Tokyo (Shibuya, Shinjuku, Harajuku)

Today was my first full day in Tokyo, so I decided to get a little overview, by going to Shinjuku, Shibuya, and Harajuku districts. Shinkjuku was supposed to have the tallest buildings & be the busiest train station in the world. But to my big dissapointment, there were neither the insane crowds I was promised, and the buildings were nothing special. A German couple at the hostel told me they were impressed, but what do Germans from Freiburg know about skyscrapers anyway?
And then there was an area called Takashimaya Times Square, and I thought - oh THAT must be where it's at, but it really didn't impress me at all.

On to Shibuya. I was told there's some good shopping there, and indeed there was a ton. Mostly upscale & posh stuff I couldn't afford, but anyways it was nice to look at. Plus Shibuya made up for my dissapointment at Shinjuku, because finally there were MAJOR crowds. Just what I was looking for in Tokyo. There is a central intersection next to the train station, and every 2 minutes or so it gathers a few thousand people as they wait at the red light.

And every time the green light comes on, the crowd gushes out into the street, like water from a broken dam. Wham, and you got people around you going each and every way!

And then it's all quiet again (or back to the density of Times Square in New York).

That was fun. Oh plus I got tired in the middle of the day & took a big nap in one of the internet cafes. God bless Japan.

After realizing I couldn't afford anything at Shibuya (plus the fact that they rarely have a choice of size larger than Medium), I had to move on.

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Harajuku was the next stop, and it's known for its crazy fashions. Indeed it was all that I was cracked up to be. The shops carried all sorts of discount & weird clothes, including hippie, rastafarian & goth. The selection of Goth was better than anything i've ever seen.
Marylin Manson would be proud of these people! Although I didn't see as many people actually wearing the crazy stuff sold in the stores. One of the salesmen in the hippie store was from Ghana and spoke fluent Japanese. Respect!

Ooh they got a Wendy's here! The home of the square patty!! Yummm...