Landschlacht, Switzerland, Friday 17 April 2020 (Lockdown Day #30)
The problem with being in the middle of a quarantine lockdown is – excepting household chores and grocery shopping – there is one hell of a lot of leisure time.
Most of us distract ourselves from unnecessary thinking – thank God for Netflix – but there are sad souls such as myself who find themselves strolling down the dark alleys of existentialism.
(Instead of having a real life, housebound, avoiding social contact and unnecessary travel.)
As an employee, am I no one without someone to serve?
Am I only my job?
As an average Joe, am I a sheep needing a shepherd?
In hearing about the adventures and experiences of Peach Pal in Tokyo, it has struck me how this kind of soul-searching seems an integral part of Japanese society.
How do I maintain who I am as an individual and yet serve society with loyalty, sacrifice, persistence and honour?
“When I was young, it seemed that life was so wonderful
A miracle, oh it was beautiful, magical
And all the birds in the trees, well they’d be singing so happily
Oh joyfully, playfully watching me
But then they sent me away to teach me how to be sensible
Logical, responsible, practical
And they showed me a world where I could be so dependable
Clinical, intellectual, cynical
There are times when all the world’s asleep
The questions run too deep
For such a simple man
Won’t you please, please tell me what we’ve learned
I know it sounds absurd
Please tell me who I am”
“In the midst of a nest of venerable trees in Takanawa, a suburb of Yedo, is hidden Sengakuji, or the Spring Hill Temple, renowned throughout the length and breadth of the land for its cemetery, which contains the graves of the forty-seven rônin, famous in Japanese history, heroes of Japanese drama, the tale of whose deed I am about to transcribe.”
Sengaku-ji is home to the graves of Asano Takumi and his 47 ronin.
Most of what the visitor sees now was rebuilt after World War II, but a striking gate decorated with a metalwork dating back to 1836.
The graves of the 47 ronin are in the temple grounds – see if you can resist the temptation to count them all – as well as the statue and grave of Oishi Kuranosuke, their avenging leader.
Their graves are still wreathed in the smoke from the bundles of incense placed by their gravestones.
A museum to the left of the main building contains their personal belongings, as well as a receipt for the severed head of Kira.
The entrance is on the eastern side of the complex that takes time and patience to track down.
I am surprised that in these days of Trump that there is not yet another version, like Last Knights, of the forty-seven ronin, with Trump as the villain of this piece.
The revenge of the forty-seven rōnin (Yon-jū-Nana-shi, forty-seven samurai), also known as the Akō incident (Akō jiken) or Akō vendetta, is an 18th-century historical event in Japan in which a band of rōnin (leaderless samurai) avenged the death of their master.
The incident has since become legendary.
Above: Actors portraying ronin on left and right, employed samurai in the middle
The story tells of a group of samurai who were left leaderless after their daimyō (feudal lord) Asano Naganori (1667 – 1701) was compelled to perform seppuku (ritual suicide) for assaulting a court official named Kira Yoshinaka, whose title was Kōzuke no suke.
After waiting and planning for a year, the rōnin avenged their master’s honor by killing Kira.
They were then themselves obliged to commit seppuku for the crime of murder.
This true story was popularized in Japanese culture as emblematic of the loyalty, sacrifice, persistence, and honor that people should preserve in their daily lives.
The popularity of the tale grew during the Meiji era, in which Japan underwent rapid modernization, and the legend became entrenched within discourses of national heritage and identity.
Fictionalized accounts of the tale of the forty-seven rōnin are known as Chūshingura.
The story was popularized in numerous plays, including in the genres of bunraku and kabuki.
Because of the censorship laws of the shogunate in the Genroku era, which forbade portrayal of current events, the names were changed.
While the version given by the playwrights may have come to be accepted as historical fact by some, the first Chūshingura was written some 50 years after the event, and numerous historical records about the actual events that predate the Chūshingura survive.
The bakufu’s censorship laws had relaxed somewhat 75 years later in the late 18th century when Japanologist Isaac Titsingh first recorded the story of the forty-seven rōnin as one of the significant events of the Genroku era.
To this day, the story remains popular in Japan, and each year on 14 December, Sengakuji Temple, where Asano Naganori and the rōnin are buried, holds a festival commemorating the event.
All the elements of the story seem present in Washington these days:
In 1701, two daimyō (nobles or Lords), Asano Takumi-no-Kami Naganori, the young daimyō of the Akō Domain (a small fiefdom in western Honshū), and Lord Kamei Korechika of the Tsuwano Domain, were ordered to arrange a fitting reception for the envoys of the Emperor at Edo Castle, during their sankin-kōtai (division of time required to be spent in the Emperor’s court) service to the shōgun (military dictator).
Above: Emperor Higashiyama (1675 – 1710)
Asano and Kamei were to be given instruction in the necessary court etiquette by Kira Kozuke-no-Suke Yoshinaka, a powerful official in the hierarchy of Tokugawa Tsunayoshi‘s shogunate.
Above: Tokugawa Tsunayoshi (1646 – 1709)
Kira allegedly became upset at them, either because of the insufficient presents they offered him (in the time-honored compensation for such an instructor), or because they would not offer bribes as he wanted.
Other sources say that he was naturally rude and arrogant or that he was corrupt, which offended Asano, a devoutly moral Confucian.
By some accounts, it also appears that Asano may have been unfamiliar with the intricacies of the shogunate court and failed to show the proper amount of deference to Kira.
Whether Kira treated them poorly, insulted them, or failed to prepare them for fulfilling specific bakufu duties, offence was taken.
Initially, Asano bore all this stoically, while Kamei became enraged and prepared to kill Kira to avenge the insults.
However, Kamei’s quick-thinking counselors averted disaster for their lord and clan (for all would have been punished if Kamei had killed Kira) by quietly giving Kira a large bribe.
Kira thereupon began to treat Kamei nicely, which calmed Kamei.
However, Kira allegedly continued to treat Asano harshly because he was upset that the latter had not emulated his companion.
Finally, Kira insulted Asano, calling him a country boor with no manners, and Asano could restrain himself no longer.
At the Matsu no Ōrōka, the main grand corridor that interconnects the Shiro-shoin and the Ōhiroma of the Honmaru Goten residence…..
Above: Memorial stone marking the site of the Matsu no Ōrōka (Great Corridor of Pines) in Edo Castle, where Asano attacked Kira
Asano lost his temper and attacked Kira with a dagger, wounding him in the face with his first strike.
His second missed and hit a pillar.
Guards then quickly separated them.
Kira’s wound was hardly serious, but the attack on a shogunate official within the boundaries of the shōgun‘s residence was considered a grave offence.
Any kind of violence, even the drawing of a katana, was completely forbidden in Edo Castle.
The daimyō of Akō had removed his dagger from its scabbard within Edo Castle, and for that offence, he was ordered to kill himself by seppuku.
Asano’s goods and lands were to be confiscated after his death, his family was to be ruined, and his retainers were to be made rōnin (leaderless).
This news was carried to Ōishi Kuranosuke Yoshio (1659 – 1703), Asano’s principal counsellor, who took command and moved the Asano family away before complying with bakufu orders to surrender the castle to the agents of the government.
Modern adaptation:
Two governors are summoned to the White House to perform the annual oaths of allegiance to Trump, who acts like a King but allows the pretense of a Republic to give Americans the comfort of that illusion.
We eliminate the powerful official between the governors and Trump.
Trump is upset with the governors because he does not feel that they are subserviant and servile enough as they do not praise him as much as he requires nor do they bribe him as is customary.
Trump is naturally rude, arrogant and corrupt, which offends one of the governors who is a true practising Christian (not just someone who professes to be one to win votes).
The offended governor is new to his role so he is unaware of the proper way things are done in Washington.
Trump treats the two governors despicably, insults them and refuses to help their states with the desperately needed medical supplies and monies they require to fight a pandemic ravaging the nation.
One of the governors adapts his manner to Trump’s wishes and gives him a sizable bribe.
The offended governor, who despises everything that Trump represents, is further harrassed and bullied by Trump for not following the other governor’s example.
Finally Trump insults the moral governor by insinuating that his mother lacks propriety.
Enraged the governor slaps Trump but he is restrained by the Secret Service before he can strike him again.
Trump orders the governor imprisoned, his finances and property seized and his business ruined.
Before the governor’s family and loyal employees are to be arrested on charges of criminal conspiracy and treason, the governor’s chief advisor moves the family and loyal retinue away from the governor’s mansion before the property can be seized by the government.
In prison it is arranged by Trump that the governor meets an untimely death.
Of Asano’s over 300 men, 47, especially their leader Ōishi, refused to allow their lord to go unavenged, even though revenge had been prohibited in the case.
They banded together, swearing a secret oath to avenge their master by killing Kira, even though they knew that they would be severely punished for doing so.
Kira was well guarded, however, and his residence had been fortified to prevent just such an event.
The rōnin saw that they would have to lull the suspicions of Kira and other shogunate authorities, so they dispersed and became tradesmen and monks.
Ōishi took up residence in Kyoto and began to frequent brothels and taverns, as if nothing were further from his mind than revenge.
Kira still feared a trap and sent spies to watch Asano’s former retainers.
One day, as Ōishi was returning home drunk, he fell down in the street and went to sleep, and all the passers-by laughed at him.
A Satsuma man was so infuriated by this behaviour on the part of a samurai—by his lack of courage to avenge his master as well as his current debauched behaviour—that he abused and insulted Ōishi, kicking him in the face (to even touch the face of a samurai was a great insult, let alone strike it) and spitting on him.
Not too long after, Ōishi divorced his loyal wife of twenty years so that no harm would come to her when the rōnin took their revenge.
He sent her away with their two younger children to live with her parents.
He gave their eldest boy, Chikara, the choice to stay and fight or to leave.
Chikara remained with his father.
Ōishi began to act oddly and very unlike the composed samurai.
He frequented geisha houses (particularly Ichiriki Chaya), drank nightly and acted obscenely in public.
Ōishi’s men bought a geisha, hoping she would calm him.
This was all a ruse to rid Ōishi of his spies.
Kira’s agents reported all this to Kira, who became convinced that he was safe from Asano’s retainers, that they must all be bad samurai indeed, without the courage to avenge their master after a year and a half.
Thinking them harmless and lacking funds from his “retirement“, he then reluctantly let down his guard.
The rest of the faithful rōnin now gathered in Edo, and in their roles as workmen and merchants gained access to Kira’s house, becoming familiar with the layout of the house and the character of all within.
One of the retainers (Okano Kinemon Kanehide) went so far as to marry the daughter of the builder of the house, to obtain the house’s design plans.
All of this was reported to Ōishi.
Others gathered arms and secretly transported them to Edo, another offence.
Modern adaptation:
Of the governor’s staff of 300, 47, especially the governor’s aide, refuse to allow the governor to go unavenged, even though revenge could cost them everything.
They band together and swear a secret oath to do everything to ruin Trump: bankruptcy, scandal, impeachment and imprisonment.
They believe that Trump’s disgrace is far greater a victory than his death making him a martyr in the eyes of his faithful followers.
Trump is well-protected however in all aspects of his life by the ever-vigilant Secret Service.
The 47 realize that they need to lull Trump and the Secret Service into a false sense of security.
With altered identities the 47 infiltrate Trump’s resorts, White House staff and even his homes.
Meanwhile, the governor’s aide moves to Washington and pretends to be distraught, becoming regularly drunken and disorderly in public.
The aide’s fall from grace is reported to Trump who feels that he has satisfactorily beaten the governor and all those who served him.
Meanwhile the other 46 gather and collect information to use against Trump at an appropriate time.
One of the 46 goes so far as to marry Trump’s Press Secretary so as to obtain the President’s schedule in advance.
All of this is reported to the aide.
Above: White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany, married mother
It is at this point I need to sit down and do some thinking about the revenge of the American 47, but there is a story there worth contemplating…..
The story of the forty-seven ronin continues…..
After two years, when Ōishi was convinced that Kira was thoroughly off his guard, and everything was ready, he fled from Kyoto, avoiding the spies who were watching him, and the entire band gathered at a secret meeting place in Edo to renew their oaths.
In Genroku 15, (14 December) 1702, early in the morning in a driving wind during a heavy fall of snow, Ōishi and the other rōnin attacked Kira Yoshinaka’s mansion in Edo.
According to a carefully laid-out plan, they split up into two groups and attacked, armed with swords and bows.
One group, led by Ōishi, was to attack the front gate.
The other, led by his son, Ōishi Chikara, was to attack the house via the back gate.
A drum would sound the simultaneous attack and a whistle would signal that Kira was dead.
Once Kira was dead, they planned to cut off his head and lay it as an offering on their master’s tomb.
They would then turn themselves in and wait for their expected sentence of death.
All this had been confirmed at a final dinner, at which Ōishi had asked them to be careful and spare women, children and other helpless people.
Ōishi had four men scale the fence and enter the porter’s lodge, capturing and tying up the guard there.
He then sent messengers to all the neighboring houses, to explain that they were not robbers, but retainers out to avenge the death of their master, and that no harm would come to anyone else:
The neighbors were all safe.
One of the rōnin climbed to the roof and loudly announced to the neighbors that the matter was an act of revenge (katakiuchi).
The neighbors, who all hated Kira, were relieved and did nothing to hinder the raiders.
After posting archers (some on the roof) to prevent those in the house (who had not yet awakened) from sending for help, Ōishi sounded the drum to start the attack.
Ten of Kira’s retainers held off the party attacking the house from the front, but Ōishi Chikara’s party broke into the back of the house.
Kira, in terror, took refuge in a closet in the veranda, along with his wife and female servants.
The rest of his retainers, who slept in barracks outside, attempted to come into the house to his rescue.
After overcoming the defenders at the front of the house, the two parties led by father and son joined up and fought the retainers who came in.
The latter, perceiving that they were losing, tried to send for help, but their messengers were killed by the archers posted to prevent that eventuality.
Eventually, after a fierce struggle, the last of Kira’s retainers was subdued.
In the process, the rōnin killed 16 of Kira’s men and wounded 22, including his grandson.
Of Kira, however, there was no sign.
They searched the house, but all they found were crying women and children.
They began to despair, but Ōishi checked Kira’s bed, and it was still warm, so he knew he could not be far away.
A renewed search disclosed an entrance to a secret courtyard hidden behind a large scroll.
The courtyard held a small building for storing charcoal and firewood, where two more hidden armed retainers were overcome and killed.
A search of the building disclosed a man hiding.
He attacked the searcher with a dagger, but the man was easily disarmed.
He refused to say who he was, but the searchers felt sure it was Kira, and sounded the whistle.
The rōnin gathered, and Ōishi, with a lantern, saw that it was indeed Kira—as a final proof, his head bore the scar from Asano’s attack.
At that, Ōishi went on his knees, and in consideration of Kira’s high rank, respectfully addressed him, telling him they were retainers of Asano, come to avenge him as true samurai should, and inviting Kira to die as a true samurai should, by killing himself. Ōishi indicated he personally would act as a kaishakunin (“second“, the one who beheads a person committing seppuku to spare them the indignity of a lingering death) and offered him the same dagger that Asano had used to kill himself.
However, no matter how much they entreated him, Kira crouched, speechless and trembling.
At last, seeing it was useless to continue asking, Ōishi ordered the other rōnin to pin him down, and killed him by cutting off his head with the dagger.
They then extinguished all the lamps and fires in the house (lest any cause the house to catch fire and start a general fire that would harm the neighbors) and left, taking Kira’s head.
One of the rōnin, the ashigaru Terasaka Kichiemon, was ordered to travel to Akō and report that their revenge had been completed.
(Though Kichiemon’s role as a messenger is the most widely accepted version of the story, other accounts have him running away before or after the battle, or being ordered to leave before the rōnin turned themselves in.)
As day was now breaking, they quickly carried Kira’s head from his residence to their lord’s grave in Sengaku-ji temple, marching about ten kilometers across the city, causing a great stir on the way.
The story of the revenge spread quickly, and everyone on their path praised them and offered them refreshment.
On arriving at the temple, the remaining 46 rōnin (all except Terasaka Kichiemon) washed and cleaned Kira’s head in a well, and laid it, and the fateful dagger, before Asano’s tomb.
They then offered prayers at the temple, and gave the abbot of the temple all the money they had left, asking him to bury them decently, and offer prayers for them.
They then turned themselves in.
The group was broken into four parts and put under guard of four different daimyō.
During this time, two of Kira’s friends came to collect his head for burial.
The temple still has the original receipt for the head, which the friends and the priests who dealt with them had all signed.
The shogunate officials in Edo were in a quandary.
The samurai had followed the precepts by avenging the death of their lord.
But they had also defied the shogunate’s authority by exacting revenge, which had been prohibited.
In addition, the shōgun received a number of petitions from the admiring populace on behalf of the rōnin.
As expected, the rōnin were sentenced to death for the murder of Kira.
But the shōgun finally resolved the quandary by ordering them to honorably commit seppuku instead of having them executed as criminals.
It is known that each of the assailants ended his life in a ritualistic fashion.
Ōishi Chikara, the youngest, was only 15 years old on the day the raid took place, and only 16 the day he committed seppuku.
Each of the 46 rōnin killed himself in Genroku 16, on the 4th day of the 2nd month (4 February 1703).
This has caused a considerable amount of confusion ever since, with some people referring to the “forty-six rōnin“.
This refers to the group put to death by the shōgun, while the actual attack party numbered forty-seven.
The forty-seventh rōnin, identified as Terasaka Kichiemon, eventually returned from his mission and was pardoned by the shōgun (some say on account of his youth).
He lived until the age of 87, dying around 1747, and was then buried with his comrades.
The assailants who died by seppuku were subsequently interred on the grounds of Sengaku-ji, in front of the tomb of their master.
The clothes and arms they wore are still preserved in the temple to this day, along with the drum and whistle.
Their armor was all home-made, as they had not wanted to arouse suspicion by purchasing any.
The tombs at Sengaku-ji became a place of great veneration, and people flocked there to pray.
The graves at the temple have been visited by a great many people throughout the years since the Genroku era.
One of those was the Satsuma man who had mocked and spat on Ōishi as he lay drunk in the street.
Addressing the grave, he begged for forgiveness for his actions and for thinking that Ōishi was not a true samurai.
He then committed suicide and was buried next to the rōnin.
Though the revenge is often viewed as an act of loyalty, there had been a second goal, to re-establish the Asanos’ lordship and finding a place for their fellow samurai to serve.
Hundreds of samurai who had served under Asano had been left jobless, and many were unable to find employment, as they had served under a disgraced family.
Many lived as farmers or did simple handicrafts to make ends meet.
The revenge of the forty-seven rōnin cleared their names, and many of the unemployed samurai found jobs soon after the rōnin had been sentenced to their honorable end.
Asano Daigaku Nagahiro, Naganori’s younger brother and heir, was allowed by the Tokugawa shogunate to re-establish his name, though his territory was reduced to a tenth of the original.
It is this sacrifice of self in the name of honour and tradition that is hard for a Westerner like me to wrap my head around.
Hard for a strong-willed character such as Momo to understand, though I suspect as a German there are elements in him that remain law-abiding and sensitive to how he is seen by others.
Momo, my Peach Pal, is young.
Part and parcel of being young is that one questions what is normal and decides what is acceptable or unacceptable to one’s developing identity and unique personality.
To the uninitated Western eye, the Oriental face seems to blend in with all other Oriental faces, identity lost in a sea of continuity and conformity.
So, Momo, despite his respect for and love of Japan and Japanese culture, must have occasionally searched for aspects of Tokyo that were separate from the surrounding norms, because as a gaijin (foreigner) he was separate from his surroundings.
There is something irresistible about Harajuku in that it tries to be a cultural ronin’s Paradise.
It appeals to the young’s desire to be wild, creative and individual while simultaneously giving the young a group to identify with.
Irony is never seen by the young.
If it is a wacky Japan you’re after, Harajuku should be neighbourhood #1 on your list.
In terms of human traffic, there can be few more fascinating districts on the entire planet.
Harajuku streets resemble densely populated catwalks complete with zany clothing, hairstyles and accessories.
Harajuku is a district in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan.
The broad, tree-lined avenue leading downhill from the southern end of the JR station is Omote-sandō, which leads to the upscale Aoyama district.
The street is full of cafes and clothing stores.
For teenagers, though, the place to be is Takeshita-dori, which is a bustling narrow street several blocks to the north.
Nearby Yoyogi Park is a popular hangout, especially on Sundays, when it is used as a gathering place for people to play music, practice martial arts, etc.
As a consequence of Japan’s long recession, there are several large, but surprisingly quiet and orderly, homeless camps around the park’s periphery.
Harajuku is the common name given to a geographic area spreading from Harajuku Station to Omotesando, corresponding on official maps of Shibuya ward as Jingūmae 1 chōme to 4 chōme.
In popular reference, Harajuku also encompasses many smaller backstreets such as Takeshita Street and Cat Street spreading from Sendagaya in the north to Shibuya in the south.
Harajuku is known internationally as a center of Japanese youth culture and fashion.
If it’s Harajuku’s youth culture you want to see, don’t even bother unless it’s a Sunday.
Each group stakes out its territory around Yoyogi Park (Yoyogi-kōen).
Keep in mind that Harajuku is well known world wide, so many tourists show up on Sundays.
Better be a bit early to avoid being stuck between big tourist groups.
The bridge across the train tracks sometimes has teenagers dressed up as Gothic Lolita and other extreme Japanese youth fashions.
Besides just hanging out with friends, many come here to be snapped by the magazine photographers who mingle.
Unfortunately, as of lately, the police seem to be cracking down on loitering, so they are becoming increasingly rare.
Over by the entrance to the park, people with greased hair listen to rockabilly music and dance in their vintage jeans.
This subculture has been around since the early part of 1980s.
The sidewalks along the south side are usually occupied by junk vendors and loud rock bands.
Both of these groups periodically get swept away by police crack-downs, though.
The tree-lined area leading from the south end of the park to Shibuya is filled with all sorts of street performers, mostly folk-pop singers, but also including hip-hop dancing and street theater.
Shopping and dining options include many small, youth-oriented, independent boutiques and cafés, but the neighborhood also attracts many larger international chain stores with high-end luxury merchandisers extensively represented along Omotesando.
Harajuku Station on the JR East Yamanote Line and Meiji-jingumae ‘Harajuku’ Station served by the Tokyo Metro Chiyoda Line and Tokyo Metro Fukutoshin Line also act as gateways to local attractions such as the Meiji Shrine, Yoyogi Park and Yoyogi National Gymnasium, making Harajuku and its environs one of the most popular destinations in Tokyo for both domestic and international tourists.
It has attracted international attention through:
- the anime Urahara (an anime television series co-produced by EMT Squared and Shirogumi that aired from October to December 2017, which tells the story of three high school girls hailing from Harajuku who band together to fight off culture thieving aliens from outer space)
- Kiriko Takemura, known professionally as Kyary Pamyu Pamyu, is a Japanese singer, model, and blogger.
Her public image is associated with Japan’s kawaii and decora culture, centered in the Harajuku neighborhood of Tokyo, Pamyu Pamyu’s music is produced by musician Yasutaka Nakata of electronic music duo Capsule.
(Kawaii (“lovable“, “cute“, or “adorable“) is the culture of cuteness in Japan.
It can refer to items, humans and nonhumans that are charming, vulnerable, shy, and childlike.
Examples include cute handwriting, certain genres of manga, and characters like Hello Kitty and Pikachu.
The cuteness culture, or kawaii aesthetic, has become a prominent aspect of Japanese popular culture, entertainment, clothing, food, toys, personal appearance, and mannerisms.
Decora is a style that is characterized by wearing lots of “decorations” on oneself.
It is considered to be self-decoration.
The goal of this fashion is to become as vibrant and characterized as possible.
People who take part in this fashion trend wear accessories such as multicolor hair pins, bracelets, rings, necklaces, etc.
By adding on multiple layers of accessories on an outfit, the fashion trend tends to have a childlike appearance.
It also includes toys and multicolor clothes. )
Her 2011 single “Pon Pon Pon” reached the top ten on Japan’s Oricon Music chart.
As Kyary’s debut single, the theme of individual expression and the potential of a happier society where everyone is free to dress up and “let it out” begins here and continues on in many of her other songs.
The “heart of that town” refers to Harajuku, where many fashion subcultures such as lolita fashion, decora, cult party, menhera, and more got their start.
What if everyone skipped along the crossing
And at the heart of that town, we looked up to the sky hand in hand?
If you wanna take a chance somewhere in that town
It’s still too soon to cry, you know
You’ve got no choice but to move forward, no, no!
PONPON, let it out! Everything’ll be okay
Wouldn’t it be boring if you didn’t do it at all?
Put your headphones on and get into the rhythm
WAYWAY, outta my way!
(Lolita is a fashion subculture from Japan that is highly influenced by Victorian clothing and styles from the Rococo period.
A very distinctive property of Lolita fashion is the aesthetic of cuteness.
This clothing subculture can be categorized into three main substyles: ‘gothic’, ‘classic’, and ‘sweet’.
Many other substyles such as ‘sailor‘, ‘country‘, ‘hime‘ (princess), ‘ero‘ (erotic), ‘guro‘ (grotesque), ‘oriental‘, ‘punk‘, ‘shiro (white)’, kuro (black) and steampunk lolita also exist.
This style evolved into a widely followed subculture in Japan and other countries in the 1990s and 2000s and may have waned in Japan as of the 2010s as the fashion became more mainstream.
Nothing kills youth culture faster than an awareness that it has successfully become Mainstream.
Again, no sees the irony.)
Kyary was raised strictly in a traditional Japanese household and often fought with her mother as a teen for her right to wear wigs and dress how she pleased.
She would often dress normally leaving the house, then change into her own style at the train station.
It was this that caused her to question why such oppressive societal norms are in place, and what purpose they serve if all they do is make people live unhappily by other people’s standards.
The 2012 singles “Candy Candy” and “Fashion Monster” followed this success.
Pamyu Pamyu has released four full-length albums:
- Pamyu Pamyu Revolution (2012)
- Nanda Collection (“What’s this collection?“)(2013)
- Pika Pika Fantajin (“Sparkling Fantasy Person“)(2014)
Though most of her success as a recording artist has been in Asia, she has also gained popularity in Western countries due in part to Internet videos which have gone viral.
Media outlets have referred to Pamyu Pamyu as “Harajuku Pop Princess“, and she has been photographed for magazines such as Dazed & Confused.
In 2013, she signed a distribution deal with Sire Records to release her material in the United States.
As of February 2020, Kyary Pamyu Pamyu has sold over 970,000 physical albums and singles in Japan according to Oricon as well as over 2.25 million track downloads of all her singles.
I find it fascinating to encounter again and again the inclusion of English words in songs or on signs throughout Asia yet many of those who do cannot actually speak English beyond the song or sign.
Although Pamyu Pamyu knows some English, she is not completely fluent and often has an interpreter while overseas, and prefers to speak in Japanese for interviews.
As of 2014, she has been studying English and spoke to the audience in brief bits of English during her concerts in London, United States and Australia, and on the NHK World show Moshi Moshi Nippon (Hello, Japan).
When asked in an interview in 2016 about Pamyu Pamyu’s progress of studying English, she stated, “Not very good, not at all“.
And why should she?
She is wildly successful singing in Japanese in Japan.
As of August 2016, she has gained over 4.4 million followers on the social media site Twitter, making her the most followed female celebrity in Japan.
Pamyu Pamyu’s debut single “Pon Pon Pon” is one of the most viewed music videos in Japan, garnering over 100,000,000 views as of September 2016.
The music video, which has been influenced by ’60s and ’70s fashion along with the main Japanese theme kawaii, has received huge media attention.
American recording artist Katy Perry has tweeted about the music, indicating that she is a fan of hers.
Many of Pamyu Pamyu’s singles, including “Candy Candy“, “Invader Invader“, and “Fashion Monster” have generated millions of views on the social streaming site YouTube.
Her single “Furisodation“, however, generated minor controversy in her native Japan, where a citizens’ group believed the video encouraged alcohol and smoking, in which her label declined.
Above: The single cover photo
Above: Scene from the video
Pamyu Pamyu’s breakthrough single “Pon Pon Pon” was featured in the American cartoon The Simpsons in the 2014 episode “Married to the Blob“.
The character Sylvie Paula Paula in the 2016 video game The King of Fighters XIV is modeled after Pamyu Pamyu.
- In 2004 and 2005, Gwen Stefani appearing in concert on her Harajuku Lovers Tour and in music videos with her Harajuku Girls backup dancers attracted much attention and some controversy highlighting aspects of stylized Harajuku teen fashion.
The Harajuku Girls are four Japanese and Japanese-American backup dancers featured in stage shows and music videos for Gwen Stefani during her solo pop/dance-record career.
The women also act as an entourage at Stefani’s public appearances.
The Harajuku Girls are Maya Chino (“Love“), Jennifer Kita (“Angel“), Rino Nakasone (“Music“) and Mayuko Kitayama (“Baby“).
The name of the group is a reference to Harajuku, a neighborhood of Tokyo.
The stage names of the women are derived from Stefani’s Love. Angel. Music. Baby., which was the name of her first album as well as her clothing brand.
In 2014, Stefani announced she would be producing an animated series that was based on the characters Love, Angel, Music, Baby, and G, a character who was first introduced in the Harajuku Lovers perfume line.
The anime series Kuu Kuu Harajuku follows the girls, known together as HJ5, as they fight evil and try to pursue their music.
The show follows a teenage girl based on Gwen Stefani, nicknamed G, and her friends as they form the up-and-coming band HJ5.
HJ5’s clumsy manager Rudie works hard to book performances for the band, but their gigs are always interrupted by cartoonish obstacles.
The band invariably manages to overcome challenges using their combined strengths: G’s leadership, Love’s intelligence, Angel’s creativity, Music’s bravery, Baby’s enthusiasm and Rudie’s determination.
A recurring villain named General NoFun and his assistant, Commander Bo-Ring, often cause problems for HJ5 as they pursue a world without entertainment.
Other supporting characters include:
- Twisty T, a successful music producer whom Rudie is desperate to impress
- Say-Wah, an obsessed HJ5 fan who hopes to join the band
- Colonel Spyke, a stern soldier who dislikes pop music
- Mauve Madison, a talk show host who reports on HJ5’s experiences.
Emily Ashby of Common Sense Media gave Kuu Kuu Harajuku a mixed review upon its US debut.
She praised Love and G as positive role models, stating:
“Love stands out for her can-do attitude and her bevy of ideas to solve all kinds of problems, and G is known for her coolness under pressure.”
In summary, however, Ashby called the cartoon “pretty mindless, and there are better choices for role models for this age group, but it’s entertaining nonetheless.”
Erica Russell of PopCrush argued that Kuu Kuu Harajuku‘s setting “is not Japan, but a culturally-empty, messily regurgitated Westernization of it.
It’s a whitewashed ‘kawaii’ fairy tale.”
Rae Alexandra of KQED criticized the decision to portray the Harajuku Girls as racially ambiguous, suggesting that:
“It seems Stefani (or network executives) thought the best way to deal with the overt cultural appropriation was simply ‘let’s not have them be Asian anymore.’”
Likewise, Teresa Jusino of Dan Abrams’ The Mary Sue called negative attention to the characters’ races, writing:
“I notice that the Harajuku Girls are all different colors.
Points for diversity, I guess, except that it seems that they appropriated Japanese culture only to just about erase it from this series.”
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Asian-American entertainer and comedian Margaret Cho criticized Stefani and the group for reinforcing negative ethnic stereotypes of Asian women.
Nakasone responded that Stefani was inspired by Japanese fashion culture and felt honored to have been in the group.
In an interview in the January/February 2006 edition of Blender magazine, Cho called Stefani’s Harajuku Girls a minstrel show that reinforces ethnic stereotypes of Asian women.
Writer Mihi Ahn of Salon.com said of Stefani’s Harajuku Girls:
“Stefani has taken the idea of Japanese street fashion and turned these women into modern-day geisha”.
- Scottish band Belle and Sebastian referenced Harajuku in their song “I’m a Cuckoo” on their 2003 album Dear Catastrophe Waitress…..
…..with the lines:
“I’d rather be in Tokyo
I’d rather listen to Thin Lizzy-o
And watch the Sunday gang in Harajuku
There’s something wrong with me
I’m a cuckoo”.
Once again, the West fails to grasp the point of Japanese youth culture and the theme that races through the streets of Harajuku:
The moment it is understood, the moment it is mastered, is the moment when it becomes obsolete.
In the pre-Edo period, the area that came to be known as Harajuku was a small post town on the Kamakura Highway.
It was said that in the Gosannen War (1083 – 1089), Minamoto no Yoshiie mustered his soldiers in this area and the hill here is called Seizoroi-saka.
In the Edo period, an Iga clan residence was put in Harajuku to defend Edo, due to its strategic location south of the Koshu Road.
Other than the mansion of the Hiroshima Domain feudal Lord Asano, there were many mansions of shogunate retainers.
The livelihood of the farmers consisted mainly of rice cleaning and flour milling with the watermill at the Shibuya River.
However, due to the poor quality of the land, production never succeeded and the villages never prospered.
It is said that local farmers often performed rain-making invocations at local shrines in an attempt to improve their fortunes.
There are also the tales Oyama-Afuri Shrine of Tanzawa and Worship on the day trip to Mt Haruna remaining.
At the start of the Meiji period in 1868, the land around Harajuku Village was owned by the shogunate.
In November of the same year, the towns and villages of Shibuya Ward, including Harajuku Village, were placed under the jurisdiction of the Tokyo Prefecture.
In 1906, Harajuku Station was opened as a part of the expansion of the Yamanote Line.
In 1919, with the establishment of Meiji Shrine, Omotesando was widened and reordered as a formal approach route.
In 1943, the Tōgō Shrine was built and consecrated in honor of Imperial Japanese Navy Marshal-Admiral Marquis Tōgō Heihachirō.
In the final period of the Pacific War in 1945, much of the area was burned to the ground during the Great Tokyo Air Raid.
Coming into the 1970s, fashion-obsessed youth culture experienced a transition from Shinjuku to Harajuku, then to Shibuya.
Palais France, a building that sold fashion clothing and accessories, furniture, and other goods, was constructed on Meiji Street near the exit of Takeshita Street.
In 1978, the fashion building Laforet Harajuku was opened, and Harajuku came to be widely known as the centre for fashion retail.
In the 1980s, Takeshita Street became known for teenage street dancing groups called takenoko-zoku.
The teenagers, mainly girls but often with one boy leading, were colorfully dressed and danced in a distinctive style on the sidewalk to music from stereos.
From 1977, a Sundays only pedestrian precinct was established by closing local roads.
This produced a surge in people gathering close to entrances of Yoyogi Park to watch Rock ‘n’ Rollers and start-up bands performing impromptu open air gigs.
In the peak period, crowds of up to 10,000 people would gather.
In 1998, the Sundays only pedestrian paradise was abolished.
In the 1990s and 2000s, with the rise of fast fashion, there was an influx of international fashion brand flagship store openings including Gap Inc., Forever 21, Uniqlo, Topshop and H&M.
(Fast fashion is a contemporary term used by fashion retailers for designs that flow from the catwalk quickly to capture current fashion trends.
Fast fashion clothing collections are based on the most recent fashion trends presented at Fashion Week in both the spring and autumn of every year.)
At the same time, new independent fashion trend shops spread into the previously residential areas of Jingumae 3 and 4 chome, with this area becoming known as Ura-Harajuku (“Harajuku Backstreets“).
Above: Cat Street in Ura-Harajuku
In 2006, Omotesando Hills opened replacing the former Dojunkai apartments on Omotesando.
In 2008, the Tokyo Metro Fukutoshin Line opened providing an alternative metro access linking Harajuku to Shibuya and Ikebukuro.
During the early morning of 1 January 2019, a 21-year-old man named Kazuhiro Kusakabe drove his Kei minivan into the crowd of pedestrians celebrating New Year’s Day on Takeshita Street.
The man claimed his actions were a terrorist attack and later stated that his intention was in retaliation for the execution of Aum Shinrikyo doomsday cult members.
The New Year’s Day attack left eight injured.
A ninth person was also directly injured by the driver.
The suspect said he initially planned an arson attack by spreading kerosene with a high-pressure washer at the crowd at the nearby Meiji Shrine but found that vehicles were not permitted there.
The attack occurred early in the morning, shortly after midnight.
The car collided with people on Takeshita Street, Harajuku district, Shibuya ward, Tokyo.
The incident occurred close to Meiji Shrine, one of the largest Shinto shrines in Japan.
The street was closed to traffic at the time due to New Year’s celebrations.
The perpetrator entered the street through a gap in the police barricade near the end facing Meiji-dori street and drove 140 meters the wrong way down the street, hitting eight men aged 19–51 and then crashing into a building.
The vehicle used in the attack was a rental minivan with Osaka license plates.
The perpetrator fled the scene, but 30 minutes later, he was found by police in nearby Yoyogi Park.
A 30-liter tank of kerosene was also found inside the vehicle along with a pressure washer.
There was no fire reported.
Today, Harajuku is a retail fashion and dining destination in its own right, but still earns much of its wider reputation as a gathering place for fans and aficionados of Japanese street fashion and associated subcultures.
Oh, to be young and Japanese in Harajuku!
The Meiji Shrine, is a Shinto shrine dedicated to the deified spirits of Emperor Meiji (1852 – 1912) and his wife, Empress Shōken (1849 – 1914).
The shrine does not contain the Emperor’s grave, which is located at Fushimi-momoyama, south of Kyoto.
Meiji Shrine is located in a forest that covers an area of 70 hectares (170 acres).
This area is covered by an evergreen forest that consists of 120,000 trees of 365 different species, which were donated by people from all parts of Japan when the shrine was established.
The forest is visited by many as a recreation and relaxation area in the centre of Tokyo.
Like all of Japan’s major shrines, it’s large in scale but simple in structure, entered via a winding path and through a giant torii gate.
On summer weekends you have a very good chance of catching a Japanese wedding in progress here.
The shrine is also packed on New Year’s Eve when people come here to celebrate the new year.
An excellent place for those who wish to experience an oasis of tranquility among the hustle and bustle of the rest of the area.
After the Emperor’s death in 1912, the Japanese Diet (the Parliament of Japan) passed a resolution to commemorate his role in the Meiji Restoration.
An iris garden in an area of Tokyo where Emperor Meiji and Empress Shōken had been known to visit was chosen as the building’s location.
Construction began in 1915 under Itō Chūta, and the shrine was built in the traditional nagare-zukuri style, using primarily Japanese cypress and copper.
The building of the shrine was a national project, mobilizing youth groups and other civic associations from throughout Japan, who contributed labour and funding.
It was formally dedicated in 1920, completed in 1921, and its grounds officially finished by 1926.
Until 1946, the Meiji Shrine was officially designated one of the Kanpei-taisha, meaning that it stood in the first rank of government supported shrines.
The original building was destroyed during the Tokyo air raids of World War II.
The present iteration of the shrine was funded through a public fund raising effort and completed in October 1958.
Meiji Shrine has been visited by numerous foreign politicians, including United States President George W. Bush, United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle.
Above: November 2001 – Yabusame (mounted archery) demonstrated for President George W. Bush and Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi at the Meiji Jingu shrine
On the eve of the New Year, Japanese usually visit a Shinto shrine to prepare for the worship – Hatsumōde – of the new year.
Meiji Shrine is the most popular location in Japan for hatsumōde.
The entrance to the shrine complex leads through the Jingu Bashi bridge.
Meiji Shrine is adjacent to Yoyogi Park which together is a large forested area.
The entrances open at sunrise and close at sunset.
The shrine itself is composed of two major areas:
The Naien is the inner precinct, which is centered on the shrine buildings and includes a treasure museum that houses articles of the Emperor and Empress.
The treasure museum is built in the Azekurazukuri style.
The Gaien is the outer precinct, which includes the Meiji Memorial Picture Gallery that houses a collection of 80 large murals illustrative of the events in the lives of the Emperor and his consort.
It also includes a variety of sports facilities, including the national stadiums (Meiji Jingu Gaien Stadium, National Stadium, and the newer National Stadium), and the Meiji Memorial Hall (Meiji Kinenkan), which was originally used for governmental meetings, including discussions surrounding the drafting of the Meiji Constitution in the late 19th century.
Today it is used for Shinto weddings as well as meeting rooms rent and restaurants services.
Yoyogi Park (Yoyogi kōen) is a park located adjacent to Harajuku Station and Meiji Shrine.
Yoyogi Park stands on the site from where the first successful powered aircraft flight in Japan took place by Captain Yoshitoshi Tokugawa (1884 – 1963) on 19 December 1910, only seven years after the Wright Brothers’ first flight in the United States.
(On 5 April 1911, Tokugawa piloted the inaugural flight at Japan’s first permanent airfield in Tokorozawa.
Shortly afterwards, he successfully took the first aerial photographs in Japan to prove the utility of the aircraft for reconnaissance.
On 23 April 1911, he set a Japanese record with a Blériot Aéronautique, flying 48 miles in 1 hour 9 minutes 30 seconds.
Also in 1911, several more aircraft were imported and an improved version of the Farman III biplane, the Kaishiki No.1, was built and flown by Tokugawa in Japan.)
The area later became an army parade ground.
From September 1945, the site housed the military barracks known as the “Washington Heights” for US officers during the Allied occupation of Japan.
In 1964, the area was used for the Tokyo Olympics housing the main Olympic village and the Yoyogi National Gymnasium.
The distinctive building, which was designed by Kenzo Tange, hosted the swimming and diving, with an annex for the basketball.
In 1967 most of the area north of the gymnasium complex and south of Meiji Shrine was turned into Yoyogi Park.
The park is a popular Tokyo destination.
In springtime, Yoyogi Park is full of cherry blossoms and people partying during hanami under the trees.
Due to the massive littering, park administration has designed trash collection points.
Keep in mind as later as the evening is, the higher the level of intoxication of visitors is likely to be.
On Sundays, it is especially busy when it is used as a gathering place for Japanese rock music fans, jugglers, comedians, martial arts clubs, cosplayers and other subculture and hobby groups.
The landscaped park has picnic areas, bike paths, cycle rentals and public sport courts.
Tokyo’s failed bid to host the 2016 Summer Olympics included a proposal to redevelop Yoyogi Park.
A new volleyball arena was to be built west of the Yoyogi National Gymnasium.
It would have replaced an existing soccer field and athletic field.
The arena would have remained after the Olympics as a multiple use venue.
In Tokyo’s 2020 Summer Olympics bid, Yoyogi National Gymnasium is the proposed venue for handball events.
In 2014, Tokyo experienced one of its worst dengue fever outbreaks in 100 years and the first recorded cases in 70 years, with nearly 200 confirmed cases.
The first case was reported on 27 August 2014.
Using gene sequencing techniques, scientists determined that the outbreak originated in Yoyogi Park.
Dozens of visitors to the area contracted the disease, leading to the park’s closure on 4 September.
No further cases were discovered after 18 September and the park re-opened to the public on 31 October.
Omotesandō is a zelkova tree-lined avenue stretching from the Meiji Shrine entrance to Aoyama-dōri (Aoyama Street), where Omotesandō Station can be found.
Omotesandō is known as one of the foremost ‘architectural showcase‘ streets in the world, featuring a multitude of fashion flagship stores within a short distance of each other.
These include the Louis Vuitton store, Tod’s, Dior, Omotesandō Hills and Gyre amongst others.
Omotesandō is the main vehicle and pedestrian thoroughfare for Harajuku and Aoyama.
The area features many international brand boutiques, such as Louis Vuitton, Alexander McQueen and Gucci, as well as fast fashion retailers such as Gap, H&M and Zara.
In his book Luxury Brand Management, luxury brand manager Michel Chevalier cites Omotesandō as one of the best locations in Tokyo for a luxury goods store.
Omotesandō is also home to the Kiddyland toy store, Laforet, and the Oriental Bazaar. Omotesandō’s side streets, known as Ura-Harajuku, feature a range of smaller cafes, bars, restaurants, and boutique stores.
Omotesandō is the venue for Tokyo’s annual Saint Patrick’s Day Parade.
Takeshita Street (Takeshita-dōri) is a pedestrian shopping street lined with fashion boutiques, cafes and restaurants in Harajuku.
Stores on Takeshita Street include major chains such as The Body Shop, McDonald’s and 7-Eleven, but most of the businesses are small independent shops that carry an array of styles.
The shops on this street are often a bellwether for broader fads, and some are known as “antenna shops” which manufacturers seed with prototypes for test-marketing.
Located directly across from the exit of JR East’s Harajuku Station, Takeshita Street is very popular with young teenagers, particularly those visiting Tokyo on school trips, or local young people shopping for small “cute” goods at weekends.
Harajuku is all about Japanese street fashion.
And this is what is seductive:
One can create one’s own style, be one’s own hero, be a ronin not needing a daimyo.
There are many styles of street fashion in Japan, created from a mix of both local and foreign labels.
Some of these styles are extreme and avant-garde, similar to the haute couture seen on European catwalks.
In 2003, Japanese hip-hop, which had long been present among underground Tokyo’s club scene, influenced the mainstream fashion industry.
The popularity of the music was so influential that Tokyo’s youth imitated their favorite hip hop stars from the way they dress with oversized clothes to tanned skin.
Though the styles have changed over the years, street fashion is still prominent in Tokyo today.
Young adults can often be found wearing subculture attire in large urban (Tokyo) fashion districts, such as Harajuku (Ura-Harajuku), Aoyama, Ginza, Odaiba, Shinjuku and Shibuya.
Above: Lolita style
Above: Gyaru style
Above: Ganguro style
Above: Bosozo style
Above: Decora style
Above: Kuroi Niji style
Above: Visual kei style
Above: Mori Kei style
Above: Kimono style
Although Japanese street fashion is known for its mix-match of different styles and genres, and there is no single sought-after brand that can consistently appeal to all fashion groups, the huge demand created by the fashion-conscious population is fed and supported by Japan’s vibrant fashion industry.
Issey Miyake, Yohji Yamamoto and Comme des Garçons are often said to be the three cornerstone brands of Japanese fashion.
Together they were particularly recognized as a Japanese fashion force in the early 1980s for their intensive use of monochrome color and cutting-edge design.
As early as the 1950s, there were a few brands specially catered to street fashion, like Onitsuka Tiger (now known as the ASICS), but arguably it was not until the early 1990s that the industry saw a blooming emergence of street fashion brands.
The most popular Japanese brands include: A Bathing Ape, Comme des Garçons, Kenzo, Evisu, Head Porter, OriginalFake, Uniqlo, Neighborhood Technical Apparel, Visvim, WTAPs, Undercover, mastermind Japan, SOPHNET., uniform experiment, Number (N)ine and Hysteric Glamour.
Street fashion brands frequently feature collaborations with popular artists and designers and use limited edition as a selling strategy.
There are also brands that target specific fashion groups.
For example, Angelic Pretty is for Lolita style and Sex Pot Revenge for Punk style.
Japan is also known for its significant consumption of foreign luxury brands.
According to data from 2006, Japan consumed 41% of the entire world’s luxury goods.
The blue line of Burberry is among the most successful in this arena.
Japanese street fashion influences the West Coast of the United States.
High-end fashion brands like Comme des Garçons have played a big role in the global industry since the 80s, especially through frequent cross-over guest design with other brands.
In 2008, Rei Kawakubo designed for Louis Vuitton and H&M.
Tomoko Yamanaka’s work was featured at London Fashion Week, 2010.
The motives driving the pursuit of fashion in Japan are complex.
Firstly, the relatively large disposable income available to Japanese youth is significant.
Many argue this was made possible through youth living at home with their parents, reducing living expenses.
In addition, the emergence of a strong youth culture in the 1960s and 1970s that continues today (especially in the Harajuku district) drives much of the striving for new and different looks.
The rise of consumerism to an important part of the “national character” of Japan during the economic boom of the 1980s, and even after the bubble burst consumerism also contributes to the pursuit of fashion.
These factors result in swift turnover and variability in styles popular at any one time.
Laforet Harajuku (Rafōre Harajuku) is a department store, residence, and museum complex located in the Harajuku commercial and entertainment district of the Shibuya neighborhood.
Constructed over part of the old Tokyo Central Church, a newer church located behind the store, Laforet was opened in 1978.
It was built by developer Mori Building, that had developed several sites across Tokyo, as well as (subsequently) the Roppongi Hills Mori Tower, and at the time of opening it was one of the tallest buildings in Tokyo.
The name Mori, in Japanese, is the word for “forest“, and the name of the complex was a pun derived from that, it being simply the French words “la forêt” for “the forest“.
The complex has six floors and two basements, divided into half levels; with 150 shops, and the Laforet Museum on the top floor.
It has had a long association with youth fashion culture, although this was not originally intended.
Although fashion brands such as Hysteric Glamour and Ba-tsu opened their first boutiques there, originally its interior was more staid and conventional for the times.
Unfortunately for its developers, this resulted in low sales in the first year of business, causing Ryotu Matsumoko of Ba-stu to be brought in to remodel the interior of the store, changing it to a more youthful and “edgy” design for the time, replacing long and deep stores with wide and shallow stores visible in “panopticon” fashion by shoppers from a central stairwell.
The same was true of its fashion promotion advertising image, originally designed by US firm Antonio Lopez, which was not particularly successful until taken over by Takuya Onuki, who in the middle 1990s switched the advertising campaigns from female models wearing brand clothes to quirky images such as the “Nude” brand of Americans going about their daily business dressed only in underwear, and dogs in denim.
Following the increase in youth fashion culture of the times, Laforet took to partnering with youth fashion magazines and clothing brands to run fashion shows in the building during the 1980s and 1990s.
A victim of its own success, with the independent innovators that were originally attracted being acquired by and assimilated into commercial interests, Laforet’s fashion shows went into decline in the late 1990s.
A new roster of boutiques began to turn its fortunes around in 2006.
The Tōgō Shrine (Tōgō-jinja) was established in 1940 and dedicated to Gensui (or ‘Marshal-Admiral‘) the Marquis Tōgō Heihachirō shortly after his death.
This shrine was destroyed by the Bombing of Tokyo, but was rebuilt in 1964.
It is located in Harajuku.
There, the Marquis Tōgō Heihachirō is celebrated as a Shinto kami (his spirit lives on).
A small museum and a bookshop dedicated to the Marquis Tōgō are located within the grounds of the shrine.
The shrine is located near the intersection of Takeshita Street and Meiji Avenue, and is accessible from Harajuku Station.
Marshal-Admiral Marquis Tōgō Heihachirō (1848 – 1934), was a gensui or admiral of the fleet in the Imperial Japanese Navy and one of Japan’s greatest naval heroes.
As Commander-in-Chief of the Combined Fleet during the Russo-Japanese War, he successfully confined the Russian Pacific Fleet to Port Arthur before winning a decisive victory over a relieving fleet at Tsushima.
Tōgō was termed by Western journalists as “the Nelson of the East“.
The physical remains of the Gensui (or Grand Admiral) himself are interred at Tama Cemetery in Tokyo.
According to The Telegraph, the Tōgō Shrine took possession in 2005 of Admiral Tōgō’s original Z flag raised at the Battle of Tsushima.
The flag had been in Britain since 1911.
The Z flag has special meaning in Japan (as well as in naval history generally) due to its connection with and symbolizing of the great Japanese victory at the Battle of Tsushima.
At the Battle of Tsushima on 27 May 1905, Admiral Tōgō raised a Z flag on his flagship Mikasa.
By prearrangement, this flag flown alone meant:
“The fate of the Empire rests on the outcome of this battle.
Let each man do his utmost.”
The Battle of Tsushima was one of the most important naval battles of history and this signal is, along with Nelson’s signal “England expects that every man will do his duty” at the Battle of Trafalgar, one of the two most famous naval flag signals.
The battle is of especial importance in Japanese national mythology.
The Battle of Tsushima, also known as the Battle of Tsushima Strait and the Naval Battle of the Sea of Japan (Nihonkai-Kaisen) in Japan, was a major naval battle fought between Russia and Japan during the Russo-Japanese War.
It was naval history’s first decisive sea battle fought by modern steel battleship fleets, and the first naval battle in which wireless telegraphy (radio) played a critically important role.
It has been characterized as the “dying echo of the old era – for the last time in the history of naval warfare, ships of the line of a beaten fleet surrendered on the high seas“
It was fought on 27–28 May 1905 (14–15 May in the Julian calendar then in use in Russia) in the Tsushima Strait between Korea and southern Japan.
In this battle the Japanese fleet under Admiral Tōgō Heihachirō destroyed two-thirds of the Russian fleet, under Admiral Zinovy Rozhestvensky, which had traveled over 18,000 nautical miles (33,000 km) to reach the Far East.
Above: Route taken by the Russian Second Pacific Squadron (in blue) from the Baltic to the Battle of Tsushima. Dobrotvorsky unit (in orange), Nebogatov detachment (in red)
In London in 1906, Sir George Sydenham Clarke wrote:
“The battle of Tsu-shima is by far the greatest and the most important naval event since Trafalgar”.
Decades later, historian Edmund Morris agreed with this judgment.
The destruction of the Russian navy caused a bitter reaction from the Russian public, which induced a peace treaty in September 1905 without any further battles.
Prior to the Russo-Japanese War, countries constructed their battleships with mixed batteries of mainly 6-inch (152 mm), 8-inch (203 mm), 10-inch (254 mm) and 12-inch (305 mm) guns, with the intent that these battleships fight on the battle line in a close-quarter, decisive fleet action.
The Battle of Tsushima conclusively demonstrated that battleship speed and big guns with longer ranges were more advantageous in naval battles than mixed batteries of different sizes.
The Z flag was raised on Vice-Admiral Nagumo’s flagship Akagi before the aircraft were flown off for the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor (called Operation Z in its planning stages), explicitly referencing Tōgō’s historic victory.
During Project Z, the development of the Nissan Z-car which broke open the American market for Japanese automobile exports, project leader Yutaka Katayama used the Z flag as an inspirational symbol.
During the strong yen crisis, the Nagasaki yards of Oshima Shipbuilding flew the Z flag to inspire the workers.
The logo of the Japanese multinational corporation Zuken is partly based on the Z flag.
The Z flag is sometimes waved by fans at Japanese sporting events as an exhortation to victory for their favored team.
It is also used as a symbol by some fringe right-wing groups in Japan.
The Ukiyo-e Ōta Memorial Museum of Art (Ukiyo-e Ōta kinen bijutsukan) is a museum that opened in January 1980.
It presents rotating exhibitions of Ukiyo-e from Ōta Seizo V’s collection of over 12,000 pieces.
Ukiyo-e is a genre of Japanese art which flourished from the 17th through 19th centuries.
Its artists produced woodblock prints and paintings of such subjects as:
The term ukiyo-e translates as “pictures of the floating world“.
Edo (modern Tokyo) became the seat of government for the military dictatorship in the early 17th century.
The merchant class at the bottom of the social order benefited most from the city’s rapid economic growth.
Many indulged in the entertainments of kabuki theatre, courtesans, and geisha of the pleasure districts.
The term ukiyo (“floating world“) came to describe this hedonistic lifestyle.
Printed or painted ukiyo-e images of this environment emerged in the late 17th century and were popular with the merchant class, who had become wealthy enough to afford to decorate their homes with them.
The earliest success was in the 1670s with Moronobu’s (1618 – 1694) paintings and monochromatic prints of beautiful women.
Colour in prints came gradually—at first added by hand for special commissions.
By the 1740s, artists such as Masanobu (1686 – 1764) used multiple woodblocks to print areas of colour.
From the 1760s the success of Harunobu’s (1725 – 1770) “brocade prints” led to full-colour production becoming standard, each print made with numerous blocks.
Specialists have prized the portraits of beauties and actors by masters such as Torii Kiyonaga (1752 – 1815), Kitagawa Utamaro (1753 – 1806), and Toshusai Sharaku that came in the late 18th century.
In the 19th century followed a pair of masters best remembered for their landscapes:
- The bold formalist Hokusai (1760 – 1849), whose Great Wave off Kanagawa is one of the best-known works of Japanese art
- the serene, atmospheric Hiroshige (1797 – 1858), most noted for his series The Fifty-three Stations of the Tōkaidō
Following the deaths of these two masters, and against the technological and social modernization that followed the Meiji Restoration of 1868, ukiyo-e production went into steep decline.
Some ukiyo-e artists specialized in making paintings, but most works were prints.
Artists rarely carved their own woodblocks for printing.
Rather, production was divided between:
- the artist, who designed the prints
- the carver, who cut the woodblocks
- the printer, who inked and pressed the woodblocks onto hand-made paper
- the publisher, who financed, promoted, and distributed the works.
As printing was done by hand, printers were able to achieve effects impractical with machines, such as the blending or gradation of colours on the printing block.
Ukiyo-e was central to forming the West’s perception of Japanese art in the late 19th century – especially the landscapes of Hokusai and Hiroshige.
From the 1870s Japonism became a prominent trend and had a strong influence on the early Impressionists, such as Edgar Degas (1834 – 1917), Edouard Manet (1832 – 1883), and Claude Monet (1840 – 1926), as well as Post-Impressionists, such as Vincent van Gogh (1853 – 1890), and Art Nouveau artists, such as Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864 – 1901).
The 20th century saw a revival in Japanese printmaking:
The shin-hanga (“new prints“) genre capitalized on Western interest in prints of traditional Japanese scenes, and the sōsaku–hanga (“creative prints“) movement promoted individualist works designed, carved, and printed by a single artist.
Prints since the late 20th century have continued in an individualist vein, often made with techniques imported from the West.
- The Nezu Museum (Nezu bijutsukan), formerly known as the Nezu Institute of Fine Arts, is an art museum that houses the private collection of pre-modern Japanese and East Asian art of Nezu Kaichirō (1860–1940).
Nezu Kaichirō (1860 – 1940) was a Japanese businessman, national politician and philanthropist.
Born into an established merchant family in Yamanashi, he moved to Tokyo in 1897, and became independently wealthy through stock investments.
Nezu was elected as a member of the House of Representatives in the National Diet in 1904 and won three subsequent reelections.
He was elevated to the House of Peers in 1926.
In 1905 Nezu became President of Tobu Railway and successfully helped to grow the company to one of the largest private rail operators in the Kanto region.
Other business interests included managerial and shareholding roles in Tokyo Basha Tetsudo (Tokyo Horse-Drawn Carriage Railways), Tokyo Dento (Tokyo Electric Light Company) and in Tokyo Gas.
Accompanying Shibusawa Eiichi on a trade mission to the United States in 1909, Nezu was inspired by American industrialists’ enthusiasm for civic and philanthropic activities.
On his return to Japan, Nezu founded and donated to a number of new educational and cultural initiatives including Musashi Junior and Senior High School.
The museum foundation was established on the death of Nezu in 1940 and exhibitions were first opened to the public in 1941.
The museum collection was stored away from central Tokyo during the Second World War and escaped the destruction suffered by the estate property in the bombing of May 1945.
Exhibitions were restarted after the war in 1946.
Closed due to large-scale renovation and renewal from 2006 onwards, the museum re-opened in fall 2009 with a completely new museum building by the Japanese architect Kengo Kuma.
Included in the collection are a pair of Edo period folding screens, Irises, by Ogata Kōrin (1658 – 1716).
It also includes other paintings of renown, calligraphy, sculpture, ceramics, textiles and archaeological materials, as well as objects in lacquer, metal, and wood.
The collection also consists of Chinese bronzes of the Shang and Zhou dynasties.
The Nezu Museum is also known for its extensive, Japanese-style garden.
But all of this is neither here nor there if we fail to take into account the unique ronin that Momo is.
His interest in Harajuku had little to do with Nezu art, Togo memorablia or ukiyo-e heritage.
He is not me.
(Thank the gods!)
Rather he is fascinated by the mélange of the post-tomorrow creativity of Japanese youth culture and the traditionalism it struggles to deny lies within it.
(Lady Gaga lyrics from “Bad Romance” song come to mind, imagining Momo exploring the streets of Harajuku…..
Walk, walk, fashion, baby
Work it, move that bitch crazy
Walk, walk, passion, baby
Work it, I’m a free bitch, baby )
Oh, to be young in Harajuku…..
And Sebastian & Belle join in…..
I’d rather be in Tokyo
I’d rather listen to Thin Lizzy-oh
Watch the Sunday gang in Harajuku
There’s something wrong with me, I’m a cuckoo
Though considering his youth, I am not sure he would catch the Thin Lizzy reference, though he may know their most famous song, “The Boys Are Back in Town“…..
Friday night they’ll be dressed to kill
Down at Dino’s Bar ‘n’ Grill
The drink will flow and the blood will spill
And if the boys want to fight, you better let ’em
That jukebox in the corner blastin’ out my favorite song
The nights are getting warmer, it won’t be long
Won’t be long till the summer comes
Now that the boys are here again
The boys are back in town
(The boys are back in town)
From Time Out Tokyo:
Tokyo is massive and there are lots to see and do in the city, but if you just want to focus on the kawaii and fashion capital that is Harajuku, this list is for you.
Harajuku is the neighbourhood that gave us Lolita girls, decora, the pancake boom and Kyary Pamyu Pamyu.
This Shibuya neighbourhood has been the epicentre of Tokyo teen fashion (and vintage stores) for decades, and it’s still nurturing unorthodox, garish styles even as big-name international retailers like H&M, Zara and American Eagle Outfitters muscle in on the area.
Join us on a trip around Harajuku’s best restaurants, cafés, gift shops and fashion boutiques – lots of fashion boutiques.
One of teenage Tokyo’s hallowed sites, Laforet is located in the heart of Harajuku, on the corner of Omotesando and Meiji-dori.
Look for the flower sculptures outside.
This multi-level emporium, expanded to 13 floors, contains numerous small boutiques selling clothes and accessories aimed at young wearers of garish, eccentric fashion.
Exhibitions and multimedia events are also held here.
Even among the shopping chaos that is Harajuku’s Laforet, this store dealing in ‘cutting-edge‘ fashion stands out from the rest.
The neon lighting inside lends a quirky glow to styles from up-and-coming and edgy designers like Hyein Seo, Astrid Andersen and Shaun Samson.
They also host a range of items from popular designer collabs including the coveted Kanye West and Adidas Yeezy collection as well as clothing and shoes from Rihanna’s Fenty Puma line.
In celebration of GR8’s recent 12th anniversary, the shop’s exterior received a makeover in the form of a Japanese garden complete with a serene pond, traditional stone lanterns and bonsai trees.
A surprising contrast to the loud and busy shopping space indoors.
The Dobutsuen Zoo Ice Cream Shop is disguised as a pink ice cream vending machine, but you actually order from the staff hiding inside.
You can choose your preferred ice cream animal – the elephants, koalas, panda bears are all good, but we say go the whole hog with the triple decker piggie option in three different flavours.
Just be sure to snap a photo before it melts.
Although it’s located in Harajuku’s popular vintage and consignment area, Funktique is not a shop you’d accidentally walk into as it’s tucked away from the crowds on the third floor of an inconspicuous building.
Opened by a husband and wife duo from Fukushima – who relocated to this part of town after the 2011 earthquake – the shop is indeed funky, offering a mix of accessories, toys and clothing.
However, the focus here is on fashion from the ’90s to the early 2000s, with the odd older piece thrown into the mix.
You’ll also find several original items like printed tees and hoodies bedecked with the word ‘underwear’ in gothic script and fun mugs featuring a cheeky play on the Nike logo.
For some fashion fiends, this shop might seem familiar as the owner’s daughter Coco is a famous Instagram style star who has accumulated almost half a million followers.
If you’re hoping to catch a glimpse of this adorable fashionista, make sure you stop by on the weekends, when Coco can often be found playing dressing-up with her parents.
Kiddy Land is a Tokyo institution.
The main Harajuku shop is a noisy, heaving maze of mascots, dolls, cuddly toys, furry toys, action figures, Disney, Kitty, Doraemon, Godzilla and more.
Warning: this much cuteness can damage your mental health.
Whether you’re looking for household products or cheap souvenirs, you’re sure to find what you need at this three-floor ¥100 shop, a prominent landmark on Harajuku’s Takeshita-dori shopping street.
(100 Yen = €0.85 / CHF 0.90 / GBP 0.74 / Can $1.30 / US $0.93 as of 18 April 2020)
Daiso makes life easier for international shoppers by offering floor guides in English as well as Japanese, while some of the staff can also speak English.
Visit A+S, otherwise known as Architecture and Sneakers, for a dose of Tokyo’s ever-evolving streetwear and sneaker culture.
Just as the shop name suggests, what you’ll find here is a well-edit selection of sneakers inside an immaculately designed space run by the folks behind Japanese streetwear label Soph (whose store is located right below).
Along with some of today’s most popular footwear models, mostly from Nike, you’ll also find sportswear basics like T-shirts and caps.
They even have mini versions of selected shoe styles for children.
The items here straddle a range of budgets, from Nike and Cole Haan to luxury brands like Balenciaga and Maison Margiela.
Not your typical eyewear shop, Solakzade’s Harajuku boutique is home to a distinctive range of unused vintage and antique frames sourced from Japan and around the globe.
The shop has a particularly broad selection of styles in its 10,000-frame trove, including a few shades that date back all the way to the 1800s.
Solakzade opened in July 2012 and is run by a pair of brothers from Osaka – Tatsuya Okamoto and Rio Okamoto – who can also customise, repair and restore antique frames, or even create bespoke spectacles.
The shop also offers eye exams and prescription lenses as well as a handy machine which helps adjust your lenses to your perfect vision.
If your lenses are not ready during your stay in Tokyo, the shop will deliver them right to your doorstep.
You’ll be seeing 20/20 in no time.
When gaudily dressed dance groups known as takenoko-zoku flocked to Harajuku in the mid-’70s and early-’80s, they bought their clothes at Boutique Takenoko.
It’s still there today, but stocks mainly Lolita and punk fashions now.
There are just two styles of gyoza dumplings available at this no-frills eatery – fried or steamed – and they’re as tasty as they are affordable (just ¥290 for six).
If you’ve got some spare change, order up a beer and some bean sprouts too.
Gyoza Lou is located just off Omotesando in central Harajuku.
They might not be the cuddliest, but hedgehogs sure are adorable creatures that we don’t mind spending some time with.
Harry’s Hedgehog Café‘s Harajuku location is home to nine types of hedgehogs, each with a different set of quills in unique colour varieties.
Be cautious:
If you’re not comfortable holding them with your bare hands, use the gloves provided so you can avoid their prickly quills.
For an extra ¥500 you can feed the little guys mealworm snacks as you enjoy a drink from one of the vending machines.
There’s also a load of souvenirs available, so be sure to browse on your way out for a cute plush hedgehog of your own.
New York’s Museum of Modern Art has made its way to Japan with the opening of its first shop outside the US.
Located on the third floor of Omotesando’s plush Gyre building, the shop stocks over 1,800 goods, many of them exclusive to MoMA (including some featuring art works from the museum’s permanent collection).
Assuming that you aren’t on a particularly tight budget, it’s a good place for getting unusual birthday and Christmas gifts, whether you want children’s toys, fashion accessories or high-tech kitchenware.
Japanese designers are well represented amongst the lineup, be it Isamu Noguchi’s 1950s paper lamps or Yousuke Shimizu’s exquisite bamboo bowls.
For those still grieving the loss of Omotesando Koffee, which closed down back in late 2015, this place is sure to bring respite.
Opened by the same man, Eiichi Kunitomo, and located in the exact same place (albeit in a new building), Koffee Mameya is a bean specialist with enough shebang to turn you into a proper barista at home.
They offer between 15 and 20 varieties of beans, all in 150g bags and with a pricetag from ¥1,200.
Order at the counter and take one home to create your own steaming cup of black goodness in peace.
They source the beans from five specific roasteries, so you’ll also be able to distinguish your favourite in the long run.
As the focus is on selling beans, there’s no place to sit down and drink, but regular coffee and espresso can be ordered at the counter.
If you’re longing for a good old Omotesando Koffee-style latte though, best try sister shop Toranomon Koffee instead.
Basement boutique Dog has wooed some unusual customers with its blend of outlandish vintage and reworked clothing – not least Lady Gaga, who’s been known to visit incognito on her trips to Tokyo.
Whether life’s disabilities
Left you outcast, bullied, or teased
Rejoice and love yourself today
‘Cause baby you were born this way
No matter gay, straight, or bi
Lesbian, transgendered life
I’m on the right track baby
I was born to survive
No matter black, white or beige
Chola or orient made
I’m on the right track baby
I was born to be brave
I’m beautiful in my way
‘Cause God makes no mistakes
I’m on the right track, baby
I was born this way
Don’t hide yourself in regret
Just love yourself and you’re set
I’m on the right track, baby
I was born this way yeah
Indeed, those with a taste for the theatrical will appreciate its remakes, which include replicas of costumes from Gaga’s own shows (and a few Madonna numbers).
Ooh, don’t worry, I’m okay,
hey, I just perform this way
I’m not crazy,
I perform this way
I’ll be a troll or evil queen
I’ll be a human jelly bean
‘Cause every day is Halloween for me
I’m so completely original
My new look is all the rage…..
If you’re looking for something a little more wearable, its range of indie designer remakes are also worth browsing.
Opened by Kai Satake in 2000 (and followed by a Koenji outlet in 2009), the shop’s dark, graffiti-covered entrance is easy to walk past without a second glance.
Let the metal-clad mannequin that stands guard outside be your guide.
As the name Kawaii Monster Café gives away, this new café, opened right by Laforet Harajuku, is packed with elements drawn from all things kawaii.
With interiors done by Harajuku heavy-hitter Sebastian Masuda, it’s a fantastic merry-go-round of super-cute elements, and offers four types of appropriately OTT seating in areas labelled Mushroom Disco, Milk Stand, Bar Experiment and Mel-Tea Room.
If you’re easily overwhelmed, best steel yourself before heading over.
The Omotesando branch is the second store for Pass the Baton, a modern recycle shop that opened their first post within Marunouchi Brick Square.
Inside, you’ll find a range of second-hand items, including antiques, furniture, clothing and art – many of which have been previously owned by well-known celebrities, and a special area dubbed ‘Nigolden Store’, dedicated to displaying items from the personal collection of A Bathing Ape producer Nigo.
Similarly to that of the Marunouchi store, the interior of the Omotesando store was designed by Kasamichi Katayama – founder of interior design company Wonderwall Inc.
Trusted among musos for its good taste, Big Love is an independent record store that collects vinyl and cassette tapes of indie bands from the US, the UK and Europe.
Soak in the atmosphere at the bar space where you can enjoy Shiga Kogen beer, one of the best Japanese craft beers.
Pop star and style icon Kyary Pamyu Pamyu is a fan of this vintage clothing shop, though she’s hardly the first Harajuku girl to have fallen in love with the quizzically titled G2?.
The selection of second-hand clothes on sale at this fashion boutique – mainly running from the ’50s to ’80s – is organised according to style, from kitsch to classic.
At times, it can feel like a drive-by tour of the entire lexicon of Harajuku fashions, ranging from eccentric wigs and cutesy clothes to classy vintage items from designers like Emilio Pucci.
Perhaps both the answer to G2? and what can one see beyond what I have mentioned are best left open and unanswered.
For Harajuku is a lot like the existential questions asked here at the beginning.
What are you doing here?
What are you looking for?
Only the individual can answer that for themselves.
Sources: Wikipedia / Google / Rough Guide to Japan / Christine Izeki and Björn Neumann, 111 Places in Tokyo That You Shouldn’t Miss / Time Out Tokyo / Algernon Bertram Mitford, Tales of Old Japan / Belle and Sebastian, “I’m a Cuckoo” / Kyary Pamyu Pamyu, “Pon Pon Pon” / Lady Gaga, “Born This Way” / Supertramp, “The Logical Song” / Thin Lizzy, “The Boys Are Back In Town” / “Weird” Al Yankovic, “I Perform This Way”
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Building Everest 
