Tokyo Blond Is Not Porn

Tokyo Blond is not a porn blog, about hair or even, as one pithy friend remarked, a micro beer or late 1980s glam metal band ("Dude, I just saw Skid Row and Tokyo Blond opened and played a killer set").


The purpose of this blog is to chronicle my experiences in Tokyo - poignantly, visually, irreverently - for fun.


Anybody can tag along...that is if I like you. This blog will endeavor to be entertaining and honest and frequent enough to keep those following interested including me.


Sunday, September 5, 2010

Now I Know What Gwen Stefani Keeps Singing About

This ain't Melrose or 3rd street.
Think Halloween, but it's daytime and everyone wears a size 0.
This is Harajuku.

This was quite an adventure for Russell and I.  First we did Harajuku and saw the latest styles neither one of us would ever wear.  Then we ventured down the Omotesando Dori which is the Rodeo drive of Tokyo.  Then we visited the Meiji Shrine, our first shrine experience and learned how to pray properly.

Come along...
                                                                                                                                                                  
This is across the street from the train station.  Literally throngs of teenage
girls dressed in costume are lined up in front of the shopping street waiting for you to take their picture.
And they don't even charge you like they do on Hollywood and Highland.

The name of the street is Takeshita and it looks like we're entering a carnival.
I wonder how often they have to change those balloons.

It was a carnival; it was packed.

This is a very special store called Wonder Rocket. They carry fashions for the Mori girl which is apparently a Japanese subculture.  "Mori" means forest in Japanese and mori girls look like fairytale forest wanders.  At least according to one website I visited.   The woman on the right is the designer and the only reason I know about her and decided to visit her shop is because she was featured on Fashion TV a week before we visited Harajuku.  
Check out these blogs (below) if you want to see more.

http://www.carouselofcrowns.com/2010/02/13/morigirl-style-with-wonder-rocket/
http://deedeeoho.blogspot.com/2010/11/wonder-rocket-review.html

I actually bought several scarves which were a combination of ultra soft hand crocheted wool and
 re-designed lace - awesome and cheap by Japanese standards.  Russell even liked it.


I can't decide which costume I want but next Halloween is going to be off the hook!!!!
I'm thinking the bigger headress; don't you?

Course Russell wants me to wear the pink number.
Pink is not my signature color.

Tell me this doesn't look familiar - like Victoria's Secret meets Claire's and is married to Barbie.
Yes that's a fuselage.

A Harajuku girl with the signature peace sign.  Why do they do that?
I guess it's like us always saying "c-h-e-e-s-e"

Someone's got a sense of humor.

Ok

I secretly really liked this store and not just because most of the merchandise was black.
Do you see that cute little Alice In Wonderland Hat?  If I were in my twenties I would definitely be sporting the outfit on the left.  It reminded me of when I was in fashion design school and had an asymetrical haircut. Yeah baby!

Ok can we just pause here for a moment and agree that Japanese children are thee cutest - ever!
These kids look like they're posing for a Gymboree catalog 
but they were just frolicking on the graffiti covered bench.  Too cute!

That my friends is a little slice of ingenuity.  
It is an antique air stream camper that has been turned into a cocktail bar.
Yes sir, I'll have another.  

The shopping street sort of ends at this other, bigger, more expensive shopping street called the Ometesando Dori which is the Rodeo drive of Tokyo.  
Actually truth be told it's more like the Champs Elysees, especially with the trees.
I didn't take any pictures of the stores here because like every other major city, they have all the usual suspects including the Gap.  I hate that!

However, on our way back to the park where the Meiji temple is we intersected this parade.
I don't know what it was for but there was a lot of drumming 
and street dancing going on and people dressed alike.

I'd like to be carried around.

Ok so after the heavy capitalism we decided to venture to our first major shrine.
This is the entrance to the park that has the Meiji Shrine.  The Meiji shrine is Tokyo's most venerable shrine, according to Frommers.  It was opened in 1920 in honor of Emperor and Empress Meiji who were instrumental to opening Japan to the outside world.  
Hmmm.  How fitting that it be our first shrine experience.

Lanterns - nice

Wine Barrels - even nicer

Directions on how to properly visit a shrine.
Something about cleansing both hands and your mouth.
Thankfully you didn't have to use soap.

Unlike Russell; I follow directions.

Entrance to the shrine - very grand
Apparently the Meiji shrine is the place to be on New Year's when 2 million people crowd onto the grounds to usher in the New Year.  There were only about 400,000 people the 
day we went or it seemed like there was.

There was a wedding going on - cool

Gigantic wooden door and they were shorter then.

Wishes.  I didn't think adding my wish for an Aston Martin appropriate.

Rather generously you were allowed to toss a coin into a special box to promote your prayer.
There were instructions - how convenient.

The correct ritual is as follows:
  1. Put your monetary offering in the box. (The amount of money is not fixed, so give according to your feelings.)
  2. Ring the bell once.
  3. Bow twice.
  4. Clap twice in prayer while thinking about your wish.
  5. Bow once.
The program also mentions that specific wishes are preferable to vague wishes.

I prayed that Ranger would make it safely to Tokyo and be happy here.

After the temple we visited the Iris Garden which according to Frommer's is spectacular in June.
It was August; not quite as spectacular but nice just the same.

Have I mentioned I like turtles?

Beautiful.

Hey they have Egrets here too.

Tea house - not open.

Lovely light illuminating the trees.

OK, I have no idea why we waited in a line for twenty minutes to see this hole in the ground which is apparently a well. It actually had uniformed guys guarding it to make sure people didn't take too much time or drink the water.  Russell and I concluded it must have some special meaning other than, "hey, it's a hole in the ground."  I tried to research it online but this is all I got:

Emperor Meiji (1852-1912) commissioned the garden for his wife, Empress Shoken (1850-1914) and the two are said to have spent a lot of time relaxing, fishing and even writing waka (Japanese poetry) in the garden.