Shibuya is a trendy shopping area suitable for young people. It''s expensive like everywhere in Japan but you are more likely to find affordable things than you would in Shinjuku or particularly Ginza, which has all the best jewelers, designer shops, etc.

I would recommend Harajuku for shopping on Sundays during the summer. There is a great variety of shops, including accessories, all kinds of alternative styles, and an abundance of cafes and small restaurants. If you want to experience the eccentricities of Japanese youth culture, it is the place to be. The reason I mention Sundays is that next to Meiji-Jingumae Subway station, at the entrance to the park, you will find hoardes of young people dressed in constume, often big black dresses, lots of make-up and shoes with gigantic heels. They love to pose and be photographed, so don''t be shy!

Of course, there is also the fabulous Meiji-Jingu shrine inside Yoyogi park, very much worth a visit on a sunny day. There is a cafe and souvenir shop with plenty of touristy stuff if you like that kind of thing.

Shibuya is the place to go to see Tokyo’s youth culture, office ladies spending recklessly as well as some of the chicest neighborhoods. An invisible barrier separates the areas but you’ll know it when you’ve changed from one to the other.

Shibuya station area is famous as a shopper’s paradise for younger office ladies. Office ladies, or OLs in Japanese-speak, are famous for staying for free with their parents, earning a salary and spending it all on themselves. Many Western magazines have written about them of late, as they are the only consumers in Japan who are spending money at the moment and doing their bit to keep the economy going. Here you can see the latest fashions - fashions that often change by the week. CD recordings last only three days on the top hit parade in this part of town then it is passé. It is a fun area to walk in and some of the mainly clothing shops may be surprisingly reasonably priced, as many shoppers are students who can’t afford the more glitzy OL haunts.

It is a short walk from Shibuya to Harajuku (or one stop on the JR Yamanote line). Walk on the left of the railway if you want to see some of the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Stadiums. Just before reaching Harajuku is the entrance to Meiji Jingu Shrine - a must see. If you want to see more shops, walk to the right of the railway up Meiji Dori.

In Harajuku, and especially Takeshite Dori, the age of shoppers drops to high and junior high school level. It is crowded, it is noisy, it is busy and the quality and prices are a lot lower than in Shibuya. The area between Harajuku station and the entrance to the shrine is famous on Sundays for schoolgirls dressing and making up in the most ridiculous outfits imaginable. Most love to be photographed and are happy to pose.

If you stroll down the wide tree lined Omotesando Dori, often called the Champs Elysee of Tokyo, the atmosphere changes. The shops and coffee shops become more up-market as you enter the area known as Aoyama. On the left of the avenue are several three and four story older buildings - these were part of the Olympic village and were due for demolition to make place for more boutiques until some conservationists intervened. There seem to be some dispute over whether the buildings must be preserved and who are going to finance the upkeep as Japanese buildings are commonly designed to last less than 40 years and these ones are literally crumbling and not of much architectural value.

Other buildings in this avenue include TAG Heuer, Gucci, Calvin Klein, Issey Miyake, Pleats please, Comme de garcon, Shu Uemura and Emporio Armani. Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior are currently erecting new buildings here. A nice place to stop for coffee and totally in harmony with the area is the faux French Café Anniversaire.