Bring the Kids: Shibuya & Harajuku
Shibuya. Also known as "Let's try this place first since its the closest to our apartment".
Our first day in Tokyo started off with us figuring out how the trains work. I cannot emphasize enough how grateful I am that we brought our Pockit Stroller. We could stick a kid in it and hang backpacks on the back while walking through the city, and then just fold it up, shove it into the extra backpack so we could carry it, and bring it easily onto the train. (not being paid to say this by the way. Totally should be.)
So, once we figured out the trains, we made it to our destination. Shibuya. Right out of the station window, you could see the famous Shibuya crossing. It wasn't quite as busy as normal, but it was still busy enough to experience the hectic crossing! We crossed a couple of times just for fun, and then found ourselves on the other side with all of the shopping.
Shibuya 109 is the name of a 10 floor clothing store, geared towards the cutting edge fashion for young women. It was stroller friendly with an elevator and really fun to wander around looking at the unique fashion. There's more shopping and restaurants around the crossing, including a McDonalds if you're desperate for your kid to eat and they are refusing all things Japanese!
We walked around Shibuya, and then through it, heading towards Harajuku. You can easily walk from Shibuya to Harajuku. It took us about fifteen minutes with our 1 year old in the stroller and our 4 year old walking.
If you are having trouble finding Takeshita Dori in Harajuku, have your GPS take you to the Totti Candy factory. You will KNOW when you get there! On both entrances to Takeshita Dori (the shopping street) there is a huge arch and sign letting you know this is the place in bright colors! This is where everyone shops for all things Kawaii ("Cute"), and the people watching is great if you go on a Sunday! We went on a Monday (I thought it was Sunday all day long, forgetting Japan was a day ahead of our normal time), but we were still able to see people walking around in their Kawaii themed outfits and costumes.
Our four year old daughter LOVED Harajuku, because it was full of everything she adored - walls of bows, cute little accessories, and so many colors! But theres one other thing that its also always full of, and that's people. The crowds are thick, but it's worth it!
There are two things you MUST eat while on Takeshita Dori. The Famous Harajuku crepes, and Cotton Candy from the Totti Candy factory. We loved both! It was probably a mistake to let our 4 year old take in so much sugar, but we managed to walk out her energy when we visited Yoyogi park, right next to Harajuku station.
Yoyogi park was wonderful to let our kids expel some energy before we walked through the park to see Meiji shrine. The park used to be a Japanese army parade ground, but now is a beautiful park full of flowers, picnic tables, paved paths and lots of space for kids to run and families to spread out. We took a little break here after all the walking we had done, and spread out in the grass under the shade of the tall trees. The kids ran around and got super dirty, just in time to visit a sacred shrine. Oops.
To get to Meiji shrine, you actually have to leave Yoyogi park the way you entered it, go around the corner towards the station, and then follow the signs. Walk beneath a huge Torii to enter the forest, where you will follow a long path to the shrine. You will pass barrels of Sake and Wine donated to the shrine on your way there, and then pass through another great Torii before you actually reach Meiji.
Be sure to rinse your hands and mouth at Temizuya (a little water station off to the side where you can use a long handled cup to rinse), before you go exploring around the shrine. It's hard to be respectful sometimes when you have loud children in a quiet country, but do your best! Add a prayer to the wall of wooden prayers, or just read and admire the ones there.
After we were done exploring Meiji shrine, we walked to Harajuku station, which was right next to the park, and caught a (few) trains home. The train rides were NOT enjoyable for us, because one child was missing nap times, and the other one just flat out hated trains and screamed the whole ride. When we got to our station, we stopped at the 7-eleven to buy some dinner (bento's, ramen, rice, and bread!), and concluded our first day out!
