The wizarding world comes to the Harajuku fashion district.
As the primary boulevard of Tokyo’s trendy Harajuku neighborhood, Omotesando is lined with fashion emporiums for some of the world’s top apparel and accessory brands. However, the latest big name to take up residence on the street comes not from the fashion world, but from the wizarding world, as this week marks the grand opening of the Harry Potter Shop Harajuku.
The massive store is made up of multiple sections focusing on different aspects and locales of the Harry Potter universe, including a Butterbeer Bar, the first cafe in the country outside of an amusement park or museum to serve up the series’ beloved beverage.
Greeting visitors on the first floor, in the Forbidden Forest area, is a full-scale statue of Buckbeak the hippogriff. Crafted by visual effects artists who worked on the Harry Potter movies, Buckbeak’s feathers and facial features are so true to his onscreen depiction that we expect more than a few visitors to bow to him, or at least do so inside their hearts.
Buckbeak is far from the only enchanted beast you’ll encounter inside the store. Peer into the trunk of this tree, for example, and you’ll find a Pickett.
Look up, and you’ll also spot several owls, either perched on trees or flying across the sky, perhaps en route to deliver important messages.
The theming is so thorough that we were enjoying ourselves even before we started looking at the merch, such as the shirts, caps, mugs, and robes of Hogwarts’ four houses in the House Pride corner.
Also on the first floor is a collection of Harry Potter Shop Harajuku-exclusive items. Rather than show favoritism to any one house, these are done in stylishly underrated color schemes, and they feature the kanji for Harajuku (原宿) for extra souvenir suitability.
We’re still on just the first floor, but we’ve got one more stop before we head upstairs: Harajuku’s very own Honeydukes, stocked with real-world versions of Harry Potter candies and some matcha-flavored themed sweets as well.
Okay, now it’s time to take the elevator up to the second floor, and even that is a treat for fans, as it really wraps you in the atmosphere of trying to make your way out of the Forbidden Forrest.
The second floor also has a Honeydukes corner, but this one sports a photo spot.
The MinaLima art gallery has beautiful pieces on display and for sale.
But the most exciting shopping experience has to be the wand shop section.
There are dozens of wands on display, including intricately detailed recreations of specific characters’ wands as seen in the movies. There’s such a wide variety that some shoppers might not know where to start in narrowing down their selection, but the expert wand salespeople on hand are happy to explain their differences and help you find the one that’s just right for you.
Between the wand shop and fitting rooms for robes that you can purchase with customized name embroidering, this part of the store makes Omotesando feel like Diagon Alley.
And last, as promised, the Butterbeer Bar.
Until now, if you found yourself fancying a butterbeer here in the real world, you needed to head either to the Wizarding World area inside Universal Studios Japan in Osaka or to the Warner Bros. Studio Tour Tokyo–The Making of Harry Potter walkthrough museum in Tokyo’s Nerima Ward, each of which require you to purchase a ticket to enter. Not even the Tokyo Harry Potter popup cafe had the drink on its menu, but at Harry Potter Shop Harajuku, the butterbeer flows freely.
In addition to an 800-yen (US$5.40) butterbeer (which is a delightful chilled carbonated elixir with butterscotch and cream flavors), we also enjoyed a cup of salty caramel butterbeer ice cream (600 yen), topped with butterbeer foam and caramel sauce.
On the savory side, we had a tasty Buckbeak Bun (800 yen) with a cheese pizza sauce filling, and also picked up some icing cookies (three for 2,000 yen) to take home.
The Harry Potter Shop Harajuku has its grand opening to the public on August 14.
Shop information
Harry Potter Shop Harajuku / ハリー・ポッター ショップ 原宿
Address: Tokyo-to, Shibuya-ku, Jingumae 6-31-17
東京都渋谷区神宮前6丁目31番17号
Open 11 a.m.-9 p.m.
Website
Photos © SoraNews24
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