Shop at the Cutting Edge of Trends! The Complete Guide to the Aoyama, Harajuku, and Omotesando Area

Aoyama is a shopping district known for its refined lineup of luxury brands.
Alongside designer labels and Japan-born fashion brands, you’ll also find plenty of multi-tenant commercial complexes.
Since it’s a bit removed from Harajuku, a neighborhood known for its youth culture, Aoyama also has many tucked-away restaurants and bars, giving it a calm, grown-up feel.

Stretching from around Harajuku Station to the Omotesando area, Harajuku is the center of trendsetting youth fashion and culture.
Takeshita Street, known worldwide as the birthplace of Kawaii culture, and Cat Street, lined with popular shops, are famous shopping destinations recognized around the globe.
Beyond fashion, you can also enjoy street food like crepes, takoyaki, and galettes.
The neighborhood is filled with street art, with plenty of photogenic spots throughout.

Centered around Omotesando Station and spanning roughly a 0.6-mile radius, the Omotesando area is an adult neighborhood filled with emerging labels and high-sense brands.
With plenty of architectural works by famous architects and art spots, you can enjoy a relaxing break between shopping stops.
The beautiful streetscape lined with zelkova trees is also one of Omotesando’s signature highlights.

Since opening in 2006, Omotesando Hills has been a landmark on Omotesando.
Its architectural design, created to match Omotesando’s polished, stylish streetscape, is also striking.
With around 100 buzzworthy shops, including well-known domestic and international brands, trendy fashion, lifestyle goods, cosmetics, and restaurants, it draws crowds every day.

A multi-purpose cultural complex that opened in 1985 with the theme “the fusion of daily life and art.”
The entire building serves as a cultural and information hub that drives Aoyama’s scene, centered on a gallery and multipurpose hall, and featuring a restaurant and bar, a lifestyle select shop, a total beauty salon, and more.

A shopping street stretching Approx. 1,148 feet from Harajuku Station toward Meiji-dori Avenue.
With many shops selling unique fashion items you won’t find elsewhere, it’s a trendsetting destination that draws attention from around the world.

Q Plaza Harajuku, a landmark in the Omotesando and Harajuku area, is a multi-tenant building with a colorful exterior that’s easy to spot from a distance, with one basement level and 11 floors above ground.
In addition to many restaurants and cafés, it features a wide range of shops, including select shops, services, and wedding-related businesses.

A signature Harajuku shopping destination that opened in 1978.
It played a key role in elevating the area, which was attracting more and more young people interested in fashion, art, and music, into a central hub for the latest fashion trends.

A commercial facility located at the Jingumae intersection between Harajuku and Omotesando.
The nine-floor building, from Basement Level 1 to the 7th-floor rooftop terrace, houses 75 shops and restaurants, plus standout spots like a public bath, gallery, and library.
Along with many notable shops from Japan and abroad, it also includes brick-and-mortar locations for brands that previously sold only online or in regional areas.

A commercial facility in the heart of the Omotesando and Harajuku area, with popular brands from Japan and abroad.
From Basement Level 1 to the 5th floor is dedicated to shopping, with a lineup of distinctive stores offering fashion, lifestyle goods, accessories, and more.

Known as a landmark in the Harajuku and Omotesando area, Kiddy Land Harajuku.
With a wide selection of popular and buzzworthy character goods, toys, and variety items, it’s a signature Harajuku sightseeing spot that draws many visitors from Japan and overseas.

A pedestrian path on a back street just off the main road that connects Shibuya and Harajuku.
This area is known as Ura-Harajuku, and along Cat Street you’ll find many relatively small shops, including stylish select shops and street-level stores from notable brands. Along with luxury brands, there are also uniquely curated vintage shops and flagship stores for brands making their Japan debut, making it a trendsetting destination.

Japan’s first location of the lobster roll specialty shop loved in Manhattan, New York. It opened along Omotesando and Cat Street in 2015, then relocated and reopened along Cat Street in 2021.
After the move, it added a wood-deck terrace, making it easier to sit back and enjoy your meal.

A landmark on Omotesando facing the zelkova-tree-lined avenue, where you can enjoy the changing seasons.
Inside, you’ll find a glamorous, spacious, photogenic dining room, plus lush terrace seating with thoughtful details throughout, creating a sophisticated space that feels like an Omotesando icon.

The Aoyama cafe of Blue Bottle Coffee, founded in California, USA in 2002.
Set slightly away from the city bustle, it’s a refined space where you can relax and enjoy your coffee.
Another plus is that it’s just a 3-minute walk from Omotesando Station.

Meiji Jingu is a shrine dedicated to Emperor Meiji and Empress Shoken.
Centered on its pure and solemn Inner Garden, it consists of the Outer Garden with many excellent sports facilities, including the Meiji Memorial Picture Gallery, as well as the Meiji Kinenkan.

Japan’s largest Islamic mosque.
“Camii” is a Turkish term for a large mosque where the five daily prayers, including the Friday prayer, are held, and its origin comes from an Arabic word meaning “a place where many people gather.”

Located in a prime spot in Aoyama, one of Tokyo’s most refined neighborhoods, this is one of Japan’s few private museums, with a history dating back to before World War II.
It houses a collection of Approx. 7,600 works of Japanese and East Asian premodern art (as of the end of December 2021), including 7 National Treasures, 88 Important Cultural Properties, and 94 Important Art Objects.