Omotesando Street is known colonially as ‘Tokyo’s Fifth Avenue. An elegant boulevard lined with elm trees, designer shops, and small cafes.
It’s a great place to stroll, do some window-Shopping, and enjoy a chic ambiance while avoiding the heavy crowds of Midtown.
It is very close to Tokyo attractions like Meiji Jingu Shrine, Harajuku Cosplay, and Yoyogi Park, and can easily be reached by subway.
Things To Do in Omotesando
Stroll along the Avenue – A Polite competition is going on between designer labels on the street. The battle for customers’ attention led to fantastic store designs. It’s hard to decide where to look first – the buildings or the clothes. Every famous international architect has left a masterpiece here, resulting in an avenue that is an urban masterpiece.
The best time to visit Tokyo’s ‘fifth avenue’ is at dusk when designer-label buildings are illuminated.
Meiji Jingu Shrine – A beautiful and peaceful shrine, surrounded by a green forest. You can hardly believe you’re just a few steps away from the busy center of Tokyo. It’s an active Shinto temple so traditional Shinto weddings are an everyday scene.
See More: Meiji Jingu Shrine
Harajuku Cosplay – Visit Harajuku Tokyo on a Sunday to meet Cosplay girls dress like Gothic Lolitas, French Maids, and Hello Kitty.
See More: Harajuku Cosplay
Yoyogi Park – Free entertainment every Sunday in this beautiful park. It’s a gathering place for Japanese youth culture with live performances, bands, and musicians.
See More: More Things To Do in Tokyo
Shopping in Omotesando
Christian Dior– The Dior building looks as if it is covered in floating semi-transparent curtains. Sparkling light from the inside changes the building’s atmosphere from elegant to dramatic in the evening.
Louis Vuitton store – The building is inspired by the famous LV trunk.
Tod’s. The exterior is made from bare concrete and glass which mimics the shapes of the elm trees that grow along the Avenue.
Prada Boutique Aoyama – I love this building. It has green glass crystal diamond-shaped panels on the exterior.
Omotesando Hills – An elegant up-scale fashion shopping mall with the best fashion labels – Yves Saint Laurent, Dolce & Gabbana, Dunhill, Jimmy Choo, and more. The Cafe and restaurants inside are worth visiting.
Oriental Bazaar– The best place for Japanese souvenirs. Four floors of everything Japanese, from kimonos, Green Teacups, and Miso bowls, to Japanese design books in English. Oriental Bazaar is easily recognized thanks to its exterior-a replica of a Japanese shrine. Prices are very reasonable in spite of the luxurious setting.
LaForet Harajuku is a trend-setting shopping complex, with seven floors of couture fashion boutiques and shops.
KiddyLand – THE toy store in Tokyo, for the young at heart, and not just for children. Heaps of the stuff that Japanese girls love to call “kawai” = cute. Three floors of Hello Kitty, Puca, and other brands on everything from lunch boxes and towels to mouse pads and notebooks. The sweetest things you have ever seen. (Update-the store has been moved to an alley off Omotesando called Cat street, across the street from Omotesando hills).
