Gothica Style Online

Harajuku ( "meadow lodging") is the common name for the area around Harajuku Station on the Yamanote Line in the Shibuya ward of Tokyo, Japan. The area is known internationally for its youth style and fashion. Harajuku street style is promoted in Japanese and international publications such as Kera, Tune, Gothic & Lolita Bible and Fruits.

The term "Harajuku Girls" has been used by English-language media to describe teenagers dressed in any fashion style who are in the area of Harajuku.These girls may be members of various sub-cultures including Gothic Lolita, Ganguro, Gyaru, and Kogal, or may often cosplay as characters from an anime, movie, or manga .

In the 1980s large numbers of street performers and wildly dressed teens including takenoko-zoku ( "bamboo-shoot kids") gathered on Omotesandō and the street that passes through Yoyogi Park on Sundays when the streets were closed to traffic. The streets were reopened to traffic in the 90s, and a great number of teens stopped gathering there. Today there are still teenagers hanging out in Harajuku, mostly on the bridge across the train tracks from Harajuku station to Yoyogi Park.

Visual kei is associated with Harajuku. In attendance one will find Visual kei cosplayers (those dressed as their favorite bands) and those in the Gothic Lolita subculture/fashion.