GUIDE TO WESTERN TOKYO

YOUR GUIDE TO

#SHINJUKU #SHIBUYA

Western Tokyo

Get to know some of Tokyo’s most fascinating districts: Shinjuku, Shibuya, Harajuku, Aoyama and Omotesando.

TRAVEL TIPS

• Avoid Shinjuku Station at peak hour, especially if you’re travelling with young children or strollers.

• Sofia Coppola’s movie Lost in Translation was filmed at

Shinjuku’s Park Hyatt Hotel – bookings are required to visit the Bar and New York Grill.

• Modern art lovers, book ahead for the Yayoi Kusama Museum located in Shinjuku Ward.

• Shinjuku is a ramen mecca – the best restaurants will have a long queue outside.

Mitaka

ShinjukuShinjuku

WESTERN TOKYO

Harajuku

Shibuya

National Stadium

Omotesando

Shimokitazawa

Daikanyama

SHINJUKU

Shinjuku Station is one of the busiest transport hubs in the world. West of the station lies a forest of skyscrapers and electronic megastores, while the east is the access point for shopping, dining and entertainment. On the south side of the station, you’ll find Shinjuku Expressway Bus terminal, as well as a cluster of modern shopping complexes. WHAT TO SEE & DO At night, Shinjuku turns into a futuristic city of neon lights with endless opportunities for dining, drinking and entertainment. Tokyo’s one-time red-light district, Kabukicho, is now home to high-end nightclubs, cinemas and oh-so-cool bars and lounges. Enjoy sipping rare whiskeys or sake in establishments around the Golden Gai and Omoide Yokocho, where tiny bars are squeezed into narrow alleys.

Shinjuku offers plenty of day diversions as well. Visit the 45th-floor observation decks of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building for stunning vistas over the city. Entry is free of charge, and only a short walk from Shinjuku Station. In contrast to the hustle and bustle of the town centre, Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden offers pleasant and leafy reprieve and moments of Zen. In spring, the garden colours pink with cherry blossoms and is a favourite location for sakura viewing.

Also in Shinjuku, the Samurai Museum and Ninja Trick House are great cultural experiences for adults and kids, while days can be lost exploring the boutiques of department stores including Isetan, Odakyu and Takashimaya.

SHIBUYA

Cutting-edge fashions and youth culture stand proud in Shibuya, an area brimming with hip cafes, bars and restaurants and always buzzing with throngs of people. The district is home to some of Tokyo’s most lauded department stores, its streets busy with shoppers during the day and party people frequenting nightclubs and live-music venues by night. WHAT TO SEE & DO Next to Shibuya Station is the famous scramble crossing (all sides of the intersection cross at the same time), one of Tokyo’s most visually iconic spots – this is an image that features on just about every Japan Instagram page. Towering over the station and the famous crossing is a 47-storey highrise building, Shibuya Scramble Square, which opened in 2019. The 230-metre-high tower is topped with an open-air observation deck, offering majestic views across Tokyo, all the way to Mount Fuji.

The Shibuya Scramble Crossing is one of Tokyo’s most visually iconic spots.

TRAVEL TIPS

• Shibuya 109 is heaven for fashion-conscious teens.

• Visit Loft or Tokyu Hands for quirky souvenirs.

• Check out fashionable youth culture walking from Shibuya to Harajuku via Cat Street.

• Enjoy the local nightlife and try karaoke at Shibuya Karaoke

Kan, where a scene from Lost in Translation was filmed.

OPENING IMAGE: Exploring the streets of Shinjuku © Hanahiraku/Pexel/ Unsplash LEFT: Shibuya Crossing Scramble © f11photo/Shutterstock OPPOSITE, FROM TOP: Shimo-Kitazawa’s bustling streets © Manuel Ascanio/Shutterstock; gazing over the Shibuya Crossing Scramble from an observation deck

WESTERN TOKYO

SHIMO-KITAZAWA

Shimo-kitazawa Station is accessed from either Shinjuku or Shibuya on the Odakyu or Keio-Inokashira lines.

WHAT TO SEE & DO If you are looking for somewhere beyond the major city icons, with local retro and youth culture, this area is for you. Often referred to as Shimokita, this neighbourhood is sometimes compared to the back streets of Harajuku, well known for having a large number of small, independent fashion retailers, cafes, bars, live music venues and theatres. Expect to discover a wide selection of vintage treasures, and surround yourself with Tokyo youth culture, with a retro twist.

TRAVEL TIPS

• Vinyl lovers will enjoy the eclectic record stores.

• This is a great place to catch a live performance or show from a local theatre group.

HARAJUKU

The JR Harajuku Station is located between Shinjuku and Shibuya stations on the JR Yamanote Line. When you arrive, you’ll be met with eyepoppingly individual fashion and style, with young people embracing cosplay and out-ofthis-world street fashion trends.

WHAT TO SEE & DO Harajuku’s main street, Takeshita-Dori, is located just steps from Harajuku Station and is lined with quirky shops for fashion, street food and bizarre items – such as rare coins.

For other shopping opportunities close by, Laforet Harajuku is a complex for trendy youth fashion, and multistorey toy store Kiddy Land (on tree-lined Omotesando boulevard) is a haven for every cute Japanese kids’ brand ever conceived. Wind back the clock and enjoy a taste of traditional culture at the Ota Memorial Museum of Art, located in the area’s back streets and home to a coveted collection of Japanese woodcut prints. Also nodding to yesteryear is the Meiji Shrine, with its impressive wooden torii gate – a dense forest of 70 hectares surrounds the shrine, instantly transporting you to a place miles away from the neon of Harajuku.

Yoyogi Park, next to the shrine, offers another dose of nature, particularly popular during spring when the cherry blossoms colour grounds in a dusting of pink. It’s also popular among dancers and cosplay fanatics, who dress up and come here on weekends.

TRAVEL TIPS

• Visit Harajuku on weekends to witness cosplay gatherings and Rockabilly dancers.

• Sample Harajuku’s rainbow food, now popular on Instagram (and sure to give you a sugar high).

• See youth culture along Cat

Street and Ura-Hara (back streets of Harajuku).

• Visit the tranquil Meiji-Shrine inner garden (Iris Garden) in June.

• The Antique Flea Market at Togo Shrine pops up on the first Sunday of every month.

• Wander to neighbouring areas including Shibuya,

Aoyama and Omotesando.

AOYAMA & OMOTESANDO

Close to the youth fashion meccas of Shibuya and Harajuku, this elegant shopping district is a playground for well-heeled grown-ups.

WHAT TO SEE & DO Omotesando is a tree-lined boulevard with stylish brand-name shops, cafes and malls, not in the least the Omotesando Hills Shopping Centre (designed by Tadao Ando in 2005) – think of this part of the city as the Champs-Elysee of Tokyo. Besides the shopping and the cafe culture, it is particularly known for its numerous buildings designed by superstar Japanese and international architects. Among them is the Nezu Museum of Art, dedicated to a vast collection of more than 7,400 works of Japanese and East Asian art, uniting modern and traditional Japanese architecture with harmonious gardens.

Close by, the Aoyama area is one of Tokyo’s most affluent neighbourhoods, popular for its international fashion boutiques, cafes, restaurants and antique stores – head to Kotto-Dori Street to discover the latter.

TRAVEL TIPS

• Enjoy Parisian-style cafe culture on Omotesando.

• For healthy eaters, a number of specialist organic cafes and restaurants are located around the Aoyama Dori Street end of

Omotesando in the back streets.

• Visit the traditional Japanese tea ceremony gardens at

Nezu Museum of Art.

• Tokyo’s most famous Jazz venue, Blue Note, is in Minami

Aoyama and is a great place to see live performances from local and international acts.

WESTERN TOKYO

OPPOSITE PAGE, FROM LEFT: Harajuku is known for its kawaii culture; rainbow treats in Harajuku © Kitedarab/ Shutterstock; more colour along the streets of the same neighbourhood © StockStudio/ Shutterstock ABOVE: The leafy streets of Omotesando © picturecells/Shutterstock