Harajuku's underside is surfacing
The backstreets of Harajuku, have been affectionately termed the shopping area's ura, or underside, and has long-been the stomping ground of menswear aficionados, spawning niche shops with secret entrances, often offering limited editions worth queuing hours for.
However, all this took a big hit in the late 2000s as big players with eyes on tourist cash encroached and the fast-fashion strata of the market, happy to rip off the designs of their neighbors, expanded. But the streets are fighting back, most notably with the launch of the first stand-alone shop of streetwear big hitters Wacko Maria, which celebrates its 10-year anniversary, and cult label C.E's new store on the third floor of Beauty & Youth United Arrows. The latter pays homage to Ura-Harajuku shopping culture with an intimidatingly barren shop, where you will have to seek out the clothes for yourself.