Saint Patrick's Day in Tokyo

I went to Tokyo to celebrate St. Patrick's Day and it felt a little bit like being back in Ireland. We celebrated with Irish and Japanese people in Roppongi on Saturday and even though Ireland lost the rugby we still had a lot of fun. On Sunday there was a parade in Harajuku which was brilliant, so many people took part and it was nice to see so many Japanese people celebrating with the Irish.

There was a lot of band playing traditional music and dancing Irish traditional dances. Some people who had Irish dogs paraded with them. In the picture below, these are called Irish Red Setters and they are my favourite type of dog. I was so excited to see them in the parade.

There were people in crazy outfits, like the ones above who are dressed as Leprechauns, these are mythical Irish fairies who live at the end of rainbows and guard a pot of gold.

Shopping in Tokyo

I haven’t had a chance to take many pictures lately, hence, the lack of blogs. Instead of posting blogs with pictures, I posted the anime post, and now I am going to post a blog about fashion in Tokyo. This weekend, I made a trip to Tokyo for shopping. My favorite place to shop in Tokyo is Shibuya. When I first arrived in Japan, I thought for sure that Harajuku would be my shopping area, but I have definitely changed my mind. Although, there is an H&M and Forever 21 in Harajuku, these places are ridiculously busy. I would rather not have to push my way through people to try on clothes that have been tread and handled by a million people. I understand the appeal of Forever 21, extremely cheap main-stream fashion released quickly, but I feel it is missing something, which is mostly quality. Although a lot of the clothes are bargains, these clothes also look cheap. If you are willing to work your way around 1,000 people in the store, you could probably find a few pieces, which would be a nice addition to your clothes collection though. Also, topshop is in Harajuku. I would have to say I am really disappointed with it though. I have not bought anything from there since I got here. I have still been buying all my topshop from online, mostly, because the store in Harajuku is so small and extremely overpriced.

In Shibuya, people seem to have better style than in Harajuku. It seems to be more tasteful. In Shibuya, there is a much nicer H&M than in Harajuku. On the bottom floor is their more expensive pieces, which seems to be lost in the Harajuku store. Also, there is a really nice, huge Zara. I also really enjoy going to Shibuya 109. Most of my foreign friends hate shopping in Japan, mostly, because foreigners are nowhere near the size of Japanese people. However, my body type is really comparable to most Japanese women other than me being taller, which really doesn’t affect me all that much because I never wear pants other than at work. The sizes in Japan actually fit me a lot better than in America. Also, the options are much better.

This weekend, I bought a pair of flats from Rezoy. This is by far my favorite shoe store in Japan. I have already bought two pairs of shoes from there. It is in the basement of 109. Also, I bought two dresses from H&M. Beadwork and metal is definitely in this season on shirtdresses. Also, I bought a washed-out denim shirt from Cecil McBee. This is a new spring fashion. You pair a loose denim shirt with a flower-print dress, a belt, and a pair of leggings. Also, short, flowy print skirts are in too. I bought one of these from Zara. I thought big thick-rimmed glasses were approaching their last leg, but it seems to still be going strong in Tokyo.

This type of glasses is still very popular in Tokyo. I thought it might be approaching its end, but it seems like it is still going to be popular for a while in Tokyo.

This is the newest spring fashion. Lots of stores are getting light-washed denim shirts in their stores. Lots of people are pairing it with a flower-print dress and a belt. Oh and definitely roll up the sleeves.

This isn't the best example because this shirtdress isn't that great looking. I had trouble finding an example on the internet, but beadwork and metal on dresses is very popular, especially around the shoulder area.

Tokyo

Unfortunately, I forgot my camera this weekend when I went to Tokyo with Julie. The first day in Tokyo, we visited Yoyogi Park. There were some people there dressed similar to Elvis. I was super disappointed though because someone had recommended watching the Elvis-like people dance, but it was totally lame. After this, we discovered Harajuku with the wonders of Topshop, H&M, and streets with cute little random shops. I was beyond happy to discover that there was a Pizza Express there, but it was booked for a party. I'm definitely going back for some food though on the next trip. That night, we wondered around for a while in Shinjuku. We met some really nice people. A girl at a restaurant kept talking to us and helped us improve our Japanese. There were also some really creepy people on the streets though. Some older man kept talking to us at a street-crossing and kept trying to buy us a coffee. It was slightly strange. The next day, we visited Sensoji Temple and Akihabara. I'm not all that into electronics, so it was kind of boring in Akihabara. There were like 100 people standing outside the electronics stores playing their Nintindo DS too. I think I need to explore Akihabara more because I feel like things a bit farther away from the station would be cool. This weekend, I'm going to Yokohama for a Shimizu S-pulse game, so I'll try to talk loads of pictures.