Harajuku is the neighbourhood where Tokyo's youth fashion subcultures have played out since the 1980s — the origins of Lolita fashion, Visual Kei, and the broader kawaii aesthetic that has influenced global fashion. Takeshita Street is the compressed, pedestrianised heart of it: 350 metres of crepe stands, vintage clothing shops, cosplay boutiques, accessory stalls, and bubble tea. Marion Crepes, open since 1976, is credited with starting the crepe craze that now fills half the street. Just off the crowds, Tōgō Shrine is a genuinely quiet wooded compound that hosts one of Tokyo's better weekend antique markets. On weekends Takeshita Street itself is packed to the walls.
Omotesando, the wide boulevard running alongside, is the upscale version — high-end architecture (the Prada building by Herzog & de Meuron, and Omotesando Hills, Tadao Ando's spiral-ramped complex) and international fashion labels. Walk between the two for the full range of what fashion means in Tokyo.