is a district in

Shibuya Shibuya (渋谷区 ''Shibuya-ku'') is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. As a major commercial and finance center, it houses two of the busiest railway stations in the world, Shinjuku Station (southern half) and Shibuya Station. As of April 1 ...

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.46 ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

. Harajuku is the common name given to a geographic area spreading from

Harajuku Station is a railway station in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan, operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East). The station takes its name from the area on its eastern side, Harajuku. Lines This station is served by the circular Yamanote Line. It is also adj ...

to Omotesando, corresponding on official maps of Shibuya ward as

Jingūmae is a district of Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan. As of October 2020, the population of this district is 12,446. The postal code for Jingūmae is 150–0001. Places of interest Cultural Shrines * Tōgō Shrine * Aoyama Kumano Shrine (青山熊野� ...

chōme The Japanese addressing system is used to identify a specific location in Japan. When written in Japanese characters, addresses start with the largest geographical entity and proceed to the most specific one. When written in Latin characters, ad ...

to 4

. In popular reference, Harajuku also encompasses many smaller backstreets such as

Takeshita Street is a pedestrian shopping street lined with fashion boutiques, cafes and restaurants in Harajuku in Tokyo, Japan. Stores on Takeshita Street include major chains such as The Body Shop, McDonald's, and 7-Eleven, but most of the businesses are sm ...

and Cat Street spreading from Sendagaya in the north to

in the south. Harajuku is known internationally as a center of Japanese youth culture and fashion. Shopping and dining options include many small, youth-oriented, independent

boutique A boutique () is a small shop that deals in fashionable clothing or accessories. The word is French for "shop", which derives ultimately from the Ancient Greek ἀποθήκη (''apothēkē'') "storehouse". The term ''boutique'' and also ''de ...

s and cafés, but the neighborhood also attracts many larger international chain stores with high-end luxury merchandisers extensively represented along Omotesando.

on the

East Japan Railway The is a major passenger railway company in Japan and is the largest of the seven Japan Railways Group companies. The company name is officially abbreviated as JR-EAST or JR East in English, and as in Japanese. The company's headquarters are ...

(JR East)

Yamanote Line The Yamanote Line ( ja, 山手線, Yamanote-sen) is a loop service in Tokyo, Japan, operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East). It is one of Tokyo's busiest and most important lines, connecting most of Tokyo's major stations and urban c ...

and Meiji-jingumae 'Harajuku' Station served by the Tokyo Metro Chiyoda Line and

Tokyo Metro Fukutoshin Line The , formally the , is a subway line operated by Tokyo Metro in west-central Tokyo and Wako, Saitama, Japan. The newest line in the Tokyo subway network, it opened in stages between 1994 and 2008. On average, the Fukutoshin line carries 362,65 ...

also act as gateways to local attractions such as the

Meiji Shrine , is a Shinto shrine in Shibuya, Tokyo, that is dedicated to the deified spirits of Emperor Meiji and his wife, Empress Shōken. The shrine does not contain the emperor's grave, which is located at Fushimi-momoyama, south of Kyoto. History A ...

, Yoyogi Park and

Yoyogi National Gymnasium Yoyogi National Gymnasium, officially is an indoor arena located at Yoyogi Park in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan, which is famous for its suspension roof design. It was designed by Kenzo Tange and built between 1961 and 1964 to house swimming ...

, making Harajuku and its environs one of the most popular destinations in Tokyo for both domestic and international tourists.

History

Pre-Edo period

In the pre-

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was character ...

, the area that came to be known as Harajuku was a small post town on the Kamakura Highway. It was said that in the

Gosannen War The Gosannen War (後三年合戦, ''gosannen kassen''), also known as the Later Three-Year War, was fought in the late 1080s in Japan's Mutsu Province on the island of Honshū. History The Gosannen War was part of a long struggle for power ...

, Minamoto no Yoshiie mustered his soldiers in this area and the hill here is called Seizoroi-saka (current Jingūmae 2

). It is said that as the ''Igagoe'' reward for delivering Ieyasu Tokugawa safely from Sakai to Mikawa in the 1582 Honno-ji Incident, Onden-mura (隠田村) together with Harajuku-mura (原宿村) were given to the Iga ninja in 1590. In the

, an Iga clan residence was put in Harajuku to defend Edo, due to its strategic location south of the Koshu Road. Other than the mansion of the Hiroshima Domain feudal lord Asano (current Jingūmae 4 and 5

), there were many mansions of shogunate retainers. The livelihood of the farmers consisted mainly of rice cleaning and flour milling with the watermill at the

Shibuya River The is a river which flows through central Tokyo, Japan. The river is 2.6 km in length originating close to Shibuya Station and passing through Shibuya and Minato wards before merging with the Furu River near Hiroo and flowing into To ...

. However, due to the poor quality of the land, production never succeeded and the villages never prospered. It is said that local farmers often performed rain-making invocations at local shrines in an attempt to improve their fortunes. There are also the tales ''Oyama-Afuri Shrine of Tanzawa'' and ''Worship on the day trip to Mt Haruna'' remaining.

Meiji Restoration to the end of the Second World War (1868 – 1945)

At the start of the

Meiji period The is an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868 to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonization ...

in 1868, the land around Harajuku Village was owned by the shogunate. In November of the same year, the towns and villages of Shibuya Ward, including Harajuku Village, were placed under the jurisdiction of the Tokyo Prefecture. In 1906,

was opened as a part of the expansion of the

. In 1919, with the establishment of

, Omotesando was widened and reordered as a formal approach route. In 1943, the

Tōgō Shrine The Tōgō Shrine (東郷神社 ''Tōgō-jinja'') was established in 1940 and dedicated to '' Gensui'' (or ' Marshal-Admiral') the Marquis Tōgō Heihachirō shortly after his death. This shrine was destroyed by the Bombing of Tokyo, but was rebui ...

was built and consecrated in honor of

Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, when it was dissolved following Japan's surrender ...

Marshal-Admiral

Marquis A marquess (; french: marquis ), es, marqués, pt, marquês. is a nobleman of high hereditary rank in various European peerages and in those of some of their former colonies. The German language equivalent is Markgraf (margrave). A woman ...

Tōgō Heihachirō Marshal-Admiral Marquis , served as a '' gensui'' or admiral of the fleet in the Imperial Japanese Navy and became one of Japan's greatest naval heroes. He claimed descent from Samurai Shijo Kingo, and he was an integral part of preserving ...

. In the final period of the

Pacific War The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War, was the theater of World War II that was fought in Asia, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and Oceania. It was geographically the largest theater of the war, including the vas ...

in 1945, much of the area was burned to the ground during the Great Tokyo Air Raid.

1945 to 1970

During the postwar occupation, military housing in the area named Washington Heights was constructed on land now occupied by Yoyogi Park and the

. Shops that appealed to the US soldiers and their families, such as Kiddyland, Oriental Bazaar, and the Fuji Tori, opened along Omotesando during this period. In 1964, swimming, diving, and basketball events for the Tokyo Olympics were held at nearby

. In 1965, the name of the area in the Japanese address system was officially changed from Harajuku to Jingumae. The name Harajuku has persisted due to the earlier naming of the nearby

JR East The is a major passenger railway company in Japan and is the largest of the seven Japan Railways Group companies. The company name is officially abbreviated as JR-EAST or JR East in English, and as in Japanese. The company's headquarters ar ...

. Prior to 1965, Onden, referred to the low-lying area close to Meiji Street and the

while "Harajuku" referred to the northern end of Omotesando, the plateau around Aoyama, currently known as Jingu-mae block 2, a large area of Jingu-mae block 3, and the plateau extending behind Togo Shrine in Jingu-mae block 1. The area from Harajuku station to the area surrounding Takeshita Street was called "Takeshita-cho".

1970s and 1980s

Coming into the 1970s, fashion-obsessed youth culture experienced a transition, from

Shinjuku is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. It is a major commercial and administrative centre, housing the northern half of the busiest railway station in the world ( Shinjuku Station) and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, the administration ...

to Harajuku, then to

. Palais France, a building that sold fashion clothing and accessories, furniture, and other goods, was constructed on Meiji Street near the exit of

. In 1978, the fashion building Laforet Harajuku was opened; thus, Harajuku came to be widely known as a fashion and retail centre. In the 1980s,

became known for teenage street dancing groups called

takenoko-zoku Takenoko-zoku (竹の子族, lit. "bamboo shoot tribe") describes a type of dance group active from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s in Tokyo, especially in Harajuku. The teenagers, mainly girls but often with one boy leading, were colorfully dressed ...

. From 1977, a Sundays only pedestrian precinct was established by closing local roads. This produced a surge in people gathering close to entrances of Yoyogi Park to watch Rock 'n' Rollers and other new bands performing impromptu open air gigs. In the peak period, crowds of up to 10,000 people would gather. In 1998, the Sundays only pedestrian paradise was abolished.

1990s to present

In the 1990s and 2000s, with the rise of

fast fashion Fast fashion is a term used to describe the clothing industry's business model of replicating recent catwalk trends and high-fashion designs, mass-producing them at a low cost, and bringing them to retail stores quickly, while demand is at it ...

, there was an influx of international fashion brand flagship store openings including Gap Inc.,

Forever 21 Forever 21 is a multinational fast fashion retailer headquartered in Los Angeles, California, United States. Originally founded as the store Fashion 21 in Highland Park, Los Angeles in 1984,Forever 21History & Facts, n.d. Retrieved 27 April 2014 ...

, Uniqlo, Topshop and H&M. At the same time, new independent fashion trend shops spread into the previously residential areas of Jingumae 3 and 4 chome, with this area becoming known as Ura-Harajuku. (The "Harajuku Backstreets"). In 2006,

Omotesando Hills is a shopping complex in central Tokyo built in 2005, in a series of urban developments by Mori Building. It occupies a two hundred and fifty meter stretch of Omotesandō, a shopping and (previously) residential road in Aoyama. It was design ...

opened replacing the former Dojunkai apartments on Omotesando. In 2008, the

opened providing an alternative metro access linking Harajuku to

and

Ikebukuro is a commercial and entertainment district in Toshima, Tokyo, Japan. Toshima ward offices, Ikebukuro station, and several shops, restaurants, and enormous department stores are located within city limits. It is considered the second larges ...

2019 New Year's Day Terrorist attack

During the early morning of January 1, 2019, a 21-year-old man named Kazuhiro Kusakabe drove his

Kei car Kei car (or , kanji: , "light automobile", ), known variously outside Japan as Japanese city car or Japanese microcar, is the Japanese vehicle category for the smallest highway-legal passenger cars with restricted dimensions and engine capaci ...

into the crowd of pedestrians celebrating New Year's Day on

. The man claimed his actions were a terrorist attack, and later stated that his intention was to retaliate against the usage of the

death penalty Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that ...

. The man attempted to flee from the scene but was soon apprehended by authorities in a nearby park.

Sightseeing and local landmarks

Harajuku is a retail fashion and dining destination in its own right, but still earns much of its wider reputation as a gathering place for fans and aficionados of Japanese street fashion and associated subcultures. Jingu Bashi, the pedestrian bridge between

and the entrance to the

used to act as a gathering place on Sundays to showcase some of the more theatrical styles. Another gathering place was the lower part of Omotesandō avenue, as it used to be pedestrian-only ("Hokosha Tengoku") on Sundays. Other local landmarks include: *

, a large

Shinto Shinto () is a religion from Japan. Classified as an East Asian religion by scholars of religion, its practitioners often regard it as Japan's indigenous religion and as a nature religion. Scholars sometimes call its practitioners ''Shint ...

shrine A shrine ( la, scrinium "case or chest for books or papers"; Old French: ''escrin'' "box or case") is a sacred or holy space dedicated to a specific deity, ancestor, hero, martyr, saint, daemon, or similar figure of respect, wherein they ...

located in an evergreen forest and dedicated to the deified spirits of

Emperor Meiji , also called or , was the 122nd emperor of Japan according to the traditional order of succession. Reigning from 13 February 1867 to his death, he was the first monarch of the Empire of Japan and presided over the Meiji era. He was the figur ...

and his wife, Empress Shōken. * Yoyogi Park *

, designed by Kenzo Tange to host swimming and diving events at the

1964 Summer Olympics The , officially the and commonly known as Tokyo 1964 ( ja, 東京1964), were an international multi-sport event held from 10 to 24 October 1964 in Tokyo, Japan. Tokyo had been awarded the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this h ...

. * Omotesando *

* Ura-Harajuku * Laforet Harajuku *

* Ukiyo-e Ōta Memorial Museum of Art * Nezu Museum

Former landmark buildings

* Dojunkai Apartments, a 1927 building replaced in 2005 by

Tadao Ando is a Japanese autodidact architect whose approach to architecture and landscape was categorized by architectural historian Francesco Dal Co as "critical regionalism". He is the winner of the 1995 Pritzker Prize. Early life Ando was born a few m ...

designed

* Drive-in Route 5 (Now LaforetHarajuku) * Octagonal Pavilion (the only Korean BBQ restaurant in Harajuku district in the 1960s; presently the Octagonal Building) * Palais France * Harajuku Central Apartments (demolished) * Hanae Mori Building (demolished) * Omotesando Vivre * Mother and Child Department Store Harajuku Carillon (Now Forever 21) * WC Harajuku Wego store by Chinatsu Wakatsuki * P.G.C.D. Head Office * Menard BilecHarajukuLuseine Store * N's game Omotesando branch * Resona Bank Harajuku Branch (Now I.T.'S. International) * Kokudo Head Office * Bureau of Transportation Hospital (Now the Bureau of Transportation, Tokyo Metropolitan Government) * Kawaii Monster Cafe is designed by designer

Sebastian Masuda Sebastian Masuda (増田セバスチャン, ''Masuda Sebasuchan'', born August 7, 1970), is a Japanese artist, art director, and producer of the Harajuku shop 6%DOKIDOKI. Born in Matsudo City, Chiba Prefecture. He has been active from 1995 to c ...

and presents a variety of unique menus.

Transport

Rail

(JR East

) * Meiji-jingumae 'Harajuku' Station ( Tokyo Metro Chiyoda Line,

)

Road

* Meiji Street * Omotesando Street * Gaien-nishi Street

In popular culture

* Scottish band

Belle and Sebastian Belle and Sebastian are a Scottish indie pop band formed in Glasgow in 1996. Led by Stuart Murdoch, the band has released eleven albums. They are often compared with acts such as The Smiths and Nick Drake. The name "Belle and Sebastian" come ...

referenced Harajuku in their song " I'm a Cuckoo" on their 2003 album

Dear Catastrophe Waitress ''Dear Catastrophe Waitress'' is the sixth studio album by Scottish indie pop band Belle & Sebastian, released on 6 October 2003 on Rough Trade Records. Producer Trevor Horn, former member of the Buggles and producer of groups like Yes and F ...

with the line "I'd rather be in Tokyo / I'd rather listen to Thin Lizzy-o / And watch the Sunday gang in Harajuku / There's something wrong with me / I'm a cuckoo". * In 2004 and 2005,

Gwen Stefani Gwen Renée Stefani (; born October 3, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, fashion designer and actress. She is a co-founder, lead vocalist, and the primary songwriter of the band No Doubt, whose singles include " Just a Girl", " Spiderweb ...

appearing in concert on her Harajuku Lovers Tour and in music videos with her

Harajuku Girls The Harajuku Girls are four Japanese and Japanese-American backup dancers featured in stage shows and music videos for Gwen Stefani during her solo pop/ dance-record career. The women also act as an entourage at Stefani's public appearances. T ...

backup dancers attracted much attention and some controversy highlighting aspects of stylized Harajuku teen fashion. * Musical entertainer

Kyary Pamyu Pamyu Kiriko Takemura ( Japanese: 竹村桐子, born January 29, 1993), known professionally as Kyary Pamyu Pamyu (Hiragana: きゃりーぱみゅぱみゅ), is a Japanese tarento, singer, and model. Her public image is associated with Japan's '' kaw ...

has been described as the "Harajuku Pop Princess" in reference to her costumes inspired by Harajuku street styles. * Harajuku is used as the setting in the 2017 anime series,

Urahara ''Urahara'' is an anime television series based on the webcomic ''PARK Harajuku: Crisis Team!'', which is written by Patrick Macias and illustrated by Mugi Tanaka. The anime adaptation was co-produced by EMT Squared and Shirogumi and aired fr ...

. * "Harajuku" is the title of a 2018 movie about a 15-year old girl who wants to run away to Tokyo from her home in

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of ...

. IMDb.com
Harajuku 2018 movie

References

External links

*
Harajuku photos and guide

{{Authority control Internet memes Neighborhoods of Tokyo Districts of Shibuya Shopping districts and streets in Japan