak on my behalf:

Sensoji Temple Asakusa @ night

Sensoji Temple and Pagoda

Tokyo Sky Tree in a foggy night with cherry blossoms

Sensoji Temple Pagoda surrounded with cherry blossoms

Thank you Asami for this wonderful night, and thank you for reading, please leave comments, follow me on Twitter or receive e-mail updates via the menu on the left! Arigatou Gozaimashta! Mata-Nee!