SHO-PPING

That is Japanese for shopping, and here are some shots of a day out shopping in Harajuku. I could not believe the amount of shopping to be done, and the size of some of the shops. Overload. Again I bought nothing (not always for want of trying; some shops don't let you try clothes on!), and spent most of the day staring at people. I could have taken so many photos of people, but I felt a little funny doing so, so I mainly took them from afar. Harajuku is a well known meeting place for teenagers in 'cosu-purei' (costume play) outfits. Basically they get dressed up as their favourite anime characters, or as cute little things. Most odd, but they look cool, and only the Japanese can get away with it. Here comes one now....



I actually saw a middle-aged man walking the streets dressed as Little Bow Peep, complete with crook and a very oversized bonnet, all in white, just walking around most nonchalantly. Not sure why I didn't take a photo, I think I was busy looking, but trying not to. Nobody seemed to bat an eyelid except me. However, it wasn't all weirdness, there certainly were beautiful people about too. Like this young lady......



Ain't she a picture? So much so, here's another.....



Omotesando is the main street, but there are loads of little side streets with smaller shops. I got lost, which was great, I love the feeling of being lost and not knowing what you will find. The street names are either unpronounceable, or rather unfortunate sounding, like this one for instance......



Harajuku is where I found the Snoopy farm, where they clone and fatten up Snoopies to make Snoopy curry. I just couldn't bring myself to go in..........



When the sun goes down, the lights come on, and things get interesting in a different way. This is where Scarlett Johansson sat drinking coffee and looking bored in Lost In Translation (note further proof of the cutesy obsession, with the kitten on the big TV screen).....



There are colourful lights everywhere.......



And it's not until you get a bird's eye view that you realise just how expansive Tokyo is. I didn't have my tripod with me, so this is the best I could do....



All the lovers come to sit and look out over the city. How romantic hey? Ooh, what's that I see? The Japanese version of a builder's crack (buildu craku perhaps?). Sorry......



Don't worry folks. The Tokyo series is almost done! I took so many photos, so winkling them down has been difficult, especially as I have never been good at winkling, have you?