To end my day of sightseeing, I next walked to the shopping streets of Harajuku.
This is Jingumae Road, a major shopping hub in Omotesando. A lot of high end brands and shopping centers down this road.That’s the classic exterior of Harajuku station
I was here mostly to check out Takeshita-dori (or Takeshita street).
Takeshita street is the main attraction in Harajuku’s shopping scene
Takeshita is a pedestrian-only street which has a mix of independent fashion store, bigger brands and the odd “wow, an entire shop for just this stuff?” Like the stores around Shibuya crossing, Takeshita-dori is another spot where a lot of Japanese youth fashion trends emerge.
I could see the famous Takeshita street from the Harajuku station platformI don’t know if it was because it was a Sunday or not, but it took a while to get out of the station. There was a whole swarm of people going in either direction.First up, a quick visit to Meiji ShrineAlong the way were these displays of wine barrels on one side… and barrels of sake on the other side. These barrels of sake and wine (from France) were all gifts to the emperor of the Meiji eraI’m sure they’re empty now, but they do make for an impressive displayIt’s nearly a kilometer before you get to Meiji Shrine
After a quick visit to the Tokyo Imperial Palace east garden, I was now going to visit Shinjuku Gyoen (gyoen = garden), which is one of the best venues in Tokyo to view cherry blossoms. I took the train to Shinjuku-gyoemmae station, took exit 2 and made my way to the Okido entrance — of many entrances to the garden.
The neighbourhood I was in was quite niceThere was an entry fee of ¥200 (₹119/$1.8/€1.5)There’s a glasshouse here. I would check it out later.Shinjuku Gyoen is the largest public garden in Tokyo cityThe reason why Shinjuku Gyoen is very popular for cherry blossoms is quite evident early onThe selfie sticks were out in full force todayIt was beautiful just walking around hereKids all over the place were seen picking up petalsShades of pink were a more common sightA panorama of the large ground here where many had set up picnic mats and were enjoying drinks and snacksIt’s a beautiful setting to have a picnic anywayApparently there were more varieties of cherry blossoms besides my knowledge of “pink sakura” and “white sakura”I decided to quickly check out the glasshouseThere is no separate entry fee for the glasshouseThe glasshouse was filled with a few exotic flowersAnd some plants which otherwise would not grow in Japan’s climateThe glasshouse isn’t very bigSo I made my way back outThere were more greenhouses outside but off-limits to visitorsColour-coordinated portable toilets. Or ‘sexist’ toilets according to some.Back to all the beautiful sakura all aroundThis sakura tree was very popular for photos, because it was quite lowI only had a brief few seconds to get a photo taken without anybody else in the frameYou’d think I would have taken enough photos of the sakura by nowBut wherever I walked, there was some frame or sight that just had to be captured on camera
Amateur and professional photographers were out in full force
It’s not just photographers who were making the most of the beauty all around
I could just sit here all day and take in the views… if only it wasn’t cold and all greyA little sunlight would have made the colours pop a bit moreI walked around a bit moreI imagined what it would be like, to be a bird or a butterfly, and see the cherry blossoms in a different lightEnjoy sights of spring little birdie!Many of these trees are decades oldYou don’t get much time, the full sakura bloom only lasts about a week or twoSo everybody makes the most of it and get their special photos taken
It was time to head back out to the concrete jungleWhat are these trees?There was an entire row of themI headed backEven on the way out I couldn’t help but take some more photos
Seriously — sakura sighting in Japan is like no other
Shinjuku Gyoen is undoubtedly one of the best places to come and soak in a rich cheer blossom sighting. I’m glad I got to experience it at full bloom, even if the sun was shy today. Paying 200 yen is well worth the price of admission. Ueno Park, where I returned to the next day, is also amazing so look forward to that post.
I went out the same gateFairly residential areaIt was well past lunchtime and I wondered where to eatThere was this corner store called Curry-Naan. I didn’t plan on having Indian food but the thought of having hot, familiar taste in this cold weather tempted me to go inside.The place was really small. Three tables and the rest were counter seats, where I sat down. One of the tables was occupied by a group of Malayalis. What are the odds!A single naan with a little chicken kheema curry and lassi for dessert cost ¥730 (₹435/$6.5/€5.8)
All said and done, my tummy felt satisfied and I waited for the drizzle to subside before I walked to the subway station. Next stop: Harajuku. Part two of four posts on this one day is complete!
