Japan Day 10: Harajuku, Shibuya and a Giant Panda

Day 10 was all about Harajuku and Shibuya: shopping, crowds, character goods, a famous crepe that didn’t quite live up to the hype, and a giant panda that somehow needed to make its way back to Canada.

Before we even made it to Takeshita Street, though, we had a practical problem to solve.

An Unexpected Shoe Shopping Stop

Kid 2’s running shoes were pretty much done. They had started breaking down and had become uncomfortable to wear, so she really needed a new pair.

Kid 1 was also looking to replace her running shoes, so when we passed an ABC-Mart, we stopped.

That turned out to be a very good decision. They both found nice pairs of shoes they liked, and even better, they were on sale. They ended up being much cheaper than what I would have expected to pay for similar shoes in Canada.

Not exactly the kawaii shopping we had planned for Harajuku, but probably one of the more useful purchases of the trip!

Takeshita Street

Then we finally made it to Takeshita Street.

It was crowded, hot and full of shops.

The heat was still bearable, though, and despite the crowds, walking around wasn’t too bad. After experiencing Nishiki Market in Kyoto, Takeshita Street actually felt like we had room to move!

We mostly browsed rather than bought things. Kid 2 naturally found another Sanrio store to explore, while Kid 1 and I went into another shop to look at socks. There may also have been some gashapon involved because, apparently, we could never completely escape the gashapon machines in Japan.

Not that we were trying very hard.

There were so many little shops to explore that simply walking down the street and looking at everything was part of the fun.

Are Japanese Crepes Really That Amazing?

Of course, there was one other thing we had to try in Harajuku: a Japanese crepe.

If you’ve watched enough Japan videos on YouTube, you’ve probably seen the famous Harajuku crepes. They always look enormous and amazing, filled with whipped cream, fruit, cheesecake, chocolate and all sorts of other things.

We went to Marion Crepes to see what all the fuss was about.

I think I ordered raspberry and cheesecake. Kid 2 had something chocolate, while Kid 1 chose one with vanilla ice cream, whipped cream and peaches. They certainly looked impressive, but our collective reaction after actually eating them was basically:

It was good.

But… that’s it?

Maybe we’ve been spoiled by homemade crepes. We make them at home, so perhaps the novelty just wasn’t there for us. The Marion crepes certainly weren’t bad, but none of us had that “Wow! This is amazing!” reaction that we had somehow expected after seeing them so many times on YouTube.

Sometimes the famous thing really is worth the hype.

And sometimes it’s just a perfectly good crepe.

On to Shibuya

From Harajuku, we took the train to Shibuya.

It isn’t very far, but getting out of the heat for a while sounded much better than walking.

We crossed the famous Shibuya Crossing, although it wasn’t really a big moment for us. I’ve crossed it before, and for the kids, it was simply part of getting to where we were going.

Hachiko was also on my original list, but we didn’t specifically go looking for the statue.

That may have been my fault.

I had already told Kid 1 and Kid 2 the story of Hachiko, but then I described the actual attraction as a small statue of a dog surrounded by people trying to touch it and take pictures with it, which is pretty much what I remembered from my first trip.

Apparently, my sales pitch wasn’t very convincing.

So we moved on to something that got considerably more enthusiasm from everyone: Shibuya 109.

Shibuya 109

We explored all the floors of Shibuya 109, stopping in different stores along the way.

Kid 1 and Kid 2 tried on clothes and bought a few things. Then came cosmetics and hair accessories.

I can’t even blame everything on the kids.

I bought nail polish.

By the time we left, everyone had spent way too much money.

But we had one more shopping mission left for the day.

The Suitcase Mission

Our last stop was Mega Don Quijote.

I had deliberately waited until Tokyo to buy Kid 2 a medium suitcase. We needed some extra luggage to bring our purchases home, but I also wanted to get her a cute suitcase that she could continue using on future trips.

I had seen Hello Kitty suitcases at Don Quijote on YouTube, so that had been my plan.

Except there weren’t any Hello Kitty suitcases.

Instead, we found a medium Chiikawa suitcase.

That actually worked out beautifully because Kid 2 had loved Chiikawa long before we came to Japan. She was very pleasantly surprised, and now she has a suitcase that isn’t just useful for getting our Japan shopping home. She’ll be able to use it for her own future travels too.

Mission accomplished.

And then we found the plushies.

And Then There Was the Panda

Kid 1 bought a giant panda plushie at Don Quijote.

And when I say giant, I mean somewhere over 50 cm.

Her solution for getting it home was simple: she’d hold it on the plane.

And really, who was I to argue?

On my first trip to Japan, I came home holding a giant strawberry mochi-like pillow on the plane.

Like mother, like daughter, apparently.

Kid 2 was slightly more reasonable and bought a smaller plushie, probably around 25 cm.

Of course, she eventually bought several plushies during the trip, so I’m not sure she actually gets any points for restraint.

But that was a problem for another day.

Somehow, a day that started with the very practical purchase of new running shoes ended with us trying to figure out how a giant panda was eventually going to get home.

I’d call Harajuku and Shibuya a success.

Coming Next

Tomorrow, we were heading somewhere Kid 2 had been especially looking forward to — and it turned out to be just as cute as expected.