Japan Recap: Shibuya and Tokyo Fashion

End of Day 2 - Shibuya in 2 hours


So after we awoke from our ramen coma, Cindy and I groggily forced ourselves out of the hotel and headed to Shibuya. Shibuya is one of the densest and busiest districts within Tokyo, as both a central business district and major nightlife center. When we hopped off the subway terminal we stood there gaping up at the skyscrapers and massive crossroads for about 10 minutes before we moved.


Straight in front of us was the famous 109 Building, behind which runs Love Motel hill, which I don't know much about but based on its name I imagine it's a very romantic and innocent throughway.


Still somewhat groggy and disoriented, we ended up ambling through the maze of alleys in Shibuya and inadvertently ended up seeing actual Lost in Translation landmarks, including the karaoke bar from the "More Than This" karaoke scene:


and Cindy pretending to play the drumming game, although we were to cheap to put money in it, and instead spent money on sticker photos.


While ambling about I had more time to observe Tokyo-ites. It's certainly no exaggeration that the people in Tokyo are far more progressive in their fashion. It seems like everyone in Tokyo puts a lot of thought into their clothing, hair, and accessories, but not in a way that's conspicuous or that looks overdone. Self-proclaimed SJP-wannabe fashionistas are obnoxious, but in Tokyo, being fashionable seems effortless and natural. (What makes this even more amazing is that every girl wears heels all the time in Tokyo. Flip flops seemingly do not exist, which made us feel very self-conscious about flipping and flopping about in the city. Actually, I did try to go Tokyo-style the second day by wearing the one pair of heels I brought, but I ended up crippling myself for the evening.) I was momentarily inspired, and had made the hasty resolution to make a conscious effort to put more thought into my style when I returned home. But fortunately almost as soon as we arrived home I thanked God that I lived in the nation of flip flops, ironic t-shirts, and baseball caps.