8-bitDesign

Day three found us in Harajuku, a small subway stop in Shibuya. The place is notable for a few things, first, the bridge:

I’m afraid I didn’t catch the name, or if I did, it didn’t feel like sticking around, but at any rate, this bridge outside the Meiji shrine is the place for cosplay, urban fashion, or whatever odd costume someone felt like throwing on that day. Harajuku is a great place for people watching, as anyone who wants to be seen can be found parading up and down the bridge outside the station, with a full audience of tourists and passers-by.

Secondly, we managed to stumble upon the shrine to emperor Meiji completely by accident. The shrine is palatial, and found at the end of a half-mile walk through the forest. It’s absolutely bizarre to find something like this out in the middle of Tokyo, where tight spaces, blaring neon, and hum of the city are omnipresent. 

Post-shrine, we had coffee in the busiest Starbucks in the world. That’s Japan for you: from shrine to Starbucks in 15 minutes. This was our last stop in Shibuya, before boarding our smoke-filled Shinkansen to Kyoto.

The situation on the ground meant that Cooper would stay in Tokyo for the next day or two while we journeyed on to Kyoto. So, that night, me, Quinn, and Reynolds left and finally got our first night’s rest on a real bed.