Explore Your Local Area and Win a Trip to Tokyo!

The Japanese sports lifestyle brand Onitsuka Tiger’s Spring Summer 2014 campaign ‘My Town My Tracks’ is about people exploring their urban environments and showing off the things about these that inspire them. The brand has got a competition to reinforce this by getting everyone to do the same. ’Snap your Tracks’ for a chance to win a trip to Tokyo for you and three friends. Here’s what Mitch had to say about his ends:

Stay in London too long and it’s easy to forget that you’re living in a cultural epicentre, choosing to spend every evening binging on Netflix instead of the musical gluttony of Britain’s capital city. Wherever you head, North, South, East, West, each coordinate has its staple venues, shops, scenes and weird figureheads.

Each scene resonates with someone, and six months into my return, I found myself spending a lot of time in Shoreditch. Yes, I understand that it’s a cliché, a stand-point location for broadsheet journos to jeer and point their fingers at. But beneath all the sneering, it’s still a massive variety box of sights and sounds.

Walk along the cobbled streets of Brick Lane, debating whether a curry-deal is really worth it, and you’ll arrive at 93 Feet East. Their “anything goes” music policy makes it an ideal introduction for any Shoreditch first-timers. It's also guaranteed to please those mates who claim they're happy to go anywhere, but aren't really ready to get all Human Traffic in an abandoned warehouse just yet. They’ll be pleased with you, too, when you introduce them to the courtyard. An added bonus area that comes fully loaded with places to grab a variety of different, surprisingly decent (once you've had a pint or three) choices of street cuisine, which is basically what heaven is, right? Food, drinks, and music, all in one place.

The Old Blue Last, standing like a monolith on the corner of Great Eastern Street, is probably the most versatile musical establishment in the area. Downstairs, DJs will play literally anything from post-cloud-rap hip-hop through to disco and obscure Joy Division b-sides. This is reflected in their live roster, with everyone from Cancer Bats and Owen through to Lil B and Kylie Minogue having played the venue’s hallowed rustic space in recent years. Prepare to get hot though, the venue's 120 capacity space will usually get filled very quickly, leaving you to work out whether the sweat on your shirt belongs to you or someone else. Believe me, it's not a party up there until the floor is bowing. I once tried to crowdsurf at a Gallows show there. Nobody caught me. FML.

Finally, once you’ve doused yourself in enough alcohol at the Old Blue Last or 93 Feet East, you’ll want to head out. There are about 150 different options but since there’s a word limit, what follows are my favourites.

The first, is bassweight mecca Plastic People. After entering a small door on Curtain Road and literally going underground, Plastic People relies less on shallow visual facades and more on celebrating the best sounds that electronic music has to offer. The club itself is rooted in London's musical underbelly, playing host to FWD>>; a night that celebrates the best in London's holy trinity – garage, grime, and dubstep. With its sub-heavy speakers embedded within the walls, Plastic People is a must for those who like their music cutting edge, authentic, and under the cloak of darkness.

Hidden along the side of Cowper street, a 5 minute walk from Old Street station, XOYO is quite possibly East London's most popular venue. A space devoted to the best in live music during the week, XOYO transforms into a notorious nightlife spot come the weekend – if you can get in before it sells out. My last birthday celebrations were spent in the basement room during Benji B's infamous Deviation night. After about £90 worth of Gin (which is admittedly not as many drinks as you'd think), I had to be physically held down from taking off as Kaytranada played Robb Bank$ and Denzel Curry and signed the night off by swinging my shirt over my head as Oneman played Skepta's 'I Spy'. Basically, you would've hated me. Admittedly, my karma came when I slept on the nightbus home and was forced to walk a few miles back in the opposite direction in the pissing rain.

East London isn’t a hub of beards, wholefood eateries, and a victim to Nathan Barley’s self-fulfilling prophecy. It’s music scene is multi-dimensionsal, and there’s much more to it than a £7 pint and avoiding glares from strangers because you’re wearing the wrong pair of shoes. The best part of Shoreditch is the cultural variety between each part of the district, with each section presenting its own individual, yet effortlessly cool atmosphere. The truth is, now I'm back, I don't think I'll ever take it for granted again.

If you value the street culture in your area and want to win an AMAZING prize, then all you need to do is upload an original picture of Onitsuka Tiger’s Shaw Runner shoe in your favourite neighbourhood using the hashtag #shawrunner.

The grand prize is a trip to Tokyo for the winner and three friends. For more details click here.

The trip has a maximum total value of €20,000 and includes:

4 economy class return tickets to Tokyo from a major European airport

4 nights’ hotel accommodation for 4 people in Tokyo (4 x single rooms or equivalent)

Entry for 4 people to 2 selected Tokyo museums or events

Dinner for 4 people at 2 selected Tokyo restaurants

The trip must take place between 15.06.2014 and 15.07.2014