HARAJUKUUrban Stage-Set Q&A
Davisi BOONTHARM

CONTENT
Acknowledgements

02

Preface03

Preliminary matters

04

Harajuku WHAT -05

Harajuku WHERE -xx

Harajuku WHEN -xxHarajuku WHO -xx

Harajuku WHY -xx

Harajuku HOW -xx

Bibliography -

xx

Index

-

xx

01

HARAJUKU urban stage-set Q&A
Preliminary Matters
What?
This book is a result of the research supported by JSPS and the University of Tokyo. It presents both a particular way of doing research about “place” inthe city, and the specific area of Tokyo at which that method was tested.
Who?
(who am I? who is this book for?)
The author has a professional and academic background in architecture and urban design, and is passionate about urban matters and places. As an
university lecturer, she tries to blur the boundaries between her research and teaching,
The typical readers of this book would be those who are interested in urban studies and multiplicity of expressions of urban life. That includes bothstudents and academics in the fields of architecture, urban design and related disciplines, general public interested in cities. And travelers to Tokyo.
The book could be of particular interest to researchers and students of creative cities.
Where?
(where is the place we will be focusing at?)
The physical focus of this book is Tokyo, and one of its most vibrant and creative precincts - Harajuku. Tokyo is a metropolis known for its distinct
culture and complexity of the urban - a global city. On the other hand, Harajuku is the microcosm of that urban complexity and a perfect example ofradical distinctiveness. It exists between the challenges of the Global and the particularities of the Local.
Why?
(why this book? why this way?)
For quite a long time, urban research favors quantifiable, pragmatic and theoretically “rigorous”. Agree with those who argue that iIt is time to look atother aspects of the urban, in particular at those which do not lend themselves to calculations and pre-established theorising. This book tries tocontribute to that under represented way of looking at cities.
How?
(how are we going to navigate the complexity of the urban?)
Questions are the first step towards research. Good questions constitute foundations of good research, and they help structure the investigative
processes. There is an unlimited number of ways to ask questions; there are even more possible and valid answers. The intention behind the Q&A
format of this book, is to emphasise the importance of asking, to facilitate communication between the author and her readers, and to empower thereaders to actively contribute to thinking about Harajuku. Q&A is a clear and direct way to present not only firm answers, but also to table thedilemmas. The majority of questions raised in this book are simple; they point at the basics behind the complexity of urban realm. Their aim is to
provoke both definitive statements and to expose aspects where such statements remain impossible.
This book emphasises the visual aspects of the urban. It, thus, encourages multiple readings.. It is richly illustrated, and here, the picture was meant to be
worth a thousand of words. We have the pictures, we have the text in its standard form and visual vignettes. Pictures open multiple readings, text fixes
some of the possible answers, vignettes refer to and link with traditional theories and established bodies of knowledge.
Qs.
The questions in this book begin with”what”, “where”, “when”, “why”. They structure the material. The questions starting with “how” have a special
status. The answers to the how-questions are at the core of the Harajuku - urban stage Q&A.

04

WHAT
Q: What made me interested in Harajuku?
A:
Harajuku is not an alien name for East and Southeast Asians of my generation, in their thirties. Since our childhood, we were very much exposed to andinfluenced by Japanese culture,, technology, a variety of products and media. For me, the very name Harajuku rings with an old, familiar sound. It stands for aplace of the young, the hangout, the place where they play music, dance, and dress up beautifully. In that sense, to me it was always comparable to Siam Squareof Bangkok, my home city.
My discovery of the actual Harajuku started several years ago, with a walk from the JR Harajuku Station, through the packed Takeshita dori, across the Meiji dori
to Urahara. I walked slowly, immersing myself in that mythical place of my youth, breathing it, inhaling the air of Harajuku Each step was unpredictable, theexperience was so dense with information, so exciting. I even managed to get lost in the maze of Urahara (literary: Behind Harajuku) only to, surprisingly, emerge
in the recognisable Omotesando. Another experience, another world, where. Leaving inner Harajuku, I immediately switched rth register, and started to enjoyarchitecture of the world-famous architects, the glamorous buildings and, maybe even more attractive, world of Omotesando shopwindows.
I was amazed with the complex, layered reality of that place called Harajuku. I was in Tokyo, but aware that this place was a very particular Tokyo. Here, people
dress in a very self-conscious way, in a distinct “Harajuku-style”. I enjoyed watching and deciphering the ways in which they conceive their outfits, contemplated
the beauty of both men and women who so obviously indulged themselves, and enjoyed themselves in dressing up - showing off. The city centres are, bydefinition, exhibitionistic and voyeuristic places, but Harajuku is not just any urban centre. Harajuku is a stage, a stage-set in and of a city! The place is both a local
and a global fashion centre, an epicentre of a particular lifestyle. It produces, it imports, it sells both goods and ideas.
Since that first encounter, In Harajuku I feel that I am walking in an open-air theatre. The performance goes on forever. I am a spectator, but I also an actor.
Everyone in Harajuku is in that double role - both consuming places and goods on display, and being displyaed and consumed by relentless gaze of the other.
I observe the small-scale urban grain of Harajuku, its shops hidden in the residential houses, interesting and provocative shop windows, spaces where
merchandise spills out, into the streets. The lighting invites the gaze into the interiors, it exposes the variety of commodities on display as well as the lifestyles. It
provides the feeling of peeping in.
Harajuku looks messy (that is what I particulary love about it!), but even that mess is always subtly designed. We feel an effort, an everpresent desire of each of
the participants in the show to contribute to the continuous making, remaking and making-up of Harajuku. Those contributors range from designers,
shopkeepers, to the young who dress up to walk there, and the visitors. The variety of actors and viewers, all together, make this whole area so unique. Not many
cities in the world have places of comparable intensity of ideas.
As an architect and urbanist, I wonder why is this particular place is so energetic.
What is the essence of Harajuku - as a place?
What are the secrets which generate that excitement at he first sight?
Why is that quality so uniquely - Tokyo?
Is what I see there just an ephemeral image?
Is it all a fake, or - is this thrill real?
Those are the questions I started with. It is my search for answers (rather than definite answers) that I want to share with the reader.
From inside, the tiny Harajuku is huge. In this book I will focus only on an even smaller area comprised of East Harajuku and Ura-Hara area - where the “secrets”
of Harajuku seem to be best presented.

05

Q: What does Harajuku mean?
A: Harajuku is a unique name.

Q: What does Harajuku stand for?
A: Harajuku is the name of an area in West Tokyo, near Yoyogi

Litterally translated,

Park and the grand Meiji Shrine. For long time, that place was just an
anonymous stretch of rice paddies between the better-known
Shinjuku and Shibuya.

原 Hara means field
宿 Juku - resting place, or station on the road

The name came to use around the year 1906 to mark the place of a
new train station on Tokyo’s Yamanote line. Even today, Harajuku is
not an official name of a district or of a subdistrict, of Tokyo. Not
even of a street. Formally, it is just a minor toponym but in reality everyone in Tokyo knows where Harajuku is.
Administratively, Harajuku belongs to Shibuya ku, Jingumae
subdistrict. But, its real coordinates are - global.

原宿06

Q: What kind of place is Harajuku?
A:
Without a clear boundary or formal administrative status, Harajuku is aplace where many stakeholders contribute to a complex, largely
spontaneous process of place making. It is a fully-rounded place, definedby an interplay of physical conditions, activities and multiplicity of dynamic
meanings (Relph, 1976).

Q: What makes Harajuku a place ?
A: Harajuku is an urban situation where physical reality, activities andmeanings engage in a perpetual process of placemaking.
To understand Harajuku is to see it in the full sense of the complex
meaning of that word place.

Q: What makes Harajuku a special
place ?
A: Harajuku is the place capable of creating times - new rhythms andtrends in fashion.

07

Q: What are the key physical featuresof Harajuku?
A: Built environment of Harajuku makes it different form the rest ofTokyo. Harajuku is packed with small-scale buildings, which dramaticallyvary in style.
In terms of typology, individual houses dominate. Majority of them started
as residential and, over time, many were transformed into shops - without
losing their friendly residential scale and human touch. Their densely
packed, small volumes flank narrow streets of Urahara. The streetscape is
picturesque, easy to walk. Although vehicles can get in, the dominantfeeling is of a safe, pedestrian environment.
The facades of those small buildings add shape the void of the streets, thus
creating an unique feeling of the interior of upen spaces. Theirheterogeneous and dense visual charge contributes to an overall sense ofvariety, and special feel of diversity which defines the identity of the tiny
street and squares.
The interiors of retail spaces have their own, distinctive charm. The physicaland visual permeability of the shop frontages facilitates constantconversation between the inside and the outside. It blurs the boundary
between the public and the private realms, almost to the level ofirrelevance. But - we are at the stage, anyway. The themes of the shopfronts create numerous narratives, offer rich stories to read and to add to.
The feeling of passing from one stage-set to another, is overwhelming, theexperience of the variety of simultaneous scenarios (in which we ourselves
are the part of the play) is palpable and exciting.
That experience does not diminish an overall impression of walking in a
coherent, single village of fashion. But at the same time there is anexperiential stitch-up of details, threshold spaces that generate thebewildering rhythm of excitements, theatrical scenes which we watch, andin which we act.
Small elements, such as signage and mannequins, are deliberately placed,
often on the sidewalks, transgressing into the undeniably public space. The
art of dressing up gets shown along the sides of the streets of Harajuku,
transforming the area into an open air gallery. The staircases are often
exposed and offer get glimpses into the the lower and higher ground-level
spaces. Such gazes stimulate curiosity and voyeuristic instincts in the passers
by. Stairs also give an opportunity to experience vertical movement in thesmall scale environment, a powerful additional spatial experience of viewing
form above, form below from - everywhere.

08

Q: What are the main Harajuku
activities?
A: Harajuku is dominated by commercial activities, but one should neverforget that the origin of this place was as a quiet residential area. Once thecommercial activities started to take place, and even when they dramaticallytook over the majority of spaces in Harajuku, the place maintained its wellbalances, mixed feel - the quality which crucially contributes to that very
particular character of Harajuku.
Commercial activity in Harajuku is of global relevance. This area is one of thehubs of the world capitalism. In the other hand, the commercial activity inHarajuku caters for basic local needs. Market places were always the mostvibrant parts of any city. They generate encounters and invite exchange - notonly of goods, but of words, gestures, glances - full social interaction. From thevery basic needs to the most complex systems, marketplaces were always at
the heart of the urban.
Commercial essence of Harajuku is very specific - almost exclusively devoted
to fashion. That activity started the 1960’s, when a small groups of designers
found an inexpensive location suitable to start their creative businesses. The
mixture of creative locals and international influences during the era of postwar recovery made a modest cluster in front of the train-stop transform into
an authentic, creative precinct. The magic of Harajuku was, and it remains in its
unique blending of global influences with local values, in that energy which
persists regardless the innumerous changes and variations - form those modest
beginnings in response to the post-war shortages all the way to the riches ofTokyo of today.
The key activities which we see in Harajuku today link back to the start in the
60’s. Many of the pioneers of the original creative boom are now successful,
some of the international renown.
One owner of the small boutique in the 70’s managed to develop his businessin the potent fashion industry with a hundred of small shops all around Japan.
Five of those are in Harajuku, but they were consciously kept small, and alldifferent. Regardless relentless pressures, Harajuku still does not let itself be
dominated by the big business. It remains a mecca for new, young, creative
entrepreneurs who want to challenge the Harajuku of the old, to tap into its
energy and to advance. Some of them survive and flourish, others leave.
Except along the glamorous Omotesando (which has its own tradition), larger
companies and brands tend to respect the “Harajuku look”.
But, Harajuku as we know it is undeniably under the threat. It is more thanlikely that it is not going to survive its own charm.

09

Q: What is the key meaning of
Harajuku?
A: Commercial activities give big contribution to urban life. Due to theblurs between the shop-space and the street-space, between the stage andthe auditorium, between the shop and the shopper, everyday life in Harajuku
is a festival. People dress up carefully, just to come to Harajuku, to join theparty. Harajuku never repeats its scenarios. It is costumed, from the feet tothe head. Hairstyle and complete make up. The full lifestyle.
Harajuku is a good example of an urban area devoted to fashion. Its forms
and activities make it stand out as a vibrant area, an interesting urban setting.
Harajuku fashion is distinct. A “Harajuku’s” fashion. Many magazines (such as
Cutie, Non-no, Fruits, Tunes and many more) use Harajuku as theirir source ofinspiration and as a resources of the cutting edge example. They do not use
the celebrity models who wear the big name brands, but young and beautiful,provocative Harajuku “regulars” who create, rather than only consume style.
Those magazines flourish in Harajuku because the place abounds withmessages that demand channels of delivery. Harajuku is their (re)source both in terms of raw material and refined ideas.
In harajuku, each element of urban realm can be perceived as a sign. The
whole environment is consciously coded, to the level of total overload. The
signifiers, the signified. Those concentrated and overlapping meanings, arecontributed to Harajuku by all of its the participants in its ongoing spectacle the residents, the shop owners, the Harajuku kids, the passers-by. Each ofthem adds meaning and reads the already embodied messages.
The sense of place of Harajuku comes from harmonious flows of people andan unique fusion of their inputs, the built environment and dynamic, everchanging function
Harajuku is the centre (of one particular, fashion) world..

10

Q: What else is Harajuku?
A: Harajuku is many things, but above all, Harajuku is - style.
Apart from its own, fast-paced weekly magazines, which both represent
and contribute to the Harajuku-as-a-style, a number of recent books
analyses that phenomenon. Godoy (2007) defines the Harajuju-style;Keet (2007 sees it as a significant part of broader phenomenon ofuniquely Japanese fashion.
All agree - Harajuku is fashion; Harajuku fashion is - the Harajuku style.
www.style-arena.jp gives weekly up-date son how people dress in different
districts of Tokyo. Here are some examples of typical street outfit thatwas “in” in Harajuku in December 2007. Harajuku style tends to be moreindividual than that of other parts of Tokyo. While there are no exact
rules, all those individual creativities operate within certain sensibility which is both defined by place, and defines that place.
In Harajuku, much of what elsewhere might be even impossible, gets
mixed, blended, spiced up and enjoyed.
Harajuku accommodates several distinctive fashion tribes - such as Gothic
Lolitas or Cos Play. They tend to gather in front of the Yoyogi park during
the weekends. The Cos Play dates back to the 1980’s, when the street
was closed and transformed into Hokoten - the street paradise. Rockband Takeno zoku marked the era. The young dancers used to come andjoin their favorite band, dressed up to make yet another Harajuku stage.
Their style still lingers in those places, long after cars came back. Even
without the Hokoten and Takeno zoku, some new Cos Play kids come to
Harajuku and their very specific, thematic costume contribute to acarnivalesque atmosphere of the West Harajuku.

11Q: What else is Harajuku ?
A: Harajuku is - the World Fashion. As one of Tokyo’s fashion hubs, Harajuku plays a prominentrole in making Tokyo one of key fashion centres of the world.
In terns of prestige in fashion circles, Tokyo ranks at the very top, next to Paris, Milan, New York andLondon. It shares the lights of the high-end-fashion, while maintaining its capacity to develop its own,
local style.
Good fashion industry makes significant contribution to overall creative character of the top-classcities. In places like Paris, or Tokyo, fashion is that magic word which gives a very distinctive nuance.
To make fashion one of urban landmark activities, cities need to have a pronounced and ongoingcreativity, to be able to bravely indulge themselves in cutting-edge design and innovation. Fashion
activities tend to have their foci, they seek and help create vibrant area within their cities. The pace of
fashion is rapid; once a particular style gets adopted, that is the end of fashion (Barthes). Successful
designers strive to be the head of the wave, to invent and lead. Thairs is a very special talent; and, they
have to be brave.
Fashion is - culture. It is a reflection of personality, which is always both individual and collective(Kwamura, 2007). Fashion is a production of society; it marks whole époques. Fashions embody
complex messages about social ideals, from their evolution we can learn history.
Fashion is - consumption. It sets the trends to follow. It taps into our desires. It offers dreams which
we can buy. With globalization, fashion trends become universal. People from different continents, ofdifferent race start to dress in the same way.
Fashion is a huge international business .
Harajuku is a good example of a place which started with creativity, created its own culture and thenbecame overwhelmed by its own success and swallowed by aggressive consumerism.
Harajuku can be a very nostalgic place. I often had a feeling that I came there too late. The area has
already transformed itself from a creative precinct into an industrial trademark. I also missed thoseimages from my imagination, when Harajuku was my exotic dreamland. The authenticity whichmarked “first Harajuku” is replaced by more powerful fashion corporations.
Harajuku can not avoid change. International brand name fashion can chose and buy, and they choose
Harajuku (in particular the Omotesando boulevard - with all its “Western” cultural references).
Buildings designed by star architects represent big names. Dior, Louis Vitton, Tod’s flank Omotesando
since the 1990’s, and compete for its neon-space. This phenomena confirms global importance of thisarea, and that confirmation may become a kiss of death for Harajuku of the kind we grew to love.
Despite all that, iinner part of the East Harajuku stills maintains the original vigour and spatial quality.
There, Harajuku is still Harajuku, a charming place that invites discovers.
We can not know how long that quality may last. It is only certain that if Harajuku-style disappears,
Tokyo will suffer a tremendous loss.

12

Q: What else is Harajuku (2)?
A: Harajuku is culture. Style and fashion are ephemeral, they follow
and create fast rhythms of time. They last when they become andintrinsic part of culture.
Harajuku is a culture of dressing-up and of the young. It is a sub
culture that emerged from complex intersections between
international influences, local creativity and local/global consumption.
Its character dates back to the 1980’s and those early express
through music, dance and dress. The Harajuku Hokoten probably
providedthecrucialpush(see
http://www.hispiccafe.com/street/street1990/index.html). During the decade 19851995 Hokoten brought together the place and the event, the locationand the activity, a carnival-like atmosphere for young people to cameout and share their inventions. That was the peak of prosperity ofcreative Harajuku. After 1995 harajuku started to change
dramatically.. My interviewees speak about the decline which they
associate with the abolishment of Hokoten .

http://www.hispic-cafe.com/street/street1990/index.html

The bridge in front of the Yoyogi park continues play a role of ameeting place - albeit for a rather specific tribe and its “consumers”.
That is where Gothic-Lolita kids come to offer their latest fashion
excitements to the gaze of the passer by, locals and tourists alike.
They pose to the cameras, and stir the hunters instincts even in themost timid amateur photographer. Music bands offer loud rock&roll,an Elvis tribe puts the show which, it seems, they genuinely enjoy
despite all the cameras which follow their each move.
Space in front of the Kenzo Tange’s Yoyogi park. stadium is still a very
special place, a place where young people can express themselves.

13

Q: What is Harajuku’s Urban Culture?
A: Although Westward-looking, Harajuku is a true reflection ofJapanese culture
Japanese like to identify themselves with the group (zoku, clan, company,
class, etc) to which they belong. At work, they usually wear some uniform.
For instance, Marunouchi black suite goes together with an A4 size
handbag; workers dress in their funny, carefully colour-coded balloon
trousers.
Group also bring together people who share the same interest - fishing,sport, music, a hobby. There are many magazines in Japan which are
specially devoted to those groups.
Harajuku can be considered a group of people who love to dress. They
usually belong to some of the sub-groups or tribes as Cos Play, Gothic
Lolita, Punk, J. pops, etc. Individually designed dress, like those whichappear in the Fruits or Tune magazines. Trigger followers and rapidly
become base for a new “uniform”. Groups create their own fashion
jargon. Tribes of young Japanese girls create mark their difference bydistinct way in which they dress. They escape from their everyday life
uniforms only to create another type of uniform dress, a group of theirchoosing. In that, they find space to individualise their expression, albeit
within a theme “verified” by authority of the group.
Japanese culture is famous for its crafts. Many say that it is the culture of
kanji writing and education based on hand-skills that develops into asense of aesthetic, which makes beauty an important aspiration evenamong the ordinary Japanese. They seem to be seeking perfection ineach small detail (Richie 2007). Harajuku is a place where such sensibility
and ability flourish. Harajuku and its culture demand combination oftalent, skill, creativity and courage to make, to wear and to present theircreations in urban realm.
That is what makes Harajuku so powerfully creative.

14

WHERE

Q: WHERE
A: The question where relates to location and place. The series of where

Japan

Tokyo

questions helps define the boundary (or – the boundaries) of Harajuku and thespecific core area which is at the focus of this book. Answers to those questions
help locate events that make Harajuku, and facilitate better understanding of avariety of scales in which those activities perform, the complexity of placemaking
as interaction between the events and their multiple contexts.
Much of the success of Harajuku comes from the quality of its location. The trendsof urbanisation of larger Tokyo had huge impact on the ways in which Harajuku
was established and in which it evolved to its present status. In a way which
parallels Chinese belief in Feng Shui geomancy and natural energies, Harajuku
become successful because it captured very specific energies that intersected thisparticular place. Good physical location is only part of that complex play, whilesocial energies provided the most critical edge of difference.

Q: Where is Harajuku?
A: Harajuku is the name of the train station on Tokyo’s Yamanote line and aname of the whole area near that station. Harajuku stretches between Shinjuku
and Shibuya. Administratively, it is situated in the Shibuya ward’s district of Jingu
Mae. It is surrounded by several important institutions the most prominent of
which are the Grand Meiji Shrine, Yoyogi park and the Stadium.

Q: Where are the limits of Harajuku?
A: It is very difficult to define the exact boundary of Harajuku. We can, roughly,mark its limits by following the railway Yamanote line to the West, Aoyama Dorito the East. To the North there is no sharp edge at all. That is where Harajuku
simply bleeds into the indistinguishable urban tissue of surrounding areas. To theSouth, Harajuku borders Shibuya.
One of my interviewees told me how the territory of Harajuku can be best
defined by the spread of the particular style in which people dress! As far as we
can see the “Harajuku-style”, the “Harajuku-fans” with their recognisable outfits,
we know that we are still in Harajuku.
Harajuku cannot defined by physical limits, but there is certain “Harajukuness”,
style which quite strictly delineates certain, visible limits of social groups. It is thepeople and the way they dress and behave that best describes the area that can becalled Harajuku.
Harajuku is, thus, not a static. It is a living urban phenomenon. It is very unique,within its narrow area, within Tokyo, Japan – in the world.

15

National
Stadium
Meiji
ShrineAkasaka
PalaceOlympic
Stadium

YoyogiPark

ShibuyaStation

16

St
re
et

Ao
ya
ma

O
mo
tes
an
do

Str
ee
t

Me
iji S
tre
et

Harajuku
StationAoyamaCemeteryPatch-work of HARAJUKUTakeshita area for
Gothic-Lolita kids.
Targeted very
young teenagers
and particular styleof dress.

Aoyama-Killer :Design Highend
High
IncomeResidential
zone

Onden Shotengai

17Q: Where to heart on Harajuku?
A: If we have a closer look in Harajuku, the area resembles a jigsaw puzzle ofseveral discrete entities. Each of those entities has its particular character.

In this book, my focus is on Urahara, which I see as an area representative ofthat powerful, but elusive and endangered quality which we call Harajuku.

Takeshita Streetâ, which links Harajuku station with Meiji Street, is a spine ofshops and commercial activities structured by the act of walking. Mostly very
young teenagers perambulate those spaces and browse small shops which sell
all sort of fashion articles. Many shop are narrowly specialised, offering only
very particular kinds of costumes. They address specific fashion tribes which do
not like to mix, such as Gothic Lolitas, Punkers and other Cosplay.

Omotesando is a large avenue, with wide pedestrian promenades on bothsides of the street. That is where the most prominent fashion brands offer
their glamour – both in terns of goods they sell, and architectural “packaging”
in which they offer it. That is a very recent phenomenon for Harajuku, whichstarted only in late 1990’s. A strip of Omotesando stands out form the rest of
Harajuku in a new way. Initially, it was conceived as a prominent, linear, richboulevard and with these new developments that difference has only acquired
another layer of class distinction.
Onden Shotengai is the area on the southern part of Omotesando, with lots ofshops of various types, which range from brand fashion which leakes into thearea from Omotesando, to new, creative design shops, hair salons andrestaurants. This part of Harajuku seems to grow further down along the Cat
Street to merge with Shibuya area seamlessly, as once the Shibuya Creek used
to flow into the valley.

Meiji Street

Inner parts of this area are dominated by hair salons, which appear in an
unbelievable number, variety of locations and in all sorts of physical settings.

URAHARAMeiji Street is flanked by bigger scale commercial buildings which are genericfor modern Tokyo. It is dominated by two landmarks developments, theLaforet shopping mall and T’s Harajuku, both of which house a variety offashion boutiques.
Aoyama and Killer street are mainly focused on design activities. A number ofdesign firms are gathering there as well as unique concept gallery-boutique like
Watarium (design by Mario Botta) dominated on Killer Street.
Urahara is an area on the north of Omotesando, hidden inside Harajuku,
behind those large buildings which now define Meiji Dori and Omotesando.
The area is strongly dominated by fashion. Urahara is all of a particular very
atmosphere, defined by the rhythm of its small scale buildings. The urban
pattern of Urahara distinctive from the surroundings, there is a sense of unityof those various forms and spaces which gives a very clear sense of transition
from the rest of Harajuku into its heart – Urahara. Urahara is also its people.
There is a strong local organization which consciously frames Urahara as a
fashion precinct. They publish a shopping guide brochure which is distributed
within the area, and which almost verifies who is, and who isn’t of Urahara.

18

OmotesandoWHEN

Q: WHEN?
A: The question When address the notion of time, time as a continuum, which
stretches from the past, to present and reaches towards the future, but also as
rhythm. The rhymiticity of the urban includes the repetitive succession of days andnights, sequences of weeks, months, seasons and years. It includes the multiplicity of
individual and collective rhythms of citizens and their various groupations andaffiliations.
Nothing escapes time –its lasting and its rhythms. Time makes everything older,marks every existence and vanishing obvious. Cities, probably in a way which ismore complex and remarkable than with any other cultural phenomenon, treasure
time.
When is a question which needs precise answers. It refers particular moments intime, demands the impossible – to make time stop. It relates to action – to an act
which has happened, which is happening or which may happen. It exposes theimpact of acts, consequences which become evidence of (the passing of) time.

隠田の水車 (Onden no Suisha) Watermill at Onden by Hokusai
The great view of Fuji-san from Onden Village (part of Harajuku)

19Q: WHEN Harajuku appearedon the maps of Tokyo?
A: In the eleventh century, Harajuku was a post station(juku) on the Kamakura Kaido, the road which wasleading from Kamukura towards the sem-autonomous
north of the country (P. Waley, 1991). Along the roadthere were several ryokans (traditional Japanese hotels),on the stretch of today’s Takeshita dori. The oldest
architectural and urban elements in this area aretemples and shrines.
er
Riv
a
y
ibu
Sh

et
Stre
ama
y
o
A

Farm land and villages

North

In Edo period, after 1590, that land belonged to Aoyama Tadanari, who
was a close adviser of Ieyasu. Elevated location was suitable for the
residence of the feudal lord. The feudal lord Ie of Hikone had theirsuburban mansions on the far bank of the Shibuya River, wich once flowed
through Harajuku. Some remnants of that flow, such as ponds andfragments of the gardens of those compounds still exist.
On the Edo series map (published in 1755 and 1846), the name Harajuku
was shown in the map. The lands on Aoyama side were occupied by the
feudal lord, high ranks to low ranks of samurai as well as townpeople.
On the Shibuya Gawa side, there were farms and villages.

20

The tremendous transformation of Harajuku happened during the Meiji
restoration. Mulberry trees, graves, and barracks became the mostprominent features of both Aoyama and Harajuku (ibid). The strategicallyplanted mulberry trees were part of an official Meiji policy. The idea was toaugment the silk exportation and to garner the foreign currency. (Thepolicy was badly conceived, and it did not take longer than few years to seetrees devastated and the plan abandoned).
In early 20th century Yamanote railway line was constructed. Harajuku
stationed opened in October 1906.
The land which used to belong to feudal lord Aoyama was transformed
into a huge cemetery on the south, while the northern parts, all the way up
to Yoyogi, was allocated for military activities. The Ii family land became theproperty of the Imperial household, and used for construction of the grandMeiji Shrine in 1911, the compound of which became one of the mostfaboulous green spaces of Tokyo. In 1920, Omotesando (the Outer
Approach Road) was built as a representative access to the shrine. Theboulevard-like, straight street of rich, elegant profile later became a very
popular promenade and, most recently, the place for big, global fashion
brands.
Main urban structures which now frame the pattern of Harajuku werelayered over long time, from Edo to Meiji period and, in an interrupted
chain of events, until today. The village patterns from Edo periods whichwere aligned along Shibuya River still exist, treasured in urban structure
within the a corner defined by Omotesando and Meiji Dori.
In 1923, after the Great Kanto Earth Quake, the social housing scheme,
Doujunkai was built on Omote Sando and Aoyama Dori, as a remedy formany victims of the natural disaster.
During the World War II Tokyo suffered enormously. The whole
metropolitan area was relentlessly fire-bombed. As a close neighbour ofthe military compound, Harajuku was all but destroyed. Only several
concrete remained standing. Among those were the Doujunkai
apartements.
After the war, the American barracks occupied the space of Yoyogi park.
The name was telling: “Washington Heights”. Omotesando also
accommodated some of the U.S. Army facilities, such as still existing andstill functioning Oriental Bazaar and Union Church.

Pocture of Tokyo at the end of Meiji Period, from Edo Museum, Tokyo

21

1880

22

1909

23

1937

24

1945

25

1955

26

Q: WHEN Harajuku became - Harajuku?
A: In the post-war period, Harajuku was at the forefront of Japanese cultural exposure to western culture. The continuous waves of influence andinteraction gradually shaped this place to become what we experience, feel, and expect as “Harajuku”.
During the 1950’a and 1960’s, European influences arrived to Harajuku. First, “French” feel started to emerge, building upon at least typological similarities
between Omotesando and the Parisian Avenue des Champs Elysee. There were more and more shops with specific cultural references to France, cafeswith “French atmosphere” opened along. Next was an “Italian wave”, which was reflected in toponomy and names of luxury apartment mansions, such as
Villa Fresca and Villa bianca (discussion with prof. Jinnai). Until late 1960’s, Harajuku was a quiet, elegant residential area, with strong western influences
and not many activities for, and of young Japanese.
1964 Tokyo hosted the Olympic Games. That was an event of tremendous importance for Japan, which wanted to mark the end of the post-war trauma
and re-joining of international community. The authorities planned the Olympic Village at the site of the U.S. military barracks. Kenzo Tange, whose officeused to be in this area, too, designed a sublime Olympic stadium in Yoyogi park. Harajuku came to the forefront of yet another wave of foreign
influences.
During the 1970’s, when Hippies and Rock flourished in the Western, Harajuku as Kaiwaisei, neighborhood street area of special character, a labyrinth-likenetwork of streets with structure inherited from Edo period, became the locus for similar activities in Tokyo. That was in particular around Takeshita Doriand in Urahara. The place became a magnet for young professionals and students. A number of stylists and designers established their ateliers, mainly
focusing at made-to-order suits and costumes. The Shibuya Gawa, which used to run through Urahara, was covered and gave space to the semipedestrian Cat Street. Laforet, built in 1978 by Mori Group on Meiji Dori, became an important landmark of new Western influence.
Harajuku Hokoten is the name of a pedestrian paradise - between Yoyogi Park which included a segment of Omotesando, which were closed forpedestrian during the weekend in the period 1985-1995. Thus weekends in Harajuku became regular festivals. The city provided space and allocated timefor young people to create their realm and to express their energy. Main expressions were music, dance and dress.
The Hokoten became an urban stage for the youth of Tokyo. It both brought together and boosted the youth energy which already gravitated to thisarea. Shops started to cater for youth clients, especially those along Takeshita dori. Specialisation became very specific:Takeno Kosoku, for instance,
provided for the needs of the fans of Takeno rock band. Stylists and designers started to work in Doujunkai apartments, and that complex gave a very
special character to Harajuku – the unique combination of living, production and trade which generated much of what we today see as “Harajuku” quality.

Q: WHEN contemporary Harajuku crossed into yet another new era?
A: The new millennium brought a new wave of changes of dramatic to this area.
After the year 2000, Omotesando started to change dramatically. The flagship fashion buildings, designed by the renown starchitects aligned on both sidesof the boulevard. One of the latest and most representative of the process which is unfolding in Harajuku, is Omotesando Hills, designed by Tado Ando.
Symbolically, that up-market shopping centre replaced the old, charming Doujunkai.
Such interventions elevated Harajuku to the highest standards of the most glamorous World Fashion Street. The top-design buildings there house the
top-fashion brands. The latest is a piece by fashionable MVRDV, which opened its doors in December 2007 and joined the beauty parade of
Omotesando.

27

2007

28

Q: WHEN does Harajuku work?
A: Harajuku, in principle, operates 12.00-20.00
The biorhythm of Harajuku today is like that of any shopping mall.
Those glamorous shops work mostly for eight hours only, thus
probably underlying in yet another way their exclusivity and scarcity of
their offer.
From 8.00 until 12 AM Harajuku energies pulsates behind the scene.
A snapshot on Friday 29 February 2008
8AM: shops are still closed, treets empty, few people walking, one
mother on a bicycle brings her daughter to the school.
9AM: still empty streets, very few shops open, some deliveries are
getting moved around, the neigbours walk their dogs, streets are getting
cleaned
10 AM: more delivery activities, small vans and karts, more shop
keepers are coming, lifting up the louvers, cleaning the shop-fronts,
bring delivered goods inside, check the stock, dress the mannequins
11 AM: some of the shops open, customers start coming, many tourists
with cameras appear, some of delivered goods still stay in the streets29

12Am -2 PM: the curtain is up, the overture is under its way
12AM: Almost all shops open, mannequins are positioned in front of theshop, shop-signs, panels displayed prominently, streets are getting crowded,
crowd is a mix of tourists and Harajuku-style customers
1PM: Harajuku-style people are beginning to dominate
3-6 PM: the climax
3PM: more and more people keep on coming, more of Harajuku-style, they
are coming as couples or in groups, the excitement increases
4-5PM: in winter, in late afternoon along Cat Street the natural light fades
away and artificial lighting takes over, the stage-set is getting even more
exciting, the performance is full-on, the walkers are wondering around, theshop-keepers are beginning to feel tired
6-7PM: activities slow down, some shops are closing, the visitors are slowly
leaving the show30

8-9 PM: the finale
8 PM, shops are closed, there is no sign of life in the streets, garbage is put infront of the shops waiting for collection, the shop-keepers are lock the doors,
the light are getting turned off
9PM: the streets are deserted, only few restaurants gave some lights,
Harajuku falls asleep early
End of the episode (which is going to be replayed tomorrow).

31

Q: WHEN is Harajuku at its peak?
A: The week end and during the Sales time
Weekend in Harajuku is a carnival! During the peek hours, the whole area gets, some streets impossible to navigate. Weekly working outfits are abandoned,
disguise to Harajuku style people come to enjoy another life.
Sale in harajuku are at the same time as in other parts of Tokyo. The summer sale is around early July; the winter sale - in the beginning of January. The junction
in Urahara resonates with shouts: Dozo Dozo.
The winter sale is more attractive. The discount is 20-60% The summer sale offers only 10-30% off. Japanese love the “Lucky Bag” ritual, when shops prepare
surprise packages, the price of which varies - with the most common being 10,000 yen. One never knows what exactly is inside the package – but honest
Japanese merchants guarantee that the value is definitely more than was paid.
Many shops in Urahara put their lucky bag stalls in the street space. The pragmatic move, to get rid of the stock thus becomes yet another ritual, yet anotherdimension of the festival, the marker of yet another of innumerable rhythms of Harajuku.

SUMMER SALE

32

WINTER SALE

WHO
Q: WHO
A: The WHO questions view the urban of Harajuku throughan exploration of its people. The answers are trying to describe
who lives within its current activity core, Urahara, and who
makes that place as exciting and as unique as it is. As any place
emerges from an interaction between its spaces and people. I
was inquiring how such fusion happens in Harajuku. That is aplace on the move, where everything keeps on evolving andchanging rapidly, and the best way to understand its dynamics isthrough getting to know the actors, the people that make
Harajuku. Interestingly, it seems that some of the individuals
who live and work there provide the most stable points in thisurban whirlpool.
In this book I do not focus on some of the most common faces– fashion designers, stylists, or the Harajuku kids; a number ofpublications have already discussed those colorful urban actors.
In selecting my interviewees, I was looking for the wide range of
insights. I was looking for people whom I accidentally comeacross in Urahara, for some who run local business long enoughto see changes and for the newcomers alike, for interesting theshop keepers for the members of the very active creative class.
All of them, in a variety of ways, contribute to life of Harajuku.
In the following overview of the data I collected by speaking to
the people of Harajuku, I do not give any comments. I leave thevoices from Harajuku speak, as I have heard them while
exploring their spaces and activities.

33

Shimazu-san, of Café Luigi
Luigi’s is a very small café on Wendy’s alley (streets of Urahara, of course, do not haveformal names. Wendy’s café is my invention because of Wendy fast food at the angle ofthis street on Omote Sando ). Shimazu-san is a very style conscious man. Always dressedin black, wearing a beautiful hat. Sitting behind the counter, he enjoys making coffee. Good
coffee. He learnt all about coffee in Seattle, he says, and decided to open his own café
after working for a while as manager of Café de Flore on Omotesando (the original versionof which was at the Parisian Montparnasse). Shimazu-san worked for a French company
for many years. He now owns two cafés, this one in Harajuku and another one in Shibuya.
He prefers Harajuku, while his wife looks after the Shibvya café.
Shimazu-san was describing the changes over the last six or seven years, since theeconomic crisis hit Japan. He calls them “tremendous”. He hates all those new sneakers
shop and youth cloth outlets. He loathes Omotesando Hills and never goes there.
“I am worried about the future of Japan. Young Japanese have no life philosophy. …
Before, I used to have no time to sit and talk. There were people coming in all the time.
Now, there are much fewer customers… Japanese do not like good coffee.”
Café Luigi opened 24 years ago. It was named after Shimazu-san’s old friend, Luigi Colani, a“famous Italian designer”.
“I hate Harajuku, how the business there makes money from the kids. My customer used
to be adults. The old stylists could not stay here. It became too expensive for them, they
had to move out - to Sendagaya, Nakamekuro, Daikanyama.”“Harajuku is different today.”34

Ms Kunie Usuki, Design Festa Gallery
Ms Usuki is one the people who brought creative activities to
Urahara. Her Gallery opened almost ten years ago, in 1998. Before
that, for four years she organized art events in the Tokyo Big Site.
She came to Harajuku because of the building which now houses her
Design Festa. The building is now fifty years old, a simple old mansion
with rows of rental rooms. Ms Usuki started using the 3rd floor as her
office. Then, she transformed the rest of building into an art gallery.
All neighbouring houses belong to the same owner, who is behindthe success of the famous Sakura House, a big rental company which
deals exclusively with apartments for the foreigners.
Usuki-san does not like Harajuku as a fashion area. “People comehere, and they all dress in the same way.” Her dream was to make
Design Festa as an event-place, similar to those she has seen in other
cities in the world.
Harajuku, she says, used to be a very good place, but it isn’t anymore.
Urahara used to be residential. She still likes to be in that cozy area.
She is the fan of the Rolling Stones.
“Here, like in Daikanyama, Kichijoji, Shimokitazawa, all has changed.
Nowhere is like in Harajuku, and - there is no sight of some “new”
Harajuku in Tokyo.”
Artists liked her idea of rental exhibition rooms. Many of themwanted to exhibit in Design Festa. Now, Usuki-san employs twenty
staff, and has a very busy exhibition schedule. She doesn’t want toopen more galleries, she says how likes only this one… (But then,
only few months after our chat, she opened a Design Festa West, in a
mansion just behind her original place. This new space is almost an
extension of the original one. Red color helps read two places as one,
there is a kind of semi public space feel about them. Rental fees in
new Design Festa are much higher than in the old one. They caterfor other kind of artists.)
35

A newcomer to Urahara
A brand new shop in Urahara is Stereo Hair Salon. The manager is also adesigner and a hair dresser. For him, Harajuku is not just a distinctive partof the city (machi, he says). It is also a culture, a “strange space” within
Tokyo. He describes the boundary of Harajuku as: to the East – Kodokyo pedestrian bridge; to the West - the front of Shibuya (“very vague”,
he admits), to the North – clearly, Harajuku station and to the South Omotesando Hills.
For him, Harajuku is the atmosphere, the way people dress and the“feeling” of being there. His shop opened on 12 December 2007. Earlier,
he used to run one in front of the Harajuku station. That was his first
shop. An independent one, not a unit in some chain company.
The Stereo first opened in 1999. Over the nine years, he has seen manychanges. “Harajuku becomes mature”, he said. His clients are 20-30 years
old. Mostly regulars who used to be here in the past and who still stay orcome back. They are members of a group, people who frequent thearea. His clients are not the Cosplay girls (considered as a youth fashiontribe, dress like a costume play) Those people who dress strangely do
not really come to his hair salon. They dress up by themselves, and theyalso make their own hair style.
He has old clients, but he is very fond of his new place, too. He waslooking for “a house” in Harajuku. The owner of this one gave him a lotof freedom to modify the space. He heard about the building from thereal-estate agent. An architect designed the shop for him. The shop is
open each day. 11a.m. to 9 p.m.
He travels to work takes about one hour. The shop still does not appear
on the Urahara Map. In future, it may start featuring there. He does nothave an opinion about architecture in Harajuku. It is mixed, he says.
Diverse. There should be guidelines for future development, to help keep
this character.
36

Ari-san from Okinawa, a shop keeper at Marche au Puce Home
All merchandise in the shop was on 30% sale, until 17th of June 2007.
After that, she says, the shop will definitively close its doors. They do notmake enough profit. Marche au Puce Home belongs to a big company,
the owner of which has more than a hundred of shops all around Japan.
They sell imported fashion articles, both new and old. The concept is:“mixing”. They managed to spread all around Japan.
This shop occupies the ground floor of a house in Urahara. The upper
level is a beauty spa, mainly doing manicure. Ari-san told me she will
move to another shop, owned by the same owner, in Marunuochi districtof Tokyo.

Marche au Puce

Another shop keeper – FUA
I choose to interview this person because of the place she works in. It used
to be a very old wooden house, but after an incident in December 2007 it
was fast transformed into a combination of the shop, at the ground floor,
and an apartment, at the upper levels. The ground floor is now being
rented to a fashion accessory shop FUA. My interviewee is a manager there.
She works for a company which has three shops, in Harajuku, and also
other shops in Kichi-joji, Shimokitazawa, Chiba, Kawazaki.
That is not considered to be a chain store, for each shop is consciously
unique, with special design articles on sale. That is a company strategy. The
Harajuku shop just opened, on 3rd November 2007. The display was
designed by their in-house designer. They sell “antique“ accessories, such as
hair pins (kanzashiya), general items (kastukobo). The clients are 70%
women, 30% men. The shop-keeper works in all shops of the company,
but regularly she sits only in the FUA. From her image, lost of shops of thesame company in Harajuku are always group in the same place,for example the shop in front of FUA. It is also belong to the same
company but have different names.
37

FUA

Model huntersmagazine- photographers and the editor of the Cutie

Their work depends on orders from the magazine. They take twoto three hundred of shoots each week, depending on what themagazine asks. The work starts at 12 a.m., and goes on until thesunset. It depends on natural light. They are looking for people
who dress in the style which fits what the magazine wants. Thosemay be the same ones whom they photographed before, if they
dress in a way which is “cute and different”, and if what they wear
fits the Cutie concept.
The photographer I spoke to was a free lancer. He works for
Cutie for six months already. He always sits in front of the GAP
store, or in front of Ralph Lauren on Omotesando. Sometimes heshoots in Urahara. Just the snap-shots. The only criterion for
selecting a model is - good look, a girl dressed in “Harajuku style”.
The emphasis is on street fashion, and the model can be anyone.
The styles of dress in Shibuya and Harajuku, he confirms, are very
different. Shibuya is - a gal style. Harajuku photographers do notshoot gal.
The Editor helps fix the look of the models. Same people getselected over and over again. The model hunter, who works withthe photographer I was speaking to, is a University student. She
studies graphical design. Her work for the magazine is part time.
Inside Urahara, she says, the flow of people is not constantenough, but the magazine prefers to shoot there. Cutie focuses on
people walking, passing by. The atmosphere. The Editor defines
what style she wants, and the model hunter selects those who
stand out ones from the crowd. Harajuku has a very unique wayof dress, she says. Everyone there has an individual, own style.
That is why they have to make two or three hundred shots per
week. But, “we won’t shoot a gal! That is Shibuya style. They are
not belong here”, my Harajuku model hunter keeps on repeating.

38

Another model hunter team - the photographer and the editor from the Keramagazine
They come to Harajuku each day, except when it rains. About 22 days per month.
They hang in front of the GAP, on Omotesando.
They shoot two to ten models per day. They focus on style. Gothic, both rock and
Lolitas. They seek unique cases. They are very selective, they seek girls who canmodel and can be copied by others. Kera shoot only girls. They concentrate on
location in front of the Laforet in particular, because at first and second basementlevels that shop sells goods in styles they like. They don’t stay around the bridge infront of the Harajuku Station. That is “not an efficient place”, it is difficult to get agood shoot there. Takeshitadori is also too busy for serious work.
The photographer has ten years of experience. The young women who helps him
choose the models has two years experience with the Kera magazine.

39

The survivors in a very difficult location - Irie Yawd
Irie Yawd is a very cool looking hair salon. The name is, I wastold, in Jamaican language. It means A Funny House. The ownerbrings in lots of interesting objects and puts them in the shop.
He started this business years ago. He used to work as a hair
dresser in this area before. The hair dressers, he explains,should start their career as assistant, and work for several years
before opening their own shops. That is what he did. He foundthe place for 300,000 yen per month, on the 3rd floor of one
building in Urahara. Initially, that was a “mansion”, a residentialbuilding. Then, someone converted it into offices, and then heturned it into the shop. He doesn’t want to decorate the place
to look like a “shop”, though. He is keen to make it feel more
like “home”, to be “warm and relaxed”. That was his concept
before he choose this place, he was actually looking for a house
which can adopt such feel. Any place he chooses, he says, hetransforms to feel like home.
He mainly advertises his shop by keitai (mobile hand phones),or finds the clients on the street. He and his staff simply ask thepassers by to come up, to have a cheap, or even free service. If
the client is happy, he or she may return.
The clients sometimes complain that the salon is too difficult tofind. They close every Tuesday. He came to work on foot. It is
ten minutes walk, from his house to Urahara. If he opens
another shop, he would like it to be in Harajuku, too. Good
location; easy for staff to come and go. He doesn’t think thatbeing in Harajuku is an disadvantage for him. That is the placewith high concentration of activities. It is better to be in
Harajuku than elsewhere in Tokyo, he believes. He can work
better, and everything around him looks better than elsewhere,
too. The shop doesn’t profit much from the Harajuku fame,though. His shop is different from those operated by big brands,
which abound in this area; they do not have the same target
market. He wants his shop to belong to this place. He wants it
simple, cozy.
He used to “chase” his clients. Today, clients seek him and findis fun to go around to seek his shop.
The reason of choosing this particular place, despite it is on the
3rd floor, is because of the roof. There is a deck at the top, witha nice view. That is where he meets other tenants; they got toknow each other, and they share and enjoy their deck space.

40

Lunette du Jura has a very uniquegraphic style of making the
publication, always change andcreate new ideas all the time, very
good for collection.

4 branches around Harajuku
A memory of Dojunkai - Lunette du Jura (Petit)
This brand dates back sixteen years, but the shop in Urahara itself is four
years old. My interviewee was a manager of the Urahara branch, Lunette duJura (Petit). They have six shops, four of which are located in central areas ofTokyo - Omotesando Hills, Aoyama, Roppongi and Harajuku, while the othertwo are outside, in Kanagawa and Niigata. The majority of the products onsale are imported from the Jura Region in Eastern France, which is wellknown for production of fine frames for glasses.
Lunette du Jura have a very unique concept. The products they sell must be“beautiful and funny, not seen in Japan before”. The frames have to be suchthat they make the face of those who wear them look different.
They used to be located in old Dojunkai - famous social housing on
Omotesando which was demolished to make place for the fashionable
Omotesando Hills. The owner used to live there. Then, they moved out andtransformed the apartment into the shop. The unit was in the front of
Dojunkai. A quite good location for business, because their shop was directly
facing the street.
She liked the Dojunkai atmosphere. It was unique, mysterious in a way, shesays. One could never know what was inside, unless she or he opened thedoor and entered. Few of the shops which used to be located in Dojunkai
stayed in small, dedicated zone of Omotesando Hills, but not many. Somemoved to other locations in the neighborhood.
She personally liked Dojunkai. She would prefer if the new project
maintained more of the unique quality of that lovely environment. “But,
but…”
41

The “vintage” creator - Me-Meno
The owner is a man in his forties. He is in the vintage
clothes market for twenty five years. He started his
career in Yaesu company, and opened his own firstvintage shop on Meiji Dori fifteen years ago. This
Urahara Me-Meno shop operates for nine years. Since
then, he says, a number of second-hand cloth shop in
Harajuku has increased. A lot. Now there are twenty or
thirty shops in that business. Some of them have sametarget audiences.
Almost every month he travels to Europe, mainly France
and the UK, and to the United States, to buy used andantique articles. He has a very unique way to choose
articles, and to decorate his shop.
There were many changes in Harajuku since the 70’s.
Then, there were only three shops on his street (which,in the absence of official names, I dubbed the BirkenstockLane). There used to be lots of drinking restaurants andseveral stylist ateliers. They made clothes to order andwere very expensive. Now there is less and less of suchbusiness in Harajuku.
He says how Harjuku has transformed almost exclusively
into an exclusively shops area only five years ago. Thereused to be shops which cared for the local neighborhoodneeds. Today there are no more simple shops like that.
He mentioned today the biggest market of used cloth isin Thailand, where one can find even the goods from
Europe and America.
He doesn’t own any other shop. This one is unique, he is
not interested in developing branches nor franchising his
business.
42
39

Q: WHO else comes to Urahara?
A: Apart from the people who work here, there are other peopleinterested in Harajuku. Part of my survey of Harajuku was organizedaround my exhibition, held in Design Festa Gallery 26 June to 2 July
2007.
Next to my own work, I have put some empty A0 sheets of paper forthe visitors of my exhibition, to write their comments about Urahara.
Some 90% of the visitors were under the age of thirty. About half ofthem were tourists, who came to explore Harajuku and liked when
they discovered this hidden exhibition space.
The American were, typically, amazed by getting lost in Harajuku.
Two Japanese visitors commented how Harajku became fake.
100% of the tourist who wrote their comments fell in love Harajuku.

43

WHY

WHY
The what, where, when, whoquestions invite mainly
descriptive answers
The why questions seek analytic
and explanatory answers. Here
I use my why questions toaddress the complexity of andthe interrelationship between anumber of issues that werehighlighted through theanswers to the whats, wheres,
whens, whos, those descriptionsof many facets that are saying
what Harajuku might be about.
Attempts to answer the whyquestions help establish deeper
understanding of the nature of
the place.

44Q: Why Harajuku is so attractive?
A: Attractiveness of an urban precinct is undeniably related to its
creativity.
Some of my interviewees, the very people who make Harajuku what it is,
spoke how they discovered that place simply amazed by its look.
People who run their business there, especially the one who survived in
Harajuku for a long time, merged with the established quality of the area
and actively contributed to development of its unique character. That
involvement is a never-ending process. Those involved in production of theuniqueness of Harajuku have to stay active. There is no void in creative
processes. If one stops, someone else fills the gap.
From its origins, Harajuku was an authentic creative precinct, born frominteractions between the members a group of talented fashion designers
and youth that frequented the area. Those encounters were developed in
an atmosphere eager to open up, to embrace international influences andtrendsRichard Florida wrote how “the creative class fosters an open, dynamic,
personal and professional environment. This environment, in turn, attracts
more creative people, as well as businesses and capital” (Florida 2002).
That is what was and still is going on in Harajuku. The exact “chemical”
balance of location (where), space and form (what), creative activity andcreative class (who), together with a fascinating dynamics of its evolution(when) made a delicious recipe for an unique urban area. All thoseelements together contributed to the emergence of a genius loci of
Harajuku. The attractiveness of that place keeps on attracting cultural andfashion-related activities, active participants in making and their clients, newentrepreneurs who are take over and their new clientele. From anauthentic marked almost exclusively by creative activities, the new balance
has emerged; new era attractiveness of Harajuku turned the area towards
higher and higher degrees of consumerism. In any other place, that would
most likely mean the death of creativity. In Harajuku, for some reasons,even the profane acquires the “sacredness” that goes with the acts ofgenuine creativity.

45

Q: Why Harajuku manages to stay –Harajuku?
A: It seems to be a lucky coincidence that Harajuku was never part of any
big, top-down urban redevelopment plans which characterize much of
production of space in Tokyo. In Shinjuku or Shibuya, for instance, train
stations became communication hubs and epicenters of commercial activity.
The old fabric adjacent to those stations were rapidly transformed into huge
shopping malls. That was both in response to the mass of human traffics
which commutes in and out of those stations and to attract such masses to
use those particular stations.
Harajuku was not touched by that dramatic process which marked theseventies and the eighties. During its formative stages, it was allowed toestablish its own pace and character of development, with mainly “bottom
up” initiatives, projects which responded to the initiatives of local residents
and businesses.
Even architecture of the Harajuku train station maintained its authentic
design, even that busy place maintains characteristic, small scale of the area –which definitely is a significant contributor to the overall attractiveness of
Harajuku.
For decades, only Laforet shopping mall dominated Harajuku. The other big
one – an ambitions and glamorous Omotesando Hills - opened its doors
only recently, in 2006.

46

It seems that all creative people of Harajuku share their concern about the
impact of such developments. Regardless the architectural quality of
individual buildings, Tokyo has too many recent examples where new,oversized development killed the original quality of the area. The locals in
Harajuku are asking how to keep on changing their area in a way which
would be sensitive, in the way where design would contribute to thecharacter, alter but not destroy quality. Over the years such people
contributed to the process by numerous, subtle, incremental changes. They
were never conservative, they were bravely bringing in the bravest and thelatest – but with a measure which was defined, somehow, by Harajuku
itself. New to the old blended into a harmonious, fragmented whole.
Individuality and small-scale competitiveness was, step by step transforming
Harajuku, always into another version of - Harajuku. The places within the
precinct were never treated as a mega scale tabula rasa, which is acommon practice in other parts of Tokyo.
During one year of my own observation of Urahara, I recorded a numberof drastic changes. Houses are getting knocked down rapidly. The sites arebeing consolidated for new and bigger development operations. A very big
scale projects are being constructed, even on the subtle Cat Street. The
radical changes are on the way, visible and aggressive.
Is that the last, sad moment when true creativity is being taken over byradical, global capitalism, when local sensibility is not getting taken inconsideration any more? Has Harajuku reached the point of no return?

47

HOW
HOW?
Of all questions in this book, those startingwith How are the most difficult to answer.
They demand an understanding of the urban
area. They tend to encompass much of whatquestions that asked what, where, why, when
were all about. How involves thosetrajectories of time which bring together
past, present and point towards the future.
To me, how is at the core of urban analysis.
Each how holds potential for an argument,
and demands sharp methodological tools to
help chisel the answer. If the question what
can be answered by a single picture, where by a single map, when - by a single date, thenthe juxtaposition or layering of multiple
images, pictures and data is necessary toindicate how certain quality happened,
persists and evolves, and where it heads to.

48

Shibuya River

Q: How Harajuku grows?
A: By urban growth we usually consider physical growth - both

Aoyama street

extension and densification of an area. There is also qualitative growth –evolution of an overall quality of the place. Growth comes form a synthesisof various socio-economic, political, technological and other developments.
Urban form is affected by those processes, it is itself a continuing process(Aymonino 1966).
To read the growth of Harajuku is, thus, to get to know its complex
dynamics. In terms of urban morphology, some distinctive spatial lines markthat process:(1) the linear elements of Shibuya River, Aoyama street and Kamakura
Kando (an ancient path to Kamakura). Later - Yamanote railway line wasadded, and the small-street pattern starter to appear, to link those threemajor linear structures;(2) another two major axis - Omotesando and Meiji street wereconstructed, and they are accompanied by important complexes of Meiji
Shrine and Yoyogi park. Densification of the block interiors followed, andthe process included a “big negative”, the disruption during the WorldWar II, after which rapid reconstruction almost completely replaced theold urban stock; and(3) the new street Gaien-Nishi Dori (Killer Street), north of Harajuku,
where complete, new urban blocks were conceived and built very fast.

Kamakura Kando

Yamanote railway

Urban growth of Harajuku was and it remains organic. Construction ofmajor structures always gets followed by spontaneous development ofadjoining urban tissue. The growth is piecemeal, and it follows patterns
which, in Alexander’s way, grows towards distinctive and complex whole.

Meiji street

Gaien Nishi

Omotesando49

Q: How to read those Harajuku lines?
A: I draw the lines of Harajuku to understand the network and flow ofcommunications. Their pattern makes me think of lines on the palm. Lines on
the palm are readable; to those who believe, they tell the future. There are
the lines of brain, those of money, travel, health, luck, love. It would be great
to read urban lines and sense the future of the city. The chiromantic rules ofpalmistry, applied to the lines of Harajuku!
For instance, my little urbanistic game would go like this:
1: Life line: Aoyama, as it is the first line which brings lives into this area
2: Head line: Meiji street, as a line designated from the Emperor and one
which links Shinjuku to Shibuya
3: Heart line: Omotesando, as the main spine which keeps the body upright,
and boosts up the area, like the heart which pumps the blood. Without thisline Harajuku is meaningless.
4: Girdle of Venus: Gaien West street, its crescent moon form. Not everyone
has this line on her or his palm; it shows the level of anxiety.
5: Fate line: Cat Street, as a specific line which, again, not anyone can have.
The fate line appears on palms of the lucky ones only.
All these lines combined make identity of Harajuku. They express its energy
and expose the challenge that lay ahead, in the future.

50

East-West 52
North-South 49

105
32

Q: How to (now, seriously) read the Harajuku’s lines?
A: I propose a specific reading of urban patterns, to understand shapes, accessibility and connectivity. From my sets of maps, we can identify two distinctive
patterns in this block: organic and grid. The majority of visitors access inner parts of Harajuku from Omotesando (where there are nine access points), then Meiji
Street (with six access points) and Aoyama street (three). However the lanes from Omotesando do not link through to the inner parts, except with those in the
Urahara area.
There is an equal number of streets in North-South and East-West direction. There are 105 T-shape junctions and only 32 of cross-junctions in the block. Onlyin the Urahara area the accessibility is a prominent feature of the network.
This reading confirms the particularity of Urahara spaces, and that may point at some reasons behind its character. That may help us explain how morphology of
Urahara helps sustain the “Harajukuness” of the area which is exposed to the strong winds of change.

51

Q: How to understand urban spaces in Urahara?
A: Apart from serving as network and enabling flow of pedestrian and vehicular traffic, streets also provide spaces for public urban life. I am trying to capture
the character of that life in a number of streetscape photos. The streets in Urahara are relatively narrow and of organic shape. They are strikingly picturesque.
The experience in those narrow streets brings to ind an atmosphere of the residential neighborhood. It is a friendly environment. Cars rarely get in. There is acertain hierarchy of streets in Urahara. The Cat Street seems is the largest street to penetrate in the inside of Urahara. Buildings along the Cat Street are higher
than those in the neighbouring streets. The other three streets are narrower. and linkages between them are unpredictable. For instance, (1) Birkenstock Lane
feels like the back lane of Meiji Street. Buildings face the Meiji Dori and rarely have an access from this lane; (2) Wendy lane and Lawson lane are almost identicalin terms of scale and their streetscape, while (3) the transversal lane which link Meiji Street to Cat street has a mixed style of buildings and shops.

Birkens

tock lane

The far end of Urahara (behind the transversal lane) is composed of even narrower lanes, and it is almost inaccessible for vehicles. This is the roji, narrow alley
area. In the roji of Urahara there are more of residential buildings than commercial. The ambiance is porous. We can find more green spaces and the houses
treasure their privacy. The “roji” of Urahara act as connectors between the main streets. They enhance picturesque quality of an residential area and have many
surprise endings at places when they join the commercial streets. This experience of contrast makes Urahara an interesting place to discover. It shows what
Harajuku at its peak was very much about – a dynamic combination of living, creativity, production and retail.

rsal lane52

Lawson lane

Wendy lane

Cat Street

sve
T ran

Q: How are urban spaces of Urahara
being used?
A: Streets of Urahara have that special spatial quality, and they provide thebroad variety of uses. They provide space for circulation, but also a places tostop and contemplate the elements on both sides of the street. The space inwhich the most exciting activities happened in Urahara tend to be at thethresholds between inside and outside, at those messy junctions that defineor resist to define the transition for open to enclosed, or from public toprivate, where private can spill out and public easily flows in.
Public moves on the street. Those movements themselves are a show. The
actors and the public alike came with a purpose - to show their dress. The
street provides a fashion show cat walk. Spectator can be anyone viewing thestreet from any angle also within the street itself. Those spectators are also
the voluntary or involuntary actors. Distinction between the stage and theaudience shifts easily, the observer gets observed, the actor becomes the
spectator.
The shop fronts are decorated to enhance urban space, to catch attention.
Some put imaginative installations of mannequins and theme the outdoor
spaces; some exhibit inviting shop panels, as signs of commodities on offer.
Those installation are like setting within which the scenarios unfold, become
part of the streetscape. That is a complex interplay between the staged andthe spontaneous, where public is invited to join in and to participate. A small,one meter street margin in front of the shop window becomes the place for
dialogue and participation.

53

HouseQ: How … about the urban form?
A: Experience in Urahara is like - being in a fashion “village”. The
term “village” resonates with friendly feel, indicates an easy-going,
porous environment. It is not difficult to imagine how Urahara used tolook like before, since its inner part remains quiet, residential. Many
shops still maintain old social structure and the feel of the post-war
housing. In general, the volumes of Urahara are relatively small. The
study of architectural form, together with architectural typologicalclassification can help us understand the raison d’etre of that particularurban type. Urahara is its houses, guesthouses and commercial buildings– and spaces that connect them. Much of that is stable and fixed, while
typological variation occurs within the commercial space.

Use: Residential -----------mixed residential+ commercial-------- commercials

Guest House

House: single and two storey postwar residential construction
House with an integrated shop: partial transformation in use, very few
formal changes
Shop-house: shop occupies the whole house, staircase added for theupper levels access.
Guest House : multi storey construction developed to add residential
density
Guest house: mixed used of residential and commercial
Shop in the guest house form: old guest house fully occupied by theshop
Individual Shop building: new design building for one shop
Commercial building: new design building to accommodate many shops

Use: Residential -----------mixed residential+ commercial------- commercials

Shop building
We can distinguish two main trajectories of change:
Residential axis: house - guest house - guesthouse+shop - commercial
building
Commercial axis: house - house+shop - shop occupies whole house commercial building

Use: single unit commercial -------------------------- multiple units commercial

54

07/0701/08

Q: How is Urahara being transformed?
A: Urahara a commercial district designated for fashion. Changes areunavoidable. Partial changes happen each day, weekly, seasonal and fashion
updates are happen often. There are also radical changes, both in terms ofform and function. They vary, from make-up interventions on the façades, tototal destruction and re-construction.
Individual house is a dominant type in Urahara. It suits demand for cool lookand, in particular, it fits the overall cool theme of Urahara. At the same time,
individual houses can be easily purchased, for lease or for radicaltransformation. In only one year, I noticed a number of transformations of
Urahara, some of which are presented here as a before-after pictures.

12/06

01/08

Some bigger scale of transformations are underway in Urahara. At the timeof completion of this phase of my research, I identified two on the Cat Street- near Omote Sando and in the inner part, towards the other end of thestreet.
Since August 2007, a number of houses in the area were knocking down in
Wendy alley. Empty lots of land appeared one next to another, in clusters
which indicate a major forthcoming intervention.

07/07

12/06

01/08

12/06

07/07

12/06

55

12/07

07/07

01/08

02/08

12/07

12/06

12/07

12/07

12/06

12/06

01/08

07/07
07/07

12/06

12/07

07/07

01/08

12/06

56

12/07

12/07

EAST

Q: How to design in Urahara?
A: Urahara needs a sensitive design which valorizes quality and

WEST

Design Festa

Compoundresponds to its urban character. There are only few examples which goagainst the predominant, tabula rasa approach which is favoured by
Japanese developers.
For me Design Festa Gallery is a unique case of place making. Simple,
very subtle design interventions in the established urban fabric andmodest transformations of architectural spaces of an existing building
transformed the neighbourhood in a very creative way. Creative
process whose result nurtures further creativity. Now, the whole blockof Urahara is an eclectic, unique place marked by strong atmosphere ofcultural underground. The space in between, neither private nor public,neither open nor closed, neither of Old nor of New Design Festa, is a
simple, elevated with wooden platform. It connects several buildings,
makes spaces of the Gallery, Sakura house and an Okonomiyaki
restaurant accessible. Red color is strong, surprising, attractive. Design
Festa is an inspiring example how existing condition can be creatively
used and upgraded to match the complexity of true Urahara.

57

Gwen Stefani - Harajuku Girls Lyrics
http://www.seeklyrics.com/lyrics/Gwen-Stefani/Harajuku-Girls.html
Were mono - there's me, there's you (hoko-ten) In a pedestrianparadise. Where the catwalk got its claws (meow) A subculture in a
kaleidoscope of fashion. Prowl the streets of Harajuku (irasshaimase).
Super lovers, tell me where you got yours (at the super lovers store). Yoji
Yamamoto, I'm hanging with the locals. Where the catwalk got its claws,
all you fashion know-it-alls. With your underground malls in the world of
Harajuku. Putting on a show, when you dress up in your clothes. Wild
hair color and cell phones Your accessories are dead on
Harajuku Girls you got the wicked style. I like the way that you are, I am
your biggest fan. Harajuku Girls you got the wicked style. I like the waythat you are, I am your biggest fan
Harajuku girls, I'm looking at you girls You're so original girls. You got thelook that makes you stand out. Harajuku Girls, I'm looking at you girls.
You mix and match it girls. You dress so fly and just parade around(arigatou)
I'm fascinated by the Japanese fashion scene Just an American girl, in
the Tokyo streets My boyfriend bought me a Hysteric Glamour shirt.
They're hard to find in the states, got me feeling couture. What's thatyou got on? Is it Comme des Garcons? Vivienne Westwood can't go
wrong, mixed up with second hand clothes (Let's not forget about John
Galliano) (no) Flipped the landscape when Nigo made A Bathing Ape I
got expensive taste (oh, well) guess I better save up (chotakai)

Q: How to appreciate Harajuku?
A: For me, it is impossible to understand an urban place only throughpragmatic analysis. There is a need of subjective appreciation, for
cumulative readings and re-readings of the urban by many of those
who shape its reality. Cities are human products, and theirunderstanding needs human quality to reflect their totality, the oeuvre.

Work it, express it, live it, command your style Create it, design it. Now
let me see you work it Create it, design it. Now let me see you work it.
You bring style and color all around the world. (You Harajuku Girls). You
bring style and color all around the world. (You Harajuku Girls)

Appreciation helps generate creativity. Each of us can appreciate
Harajuku in a number of ways, which may range from enjoying its
spaces and atmosphere, actively joining some of the “Harajuku tribes”,
reading Harajuku, writing about Harajuku, capturing its themes, seeking
inspiration, finding ways to express in other, own forms of medias.

You're looking so distinctive like D.N.A., like nothing I've ever seen in the
U.S.A.. Your underground culture, visual grammar. The language of yourclothing is something to encounter. A Ping-Pong match between eastern
and western. Did you see your inspiration in my latest collection?. Just
wait 'til you get your little hands on L.A.M.B.,. 'Cause it's (super kawaii),that means (super cute in Japanese). The streets of Harajuku are yourcatwalk (bishoujo you're so vogue). That's what you drop

Gwen Stefani, for instance, offers an example - her music was createdin response to expereincing the creative fusion of the Harajuku-girlsensibility and broader trends in Japanese fashion. Her lyrics describe apedestrian paradise, a street as a catwalk where fashion flourishes.
Harajuku there, deservedly, becomes an icon, a style - now in music,
her dancers mimic Harajuku Girls.

Cho saikou - Harajuku Girls. And that's what you drop, that's what you
drop. Cho saikou - Harajuku Girls And that's what you drop, that's what
you drop. (I don't think you understand I'm your biggest fan) (Gwen
Stefani - you like me!)

Urban analysis needs such excursions into the subjective which escapesrationalization and explanation. That is, simply, how Harajuku – is.

Style detached from content. A fatal attraction to cuteness. Style is style.
Fashion is fashion. Girl, you got style.

58

A0 (841x1189) - The Harajuku mosaic
Many small pieces form an A0. From a good distance the full message of
the work emerges: the life of Harajuku lends itself to another reading the kanji "Harajuku".

My own ways of appreciation of Harajuku push me towards experiments
in a variety of media. CiteXture is only series of works which, in different
techniques, present my reflection about the city. CiteXture was based onan understanding that the cities are textual compositions (Barthes 1965),
that they can be understood as composed of multiplicity of individual"words" and "phrases", structured by the syntax of an unique language.
My language. And/or (in this instance) – Harajuku language.
And, un bon croquis vaut mieux qu'un long discours ("a good sketch is
better than a long speech", as Napoleon used to say or, proverbially, “apicture is worth a thousand words”).
The artwork presented in my exhibition at Design Festa Gallery
accompanied one phase of my research of Urahara. It paralleledtraditional aspects of my investigation and, on occasions, it also fed intothat other side of my work. Art satisfies my need for subjective reflection
and communication in an universal language of pictures and sketches. It
helps me express, both myself and Harajuku, in a fuller sense. And, as
Harajuku is very much about image and image making, these drawingsand collages seek to express that place as in a series of images.
My exhibition was presented through an ubiquitous architectural andurban design theme - that of “scale”. The scales in which I explores
Harajuku were translated into standard paper formats - ISO216, better
known as the “A series” (1: √2 ratio). Each work covered an area of
1m2, which corresponds to the A0. Paper sizes, which ranged from A0
to A8, were used to present the scales which best capture various
aspects of life in Harajuku:

59

A2 ( 420x594) - The Urahara collage
The City is a collage (Rowe and Koetter 1984). In this work, the focus is on
Urahara, the heart of Harajuku. An A2 is used to collage different elementsof that vibrant area, all layered onto the map. The overall picture commentson the character of Urahara, as a quality in itself and as a part of Harajuku

A4 (210x297) - The Human scale
A4 is considered to be the most suitable for everyday life. It is used
universally - for note-taking, writing, printing, photocopying. Here A4
presents the people of Harajuku. Unlike spaces, the people and theiracvtivities are beyond scales. These drawings capture the stories lived andtold in Harajuku. All together, they weave a complex text(ure) of Harajuku.

60A6 (105x148) - The Pocket scale
A6 is a postcard size. It is sued for papers which we want to put in our
pockets. This part of my work is comprised of a series of sketches, proposedsouvenirs from Urahara. The visitors are invited to buy them, as thesouvenirs, as the mementos of this place, as an invitation to remember the
event.

A8 (52x74) - The ‘post-it’ notes
They offer a blank surface, and another invitation to you - this time that is aninvitation to participate. Please take part in citeXture by answering my brief
questions and providing your feedback. Your insights will lead me towards
better understanding of Harajuku.

61Q: How to conclude on Harajuku?
A: I might conclude my finding in Harajuku around the theme of “urban Stage-Set” (as the title of this book) a place in Tokyo where reflects this uniquecharacteristic.
Stage-set denotes how spaces in Harajuku are being used. It reflects the main character of a fashion area which demand a special setting to see and to be
seen. Harajuku is a complex ongoing process of city making. It is an arena where actors and spectators are mingled in the show. Everyday life in Harajuku
is like a show, everyday is a festival due to the change of its setting. Harajuku plays a very special role in Tokyo urbanism: vibrant, young and unpredictable
experiences. Harajuku represents an extreme “globalization” phenomena of Post-War Tokyo in a very particular way.
Harajuku happened with a perfect chemical of its components at the right time and a right place. Those components include:- “Fashion” which brings creativity, ever-changing aspect, competitiveness in design, decoration and consumption- space and form which heritage from the pattern of Edo village, smallness and the density of these spaces and forms provide a prominent picturesquestructure for a creative environment.
- prime location where receive simultaneously influence of international trend- Harajuku’s people who are varies from designers, small and big entrepreneurs, shopkeepers fashionable young shopper, Harjuku kids, tourists to local
inhabitants, etc They contribute different roles to Harajuku.
All those components put together with a right quantity. The most important is the way how they interact with each other. These mixture evolve
through time under a different paces. And make Harajuku become Harajuku today.
Another point I want to highlight is the Harajuku’s complexity of being a “Fashion place”. One can say (as my interviewees) that Harajuku today is not
anymore the Harajuku of the past. Of course that we cannot freeze the moment of glorious of a place, it needs to evolve through time. Harajuku at firstglance is totally consumption, overwhelmed by shops and shop some look new some look authentic. The old community is day by day being gentrified bycommercial activities, the sense of community has been lost. It gains a new type of fashion district in an authentic setting. In this condition the balance isnecessary to be maintained. Behind the scene, there is a complex organisation of Japanese fashion industry which runs the whole mechanism. But what
we have seen so far is not a phenomena of big fish eats small fish but a strange big aquarium eco-system of fashion business. Harajuku is big enough toaccommodate a very different kind of fashion activity, some compete some complement each other. There are always possibilities to squeeze inHarajuku. Harajuku is not totally consumption and destroy the root of its own. We can look at Harajuku at the angle of creative re-use and recycle of thepicturesque environment. The “village” environment is being used, Also the products which circulate in Harajuku big part of them are the recycle
products. This aspect of Harajuku (especially in Urahara) is undeniable important to support the existence of this place. Creative Fashion activities actuallysafe Urahara from a total change. This quality of Harajuku is subtle and only the creative people who understand and appreciate can maintain it.
Experience in Harajuku is “unpredictable” not only because of its maze street system but also the ever-changing of small shops, one can always findsomething new each day , each week, each month. We cannot take this quality for granted only the Harajuku components can offer this experience and if
the components change it can destroy whole whole quality of the area. This change is unavoidable, for time being only Urahara still keep partially theoriginal environment. The change is knocking the door of Urahara which way it will go?
As Lefebvre said that “city is a projection of the society on the ground” I believe that Harajuku is a reflection of the Japanese fashion culture on the Westof Tokyo. Harajuku Is not just a place to sell cloth in a cool ambiance, it is more than just a continuity of shop windows but a “urban stage set” opened
for everyone to participate.
People who experienced Harajuku in the past (in the 70’s and 80’s) cannot accept how Harajuku looks today. But the young who experience Harajuku
today also like the place as it is today. It is a very subjective way of judgment how people think about Harajuku. The series of Q&A I present in this bookpartially covered the ways I suggested that we can look through Harajuku as a “place”, a very unique place which contribute a big part to the urbanity ofTokyo. Harajuku is unique for Tokyo and for the world, place where receives a global recognition and still maintain its local quality.

62

63

Bibliography
INDEX

64