When in Japan: Omotesando Hills, Tokyo's Champs-Elysees

Where: Along Meiji Dori

Scene: Window shopping

Everything happens for a reason; this much is true. Point in case: a mid-morning wardrobe malfunction while on a fashion safari in the Minato Ward. No problem. I was in Aoyama, one of Tokyo's fashionable districts offering a smorgasbord of local and global brands. Wardrobe replacement won't be a problem. 

The setting: an organic clothing boutique. I was engrossed with the pure cotton garments tinted with natural dyes, scouring the shelves from top to bottom. Lowering into a squat, a horrific sound echoed in the room. It wasn't gas expelled but of ripping trousers. No witnesses. No worries. I was in a fashion center and a wardrobe replacement was easily remedied. 

Resuming the safari, I arrived in Omotesando.

The Zelkova trees lining this famous street, one of Tokyo’s busiest, somehow balance the urban scene. It's a refreshing sight, but what flanks it is even prettier—the flagship stores of global luxury brands. The shops are like artworks, architectural showcases designed by internationally renowned architects: Aoki for Louis Vuitton, Herzog & de Meuron for Prada, SANAA for Dior, to name a few, and as striking were the boutiques of Gucci, Chanel, Cartier, Chloe and Armani. The registers of these brands are ringing. It's not surprising; the Asian market has the moolah. 

The side streets are worth checking out. It houses eye-catching boutiques of local labels, charming coffee shops. Cat Street on the Omotesando's northern side is one. The pedestrian only road offers a younger and funky vibe to shopping and dining at no designer label cost. It was so great to lose myself in this maze.

Although the area doesn’t have as much shops as there is in Ginza, Omotesando is often referred to as “Tokyo’s Champs-Elysees.” Maybe because of the long avenue, maybe because of the trees flanking the road, maybe because at the end of the road there is another famous sight one must reach and see, as the Arc de Triomphe is to Champs-Elysees. Omotesando is the same. Created in the Tashio era, it is the road that leads to the Meiji Jingu Shrine, another of Shibuya’s must visit sight. Omotesando comes from "omote", meaning “frontal” and "sando", means “approach.”

And the Meiji Jingu is where the avenue is leading me to now.