I went to Harajuku with my neighbor and several other spouses to celebrate her birthday. Harajuku is the common name for the area spreading away from the Harajuku Station in the Shibuya ward of Tokyo.
Harajuku is known internationally as a center of Japanese youth culture and fashion. Most recently, Gwynn Stefani has helped to promote the area. Harajuku is “kawaii” overload. There are many shopping options. Everything from big name retailers like Nike, American Eagle, Gap, Chanel and Ralph Lauren to smaller, youth-oriented, independent boutiques. There are also lots of restaurants and cafés. Not only coffee cafes, I counted three cat cafes and an owl cafe.
Our first stop was the Dominique Ansel Bakery. There are three bakeries worldwide. New York, Paris & Tokyo. They are famous for their “blooming cocoa.” The marshmallow is cut into a cute shape and then set into a ring of chocolate. The ring of chocolate melts once it is placed in the hot cocoa, causing the marshmallow to appear to bloom.
Marshmallows in a ring of chocolate
Hot Cocoa
Finished product- blooms in cocoa
To accompany our cocoa, we enjoyed lime custard cronuts. Yummmmmmm
Takeshita Street is the main boutique area of Harajuku. There was so much going on…
We walked off our breakfast in order to make room for cotton candy. Magic Mountain Cotton Candy. It was ridiculous. So many layers!
And as a result, it was ginormous!
How about this little cutie!
Harajuku is on my list of must return and on Julia’s tour when you visit. If we are lucky we might see a “Harajuku Girl” or boy…
