Where: Tokyo, Harajuku Station on the JR Yamanote Line
What to do: Eat crepes, people-watch
What not to do: Take pictures, buy things

Harajuku is among Tokyo’s most famous districts, with a reputation as its fashion capital–at least, for those of us who aren’t super-rich, but still spend way more money on clothes than we should. Personally, I couldn’t know less about fashion, but I still find Harajuku among the most charming and atmospheric districts in a city that can be stifling at times.

Harajuku’s commercial district consists of several streets right across from the train station; mostly high-end fashion boutiques, but quite a few nice cafes, restaurants and curiosity shops as well. Given the crowds of teenage girls it attracts, it’s well-equipped with sweets shops, and if you haven’t patronized a Japanese crepe vendor, you’re in for a treat.

Of course, Harajuku was made famous in the West by a certain woman and a certain song, and Harajuku itself has a complex relationship to its newfound fame. Many, of course, welcome the tourists, but others are defensive, and many of the locals frown on the taking of photographs:

Famously, comedienne Maragret Cho wrote a piece lambasting Stefani’s Harajuku Girls, comparing them to a minstrel show. The piece itself seems to have fallen off the internet since I read it, but here’s a related news story. For my part, what I find interesting is that Cho, a Korean-American, seems not only to find but to take for granted that Stefani’s cartoonish depiction of Japanese culture reflects on her. But I’m only a quarter Chinese, so what do I know?