Day 2.1 - Move-in and Harajuku

Uploading the pictures took longer that I thought it would, so these are going to be smaller installments than I was planning.

Anyway, back to the show. Picking up after I left off (breakfast buffet at the hotel), I spent the morning checking out of the hotel and moving into my semi-apartment. They hold bags at the front desk, so I left my luggage there while I went to the office of my landlord (Sakura House), to sign my lease forms and pick up my key. Their office is located in Shinjuku though, which is well known for being the busiest subway station in the world. It's also HUGE. It makes the Times Square Grand Central station look like the T in Boston. I'd say it's probably the size of Costco. Anyway, here's the view from one side, where directions/departure schedules are:


And the view from my other side.

And that's just the West gate, and not even all of it. It's HUUUGE. Good thing I was there on a Sunday morning so it's wasn't packed. I hear on weekday mornings/rush hour it's just a sea of people/salarymen. The average number of people that pass through this station in a given day is 3,295,330. Once I exited the station (it took about 10 minutes to figure out how to get out of there), I was met with an equally large crosswalk.

So I found the office quite easily, and they had an English-speaking lady explain all the terms of the lease to me, and walk me through living in Tokyo. Apparently I have to sort my trash into three bins - "burnable," "not burnable," and "resources." I guess they had to change it from flammable and inflammable because those two words both actually mean the same thing (look it up!). Anyway, I went back to the hotel and then had quite a time moving all my things on the subway to Hatchobori. There are lots of steps.... Anyway, I finally got to my room and threw all my stuff in. I'll put up pictures of the room later, but it's cute. And I think I may have the nicest private refrigerator out of anyone living on my budget. It's almost a full size fridge - the freezer alone is the size of my roommate's fridge at college. It's also a pretty pale pink, although the color doesn't show up too well on my camera. The desk, table, lamp, mirror, and bedframe are all also quite new and nice, though the TV, door, floor, and bookshelf are all a little old. But considering my dorm was built in the great depression and some of my classrooms are 300 years old, I don't really mind too much.

Anyway, I didn't spend much time moving in, since the maintence guys still have to replace my "color box" (I think they may mean the TV), and bring in some bedding they took out to get cleaned/replaced. Plus, I wanted to go explore Tokyo.

And what kind of fashion blog would this be if my first stop on this lovely Sunday afternoon wasn't Harajuku? I'll rant on 'normal' styles later, for now I'm just going to show some of the weirder outfits I saw. ^^ Ladies and Gentlement, after years of flipping through magazines and such on Harajuku fashion, I present to you my first glimpse of Harajuku station.


I heard all the goths hang out at Yoyogi park on Sunday afternoons, but they actually hang out just outside in entrance to the park, which is between the park and the subway. There's a big expanse of concrete and they just kind of.... sit there, pose for photographers, and talk with their friends. It kind of occurred to me that you'd probably have to be a little vain to just dress up and sit around a sidewalk posing for foreign photographers every day. O_o I came back to the station later after I had gone to look at all the shopping, and some of the same people were still there. Nevertheless, they make for some excellent photography, so here are some of the much-celebrated girls of Harajuku:

Her shirt says "Harajuku superlovers and Dreaming punk rock."

She looks kind of like an anime character ^^

This above is a style called "gothic lolita," which has been described as a 'twisted victorian tea party.' It's characterized by petticoats, platform shoes, parasols, cardigans, and other assorted garments you'd find on a five year old girl from the Victorian era.

There were a lot of people carrying around guitars, but I think it must have just been for show. Because the only people I saw playing them where these guys, and they were TERRIBLE. I don't think they even knew how to turn their strings, because it was VERY out of tune. They weren't even playing really, just kind of half-heartedly strumming.

Here's another gothic lolita. ^_^

Girl in an altered tux.

Okay, I know I said I'd wait till later on comments on general fashion trends, but I just happened to get a picture of shoes. Apparently pointy-toed shoes are in style for guys right now, and I think they look completely ridiculous. Although it does sort of explain why Kyo (the singer of Dir en Grey) was wearing them in one of his photo shoots, so I sort of forgive him. Also, the black and white creeper shoes are just everywhere, and you can see a bit of the toe of one here. They sell them at Hot Topic in America, but they haven't really caught on. The only time I saw them and thought they looked really good was on the girl from the live-action movie version of "Death Note," which by the way is a great Japanese movie. I'd liken it a bit to spiderman or X-men in that it's a comic-turned-movie that's still a little cheesy/cartoony, but turned out great regardless.

Another girl in what looks like a self-made thing juding by the material quality and craftsmanship... also note the creeper shoes. They're kind of expensive, so she probably didn't have any more money after buying those. ^^ The spray-in dye turned out remarkably well I think, since I'm not usually a fan of spray-on dye.

Just a picture of the sidewalk and the kind of people wandering around. I'm not sure what's with the people dressed like winne-the-pooh...

I'm pretty sure that blond girl shows up in google images searches when you type in harajuku girl, cause she looks familiar. Anyway, I think they outfits probably each cost way more than my grant money. Those boots alone are probably more than my monthly rent. Oh, Japanese consumerism...

Anyway, after looking at all the fashionistas, I went shopping in Harajuku, and they had so many awesome stores! A lot of them were very expensive, but I think I found one semi-affordable store, and also the only one that was even vaguely gothic lolita.

I think I'll buy a jacket there before I leave, if they make any big enough for me. The sizes here, especially in a district gears to teenage girls, run REALLY small. There were tons of stores, but I only took a few pictures since I was running low on battery.

A Japanese poster for Pirates of the Caribbean! Woot!

And I though it was funny that Guinness was marketed as some exotic beer in the 'beer fair' that was going on outside the subway station in Ebisu. It's also really expensive here, that's like... $7.50 for two beers in cans? I guess it's cause it's wrapped up in little gift boxes...

And look, it's a RED BEAN FRAP!!!!! OMG, I really need to try this. I love Azuki paste. I love starbucks. It's a match made in heaven. I had just eaten at the time I saw this though, do I didn't buy one...

That's all for Harajuku today. I went to Yoyogi park inbetween snapping pictures of the goths and going shopping, but I figure the serene pictures of the park will be enough to fill it's own entry. I'll put those pictures up later though, it's almost lunch time now, and I still have a city to explore!