Side Street Off Cat Street, Harajuku - Tokyo

Words Adam Blakey
Photo Keith Ng

Not that it was a big secret or anything, but you just know Gwen Stefani Harajuku’d the fruit out of all of us by getting on her knees and shamelessly licking the place clean on her last album. Regardless, style messiahs will still head straight for Cat Street, a mecca for fashionistas the world over. At the end of this street is Omotesando, home to every big name designer brand you can think of (why, that’s the Dior building in the background!), including the Tadao Ando-designed fashion mall Omotesando Hills. For culinary delights, try the tasty fried octopus at the Tako-Yaki stand around the corner, or the best gyoza and moyashi at Harajuku Gyoza (down again and to the left). Further down the street you can geek out at Kiddieland, dig for vintage at Hanjiro and Chicago, browse for art books across the way at Nadiff or Shelf, or get out and explore the myriad of shops in the endless labyrinth of side streets, just like this one.