Tokyo Day 4

I've lost my super powers!!



In rural Japan I was like a king. I commanded crowds and instilled fear into the locals simply through my presence. I had no difficulty moving through a crowd of thousands. My minions would simply sweep themselves aside at the sight of me. I was going to Tokyo to declare this country my own, thoroughly assured that I would be offered no opposition, and then the wheels fell off.



As one might expect, Tokyo has a culture and life of its own. One that is completely separate to what have I have encountered in the rest of Japan so far. There are also a lot more foreigners in Tokyo, so I no longer command any attention or surprise. I've been relegated from my comfortable position as a god to simply being a common tourist. But, it was good while it lasted.



While I've been walking around this incredible city I've been tossing around the concept of how to adequately explain it to you. So far, I'm coming up dry. Every aspect of Tokyo is unique to itself. The first thing you would notice when you arrive is the sheer number of people in this place. To put it into contrast allow me to reference it by where you probably are. For those in Brisbane, your sunny city has an area of 5904.8 km² and a population of 1.8 million. Melbourne is quite a bit larger, with an area of 8831 km² and a population of 3.7 million. Tokyo is easily the most populated city in the world. The total area of Tokyo only amounts to 2,187.08 km² but the population occupying that area is a staggering 12.7 million. The "Greater Tokyo Area" (13,500 km²), which includes the area around Tokyo Bay, and the airport, brings the total up to a mind blowing 35.1 million people.



The geography of Tokyo is pretty confusing at first as well. It's split up into a series of cities, over 50 in total, much like the way Melbourne is split up into the different councils. It is however pretty hard to figure out where one city ends and where another one starts. I took a walking tour on my first day here and after 3 hours of nonstop walking, I had only managed to pass from one city (Akasaka) into a small part of another city (Yotsuya, Shinjuku). At any rate, there's simply no way that I could express how incredibly this place is to you. You'll simply have to come and see it for yourself.



So, that's enough education for now. Let me bring you up to speed on what I've been doing.



On my first full day here, as I mentioned, I took a walking tour and just basically jumped on a few trains and got off at random places. My goal was to get a feel for the city and how its laid out, without having to always refer to a map. The first stop was Harujuku, one of the main cities within Tokyo. This place is almost solely reserved for the, I hate to say, crazy teenage crowd, with a particular emphasis on the emo or goth style (I know they're technically different, before anybody arcs up). After walking through a very crowded market area I eventually stumbled upon a subway station and headed off to Asakasa, a medium size city within Tokyo.



It was in Asakasa that I finally realised what all the fuss was about. Japan's most widely known unique aspect is easily the Sakura plant. These magnificant trees will flower for only one or two weeks a year, at the beginning of spring. During the bloom, the whole tree is essentially just one big flower. The Japanese use this occasion to celebrate the coming of spring with a party known as 'hanamisake' which is a composite of three separate words: 'flower', 'see', 'drink'. This is basically what they do. The Japanese gather in parks filled with these trees and sit under them and drink and behave in a very non-Japanese way. For a quiet and reserved people, the hanamisake parties are basically as crazy as they come.

I feel very fortunate as I had some friends who took me out to Ueno Park, one of the main areas for hanamisake, and we sat and drank and watched two nights in a row. Simply incredibly. You may see photos of Sakura, but they simply cannot do justice to the try beauty of this plant when it is in bloom.

After my first night of hanamisake a Japanese friend of mine and I headed out to Shibuya, the one of the more cosmopolitan cities in Tokyo, to go night clubbing. Certainly an interesting experience especially if you happen to be the only foreigner inside a particular night club. There is a type of girl in Japan knowing as the 'gaijin (foreigner) hunter', who will go to clubs just for the sole purpose of meeting foreigners. If you step into a nightclub and you're the only foreigner, you will immediately notice the suggestive looks of the hunters, and the 'try it and die' looks of their repsective partners. To be perfectly honest with you, I avoided them. If you don't understand why, then I really can't explain it. While clubbing was an interesting and expensive experience, even now, 48 hours later, my ears are still ringing.

Day 3 was a write off. I got home at about 6am, slept till 1pm, and laid in bed feeling sorry for myself until about 6pm when I finally headed off to Ueno Park again for more Hanamisake. I had a relatively early night and got home at about 1am and headed straight to bed.

Today I followed my usual pattern of wake up and walk around. I tried to walk as far away from the crowds as possible, hoping to pass into areas that weren't so common and well known to the usual foreigner crowds. I succeeded in finding a traditional residential area that I walked through for about 2 hours until I finally got myself back on the right track and headed off to Akihabara to meet some friends for a bit of window shopping.

Akihabara is the 'electric town' in Tokyo, and is basically a big sprawl of discount electronics shops. It's absolutely amazing that I managed to walk away without buying anything. I did however discover the startling fact that one of my friends from Japanese school, who returns to Melbourne tomorrow, had completely bypassed the hot canned coffee phenomenon. I could have slapped him, and he would have deserved it. I gladly offered him my can, and purchased a replacement. As with me, he was quite impressed. It's still easily the best coffee I've found in Japan. (By the way, if you're voting for the number of cans of coffee I'll drink before I leave, you can completely forget about voting for less than 30 now :)

While in Akihabara we popped along to a cultural delight that could only exist in the nerdiest town in Japan: the maid cafe. Its hard to describe, but it's basically like a normal cafe but all the staff are very attractive Japanese girls who are all wearing maid outfits. What was surprising was that the cafe we went to had more female customers than male customers, and some of the customers would even pay to wear a costume of their own and have their photo taken in it. If that doesn't tell you how crazy this place it, I don't know what will.

Following Akihabara we went to get some make-it-yourself Okonomiyaki, or Japanese pancake, which was delicious. The people next to us were making theirs using Natto, a fermented soy bean speciality that basically smells like feet after a marathon... actually... more like a homeless mans feet after a marathon. The scent alone is enough to make you puke. Our considerate neighbours overheard my surprise at their meal choice and proceeded to offer me a spoon full, which I reluctantly accepted at the behest of my friends. I have to say, for something that smelt and looked like wet dog, it wasn't so bad. But I have to be honest, given the choice, I'd eat the rooster balls again instead.

Tomorrow I'll be heading off to the Tokyo Bay area and then to a science museum, following which I'll probably just do more walking around. Much to my surprise, instead of gaining weight in Japan, so far I've actually lost a couple of kilos :D

Take care everyone!
Mike