Daiso Harajuku

Alongside the glamour boutiques and dining in Harajuku is the "Daiso Harajuku" otherwise known as the 100 yen Shop. Take a look of it from Takeshita dori, Harajuku’s busy pedestrian mall, Daiso looks like a big pharmacy, full of cosmetics and toiletries.

But if you take a look around inside you’ll see that there are 3 more floors: a basement full of kitchenware, and a huge range of stationary, homewares and electrical accessories upstairs. Browsing through, it seems like a regular variety store, until you notice that everything is priced at just 105 yen.

Daiso is a 100 Yen store right in the heart of Takeshita dori in Harajuku, located only a few steps from Harajuku Station along Takeshita Dori. It is only one minute walk from JR Harajuku Station (Takeshita-guchi Exit). While Japan's largest 100 Yen shop, Daiso Giga Machida, spans 5 floors in front of Machida Station (30 minutes, 360 Yen from Shinjuku by Odakyu Railways). Daiso Harajuku is one of the largest 100 Yen stores in central Tokyo offering a wide array of goods on multiple floors at 105 Yen per item (105 yen incl. tax) - sometimes 99 yen.

The products amount here is around 90,000. It sells almost all original products developed by Daiso. Daiso provide the following living wares. - Stationeries - Foods and beverages - CD and Books - Interior goods - Cosmetics - Gardening utensil - Kitchen utensil - Plastic goods You can find a lot interesting goods for your daily necessities or souvenirs. Daiso Harajuku probably the biggest store of Daiso. Large stores in other cities include: Daiso Sapporo Chuo (South 2 West 2, Odori Station), Daiso Nagoya Sakae Skyle (Sakae Station), Daiso Osaka Nihonbashi (Nihonbashi Station), Daiso Kobe Promena (Promena Kobe, Kobe Station) and Daiso Fukuoka Kotsu Center (Fukuoka Kotsu Center, Hakata Station).

100 yen stores are enhancing their status in the retail industry to rank alongside department stores, supermarkets and convenience stores. Dozens or perhaps hundreds or even thousands of these often small (a few are multi-storey complexes with the look and stock of department stores) dot the landscape. Daiso, one of the bigger operators, runs more than two thousand stores across Japan. Japan's biggest 100 Yen, or “dollar” shop, Daiso Giga Machida, covers 5 floors of Machida Station. According to published sources, by “purchasing products in huge quantities and at big discounts from countries with low production and labor costs,” these commonly available, usually small shops bring a broad range of products to consumers. The 100 (or 99) yen shops are great for shopping for basics while you travel, or for rooting out all kinds of interesting knick-knacks to tote home as gifts.

Daiso is a major player in the 100 Yen chain store located all over Japan commonly known as "hyakkin". Daiso store is ranging in size from multi-storey "department stores" to small corners in shopping malls. Some are as large as 5 floors high. Imagine four floors of items from food to stationary, pet stuff, kitchen and bath goods, and even some clothes that are ALL 100 yen each. And it’s decent stuff. Daiso has expanded its product lines and number of stores on such a scale that it can no longer be categorized solely as a 100 yen stores. It is now so well established as part of everyday life that it has become the destination of choice for the purchase of daily commodities.

Daiso apparently can sell items cheap because they get things in bulk. They also have companies in China make a lot of the make up and other items that they then sell as Daiso products. Almost everything is for sale for the basic fee plus a small consumption tax, which means these are the dollar stores of Asia. Harajuku branch is a great introduction to the 100 yen shopping experience, it is not the biggest in Tokyo, but it is the most conveniently located of the big 100 yen stores, as it is in an area that visitors would most likely want to visit anyway. There was a news that Daiso recently went international with a store in Vancouver. In the year ended March 2005, Daiso sales exceeded 320 billion yen and our network of shops across Japan numbered over 2,400. The number of stores is growing at a rate of 20 to 30 stores a month and our overseas network is also increasing at a rapid pace. Daiso pursues an aggressive expansion policy.


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Togo Shrine

Togo Shrine (???? Togo-jinja), located on Meiji Dori in Harajuku, near the intersection of Takeshita Street and Meiji Avenue. It is accessible from Harajuku Station, near Meiji-Jingumae, Tokyo. It was built in 1940. Togo shrine is an oasis of peace and harmony, right next to the crowded Takeshita-dori street.

Togo Shrine is a memorial Shinto shrine dedicated to military commander Admiral Togo Heihachiro (1848-1934) shortly after his death. Togo Heihachiro campaigned commander in the defining 1905 victory against Russia at the Tsushima Straits. The Admiral defeated the Russian fleet in the Russo-Japanese War in 1905.

Togo supervised former Emperor Hirohito's education from 1914-1924. The shrine was established in 1940 but destroyed in the air bombings of 1945. Then the shrine was replaced by a contemporary building in 1969 and a memorial hall was added in the shrine. Togo Heihachiro is celebrated as a shinto kami in Togo Shrine. There is a small museum and a bookshop dedicated to Togo Heihachiro located within the grounds of the shrine. Togo Heihachiro physical remains are interred at Tama Cemetery in Tokyo.

There is a flea market in Togo Shrine, which has a nice and peaceful atmosphere. This is a lovely place to walk around. While wandering amongst the stalls you can enjoy the Shrine garden. This flea market is a Sunday morning open-air antique market with more than 120 booths, if it is raining so all the booths are suspended. This is the largest antique market of its kind in Tokyo. The flea market opens on the 1st, 4th, and 5th Sunday of every month from 4am to 2pm. After 2pm the sellers start to clean up their shop, so you must come earlier. This is the best place to buy used kimono, furniture, record player, a wooden trunk, or even some film posters from the show era. Almost all customers here are non-Japanese people. The sellers here seem like used to have foreigners customers so they use a little bit English to tell the prices. Don’t forget to bargain when you shop here.

Togo Shrine is 5 minutes from Harajuku Station. From the platform, go down the stairs and out Takeshita Exit. Cross the road and enter Takeshita-dori (full of shops on both sides). Walk straight and head left at a small four-street intersection (before Seven Eleven). There will be a fork in the road with steps to the right. Go up the steps, walk straight and you should see more steps that will lead you to the entrance to the shrine. And it takes 7 minutes to Togo Shrine if you are from Meiji-jingumae station. From Exit 3, head toward Harajuku Station, past Snoopy Town Shop, to Takeshita-dori. Enter Takeshita-dori and walk straight. Head left at a small four-street intersection (before Seven Eleven) and there will be a fork in the road with stairs to the right. Go up the steps, walk straight and you should see more steps that will take you to the entrance to the shrine.

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Louis Vuitton

The Louis Vuitton store in Omotesando, Harajuku was opened in autumn 2002. This is The Louis Vuitton company's largest store in the world, also their luxury goods maker’s and one of the most beautiful store. The public store occupied five of the building's ten floors, which are designed as a stack of trunks rather than conventional floors.

The success of Louis Vuitton, of course, is based on bags, and so along with shoes. The store located at 5-7-5 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku. Tel: 03-3478-2100. Open daily 11am-8pm. The nearest station of the store is Omotesando Station.

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Yoyogi National Stadium

Yoyogi National Stadium (????????, Kokuritsu Yoyogi Kyogi-jo?) in Shibuya, Tokyo, is an arena in Yoyogi Park, Tokyo, Japan which is famous for its suspension roof design. It was designed by Kenzo Tange, Japan's foremost postwar architect.

It was built between 1961 and 1964 to house swimming and diving events in the 1964 Summer Olympics. This stadium located across the Inokashira Avenue from the Yoyogi Park. The Stadium is one of Tokyo's most impressive landmarks. National Yoyogi Stadium is also in Harajuku area. Located in Yoyogi Park which is also where Meiji Shrine located, no wonder National Yoyogi Stadium is one of most attended place in Tokyo.

The design inspired Frei Otto's arena designs for the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich. its awesome and daring shell-like steel-suspension roofing has earned it a spot in the Japanese Ministry of Construction's Top 100 Public Structures of Japan. The stadium seats 8,000 and is used for concerts, mostly rock, as well as sporting events.The arena holds 10,500 people. A CFD evaluation of the stadium interior was recently performed by the Shimizu Corporation to better understand the quality of the air-conditioning system for both modes of stadium operation.

Nowadays, this Stadium also being used for ice skating and volleyball competitions, basketball competitions, concerts (it's a nice place to concert) and various other events. In October 1997, the NHL opened its season at the arena with the Vancouver Canucks taking on the Anaheim Mighty Ducks in two matches. The following season the San Jose Sharks played the Calgary Flames in two games also to open the 1998-99 NHL season.

National Yoyogi Stadium, a holy place for athletes in Japan. The design of the stadium applied the same technique as a suspension bridge and the 126-meter long and 120-meter wide roof hanged from one or two main posts is providing a large open space. With its unique and stunning design. It has employed innovative suspended roof construction utilizing high tension cables, and we are proud of their unique shapes. The premises feature the 1st gymnasium, which looks like a tent supported by two columns; the 2nd gymnasium, which looks like a dragon spiraling towards the sky; and other sports facilities. The stadium was used for international competition in swimming, volleyball, basketball, tennis, and ice skating and has brought up and sent many athletes into the world, becoming a place for people who love sports.

Two of the stadia, built for the Olympics, remain the area's most famous architectural features. The main building of Tange Kenzo's Yoyogi National Stadium is a dead ringer for Noah's ark, and its steel suspension roof was a structural engineering marvel at the time. Inside are a swimming pool and skating rink (Mon-Sat noon-8pm, Sun 10am-6pm; ¥900). The smaller stadium, used for basketball, is like the sharp end of a giant swirling seashell.

The damper mechanism from KYB protects the elegant suspended roofs of the gymnasiums from vibration due to strong winds and earthquakes. It supported the roofs and the history of the gymnasiums for more than 40 years. The damper mechanism is the root of the present vibration insulation system. In 2004, an overhaul of the system was conducted, and it was proved that 12 dampers removed from the building had maintained the designed performance after 40 years of service. The same technology is used in the large roofs of Fukuoka Dome and Oita Dome.

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Oriental Bazzar

Oriental Bazaar is one of Tokyo's largest souvenir shops, most probably it is the most famous of souvenir shops. Oriental Bazaar is very popular among foreign travelers who look for typical Japanese souvenirs, such as kimono, tableware, lamps, dolls, furniture and samurai related goods.

This store is located about halfway between Omotesando and Harajuku station on Omotesando Dori (5-9-13 Jingu-mae) near Togo Shrine in Harajuku. To find the Bazaar go to Omotesando station and walk down the main street towards Harajuku, the shop is on the right about halfway down the road. It is just down the street from Kiddyland. The Oriental Bazaar is set in a quieter section of bustling Harajuku.

Oriental Bazaar is also the most imaginatively laid out. The bazaar has several different focuses, and the store is laid out accordingly. It is a four-stories store, and when you step to the higher floor you will get the more expensive items. The basement stocks bright, cheap and cheerful, touristy items, while the top floor offers antiques and traditional Japanese kimono and crafts. It is surely one of the best places to buy affordable and beautiful, second-hand original kimonos. Yukata (new and used), ceramics, towels and papercraft are some of the more popular items. There is also available woodblock prints, paper products, wind chimes, stationery, fans, chopsticks, lamps, Imari chinaware, sake sets, Japanese dolls, pearls, books on Japan, and a large selection of antique furniture.

The first floor is mostly occupied by furniture and ceramics/porcelains with more touristy items there as well. Also, a very fine selection of tea and sake services is found downstairs. Go upstairs you will find prints (standard and woodblock), more touristy items, and textiles for purchase. The bazzar has sections which each section of the store is operated by a separate owner, so you will not be allowed to go away with goods from one section to browse in another. Make you purchase and move on or compare and come back to buy. Overall, the Oriental Bazaar is a handy place to do some comparative shopping in one central location. The craftsmanship probably is not as good as in some high-end shops, but it is quite nice and the price justifies the purchases.

If you don’t have plenty of time to go around to find the best souvenir you look for, Oriental Bazaar is an easy one stop souvenir store in Tokyo which can provide you with the best-completed souvenirs. This is the city's most popular and largest souvenir/crafts store, selling products at reasonable prices. This store will also ship things home for you. Open Friday to Wednesday 10am to 7pm. For last-chance suit-of-armour purchases, you can go to the branch at Narita airport. The staff at both branches speak fluent English. The English-speaking staff are quite willing to wrap things up and have them posted for you. Oriental Bazaar is the place to go to when you want to return home bearing souvenirs of your trip to Japan. Oriental Bazaar will satisfy all the gift buying needs for your friends and family back home.

It's hard to miss the Oriental Bazaar - its grand red and green exterior welcomes you into a real temple to Japanese consumerism, with a facade that resembles a Shinto shrine. The Bazaar is housed in an instantly recognizable building with a faux-Chinese temple roof.

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