DO YOU HAVE A THING FOR WALL ART & MURALS TOO?

oh… I do love a good mural and a splash of street art.

Here are my favourites so far…. (I also recommend taking long, leisurely walks through Shimokitazawa and the backstreets in Harajuku.)
*I plan on adding more as I go.

This is at Takadanobaba Station. This is the area where Osamu Tezuka set his animation series Astro Boy. ( This was also the location of Tezuka productions.)
The two reasons that I think Astro Boy fans will like a quick visit to this station are: the giant Astro Boy (and other characters) mural just outside the station and ALSO listening to the music played at Takadanobaba station every time a train leaves the station. It’s the Astro Boy theme song!!!
Someone put it on Youtube here.
* Just a heads up, in Japan – the character is called Atom (pronounced Atomu or called Tetsuwan Atomu) , not Astro Boy.
Understandably, my kids had no idea who these characters were but were kind enough to indulge me.

The street signs and other signs in windows are a reminder that you’re in Tezuka territory.

For more ideas for things to do in this area – see here.

This is at the Nicolai Bergmann Cafe ‘Nomu’ in Aoyama.
And the wall is laden with flowers of the season.

For all the details see my Tokyo Flower Cafes post.

This is at the Newoman Food Hall – which I only recently discovered. There are so many beautiful eateries inside and (unlike the Food Hall in Ebisu that I found to be so disappointing) it has a range of different types of food and it’s just such a beautiful use of space.
The entire hall is open until 4am and is completely non-smoking until 11pm.

NEWOMAN FOOD HALL
新宿区新宿4-1-6
4-1-6 SHINJUKU, SHINJUKU
OPEN EVERYDAY 7AM-4AM
DEPARTMENT STORE WEBSITE

If caffeine calls, the mural game for the new (well….new-ish… it opened in July 2017…) Starbucks in Ebisu is pretty strong.

STARBUCKS, EBISU UNION BUILDING
渋谷区恵比寿南1-2-10
1-2-10 EBISU-MINAMI, SHIBUYA
OPEN 6:30AM-10:30PM (OPENS AT 7AM ON FRIDAYS AND WEEKENDS)
WEBSITE

Around the corner from Reissue coffee shop in Harajuku you’ll find this beautiful mural created by Zio Ziegler in conjuction with shoe designer Vans and fashion outlet Beams.