Tokyo - part II

I continued my Tokyo adventures after two days away from the capital (which I’ll share in the next post), starting from Akihabara (秋葉原), district known for its electronics, all weirdness associated with manga and anime – from shops selling merchandise to so called maid cafes – and the recently very popular pop band, AKB48 (AKB from AKihaBara).

Yodobashi Camera, one of the biggest electronics store chains in Japan.

In fact how much one spends there depeneds only on an individual. And maybe their wallet. If someone’s looking for cheap electronics, you could spend days in Akihabara, walking from shop to shop and comparing prices. A lot of them offer stuff that’ll work in foreign countries, I think in all of them, if you spend more than a certain amount, you get a tax return (straight away, according to the Internet), and if you’ve the time, the energy and the will, it’s certainly worth going further to browse through the used electronics shops. In Japan even used things, be it clothes or electronics, are usually in very good condition and with electronics you just have to watch out for whether you’ll be able to use it back home. In this case knowing Japanese or having someone who does certainly helps, but at the same time a lot of the shops, especially those with new stuff, have foreign staff, from India or China, who will know some English (and probably some other foreign languages too).

In my opinion, even though I’ve only walked around the bigger stores and looked only at cameras and laptops, you’re probably best off if you either buy things that aren’t available in the West (some are definitely to be found, when you look), or looking through used stuff. After all, Japan isn’t the cheapest of countries and while I understand that for the Japanese a 50% off laptops from Y100’000 to Y50’000 makes a difference (here a price for a made in Japan Toshiba laptop, 17” if I remember correctly), tourists can probably find better deals on sales in their own countries or looking through the Internet. Sure, it may not be a Made in Japan Toshiba, but then if price is the most important, then you probably won’t be looking at Made in Japan Toshiba anyway, will you?

Since I’m not that big on manga or anime, I did not go to those shops. As a curiosity, I went to the kind of famous seven storey sex shop, m’s, but I admit, I left slightly disappointed. Sure, seven storeys sounds impressive, makes you wonder how much could they possibly have there, yet in reality one floor is the size of a small studio flat. Moreover, and against expectations, after all many of us have heard of Japanese porn, maybe even seen some, I didn’t find that many weird things. I didn’t look at the films, no outrageous costumes or lingerie, some toys were more electronified, but still things you could find in the West… Probably the only real oddity was the realistic sex dolls. They did not look like real girls, but they also weren’t your standard cheap blow up plastic ones. More interesting than the dolls themselves were the accessories: everything from clothes and wigs all the way to bigger boobs. Like person, like doll?

I’m also not a fan of AKB48, most of the time they make me cringe because of the objectification and sexualisation of those girls (one double entendre on top of another in the video clips, voters being mainly middle-aged men and not teenagers, and the youngest members being about thirteen – how can one not cringe?), but I couldn’t help noticing that AKB48 was everywhere. They even have their own café, right by the train station, where, if you’re lucky, you can drink something, buy some merchandise and maybe watch a music video or a concert on the TV. Though even if I was a fan, the queue would probably discourage me…

After Akihabara it was time for Roppongi (六本木). Roppongi is basically made out of clubs and it’s rather pointless to go there during the day. Were it not that I had an appetite for trying Japanese burlesque, I’d probably never go there just because I’m not the clubbing type. Now I know that I’d regret a little, since other than clubs there’s plenty of foreign cuisine, which is more to my taste – I wanted to eat something in the Russian one, to satisfy my Eastern European cravings, but unfortunately that day was impossible to get in without a reservation. Pity.

As it turned out, I also didn’t get to experience Japanese burlesque. At first I was put off by the price: on a half-price deal it was still over Y8000 for one hour! That’s about £46 – the Wet Spot in Leeds, which I try to go as often as possible, is only £12 for the whole night! Later, upon closer inspection of the poster, I was put off by another thing: in Japan burlesque was grouped together with host clubs. What’s a host club? Let’s put it this way, a modern day host club is what a teahouse is for a geisha: a place to entertain your client, pour his drinks, and flirt with him. I’ve no idea how Japanese burlesque performers can agree to this, especially since I know some of them performed in the US or the UK where burlesque is, well, burlesque, closer to theatres than strip clubs, but it’s probably not up to me to dwell into that. I feel that even if I did try going in, I’d either be denied entry, or felt extremely uncomfortable and unsafe.

So instead I went briefly to Korea Town, Shin-Ōkubo (新大久保), where I had one of my favourite dishes in the world, bibimbap. Also for the first time I had the chance to try some Korean salads with this and out of three that I was served only one was a tad weird.

Bargain!

Practically giving it away for free!

The furthest one was a bit weird. The other two - delicious!

Bibimbap!

My adventures continued in Chiyoda (千代田), where the Imperial Palace and government buildings are. I figured that since I’m not only a Japanologist, but also a student of Japanese Politics, it’d be a sin not to see the place where the politicians argue, where the PM has his office etc. In the end I was glad I did some research and knew what to expect, as most of the buildings looked more like plain offices than government offices. On the one hand I can get that: in the past Tokyo was frequently destroyed by fires, and then during WWII it was quite heavily bombed, but it’s still a little weird to me, especially compared to buildings of the parliaments in other countries. Of them all only the National Diet Building, Kokkai Gijidō (国会議事堂), is genuinely pretty to look at.

The National Diet Building.

The National Diet Building.

Not sure if that's their HQ, but the banner on top does have the name of the party currently in power, the LDP, Jiyū-Minshutō.

As it also turned out, a Japanese Politics student can’t just walk around that area. I saw some poster and stopped to read what it was about. A brief moment later a lady attending to it came up and we ended up having a short conversation, once we established that I can speak and read Japanese. The poster was spreading awareness about the suppression of Falun Gong practitioners in China. It ended up with me getting not just leaflets and a translated paper by some Canadian lawyer, but also a Y3000 gift card to access the TV channel about that ran by some Chinese people living in the US. “Because you’re a student”, that’s what the lady said. I’m telling you: if you study Japanese Politics, you can’t walk around there without getting yourself involved in something.

Once that sunk in, I headed for the Palace. It just happened that that day was rainy, which wasn’t great for visiting the gardens, but I did see something. Let me put it this way: it’s good that the Emperor has his gardens coz otherwise he’d be looking out of the window at unattractive buildings – and people would be looking into his bedroom. Moreover, after visiting the Kanazawa Castle, for someone who’s not an expert, like me, the Imperial Palace looks very similar, at least on the outside. Since the imperial family lives there, it’s not accessible for the public; for a small fare Eastern Gardens can be visited, but that’s it.

In front of the Palace.

Statue of Kusunoki Masashige (楠正成像), known as the ideal of samurai loyalty.

That same day very unexpectedly I also had a chance to meet another Tokyo celebrity, the great, one and only… Godzilla! Yes, purely by chance, not even knowing that it existed and not looking for it, while looking for a nice place for lunch, I stumbled upon Godzilla’s statue. If anyone’s interested and going to Tokyo, then from the Palace head for the buildings and then, entering the widest street, keep straight until the next turn right.

While looking for a place to rest a bit – again, accidentally – I ended the day in Yūrakuchō (有楽町). There’s nothing unusual there, some shops, shopping centres etc., but for me it was another little geek out, as one of my favourite Japanese songs is entitled „Yūrakuchō de aimashō” (eng. „Let’s Meet in Yūrakuchō”). And even though not it’s just another urban piece of town, at night, once the Christmas lights were lit, I could easily imagined what Yūrakuchō must’ve looked like in the 50’s, when Frank Nagai was singing about it. Even now it’s a slightly posher bit of the city, so sixty years ago it must’ve seemed even more luxurious…

And essentially this is where my stories of Tokyo itself end. I definitely planned more time for it than I really needed and about 3-4 days before departure I was missing Kanazawa (where there are places to rest and some greenery, where the people seem a bit friendlier, nevermind that there’s less of them). Sure, there’s plenty of places I didn’t visit, but I think that the most Tokyo-like ones I got to know well enough, especially Harajuku and Shibuya, where there were so many things to buy. I also came to the conclusion that I wouldn’t be able to live there, there’re too many people – though at the same time I can’t say that I dislike Tokyo. It’d probably be different if I had a place I could call my own as opposed to just being a guest, but still, I found the places around Tokyo charmed me a lot more. In the end I don’t have to decide whether to live there or not; I did return with some cute stiff and good memories, even if very tired, and in its own way Tokyo has managed to find a tiny spot in my heart.

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Tokyo - part I

I came to the conclusion that posting things chronologically, as I visited them, wouldn’t be practical. So, even though the first post is an exception as it is about my first dat in Tokyo, the other two will be a bit mixed. I apologise in advance if anywhere gets chaotic and I’d like to inform you in advance that all three posts will be rather big (both in terms of the writing and pictures), which may be a problem for those of you with slower Internet. But I hope that the contents will be worth it.

It’d seem appropriate to start from the beginning, that is from the moment I boarded the night bus bound for Tokyo. And let me tell you, that was quite a surprise – a good one. Being used to the National Express, I expected something more or less the same. Oh no, my lovelies! First I was informed by the driver where is my seat (there’s no option of buying it in advance and I don’t know how they are assigned). As it turned out, window or aisle seat, it made no difference as the curtains were shut and zipped to stay in place – after all it is a night bus and effort was made to make sure that the passengers had a good environment to sleep. But here came the biggest shock: on every seat there was a blanket and a pillow, and everyone got a disposable pair of slippers (which could be kept). After such treatment, even if they could turn the light off a bit earlier than after the last stop before Tokyo itself, it’ll be very difficult to go back to National Express…

Once I finally arrived in the capital, my first real stop (other than the drop off place and the metro stations) was Shibuya (渋谷), known globally as the place to shop and home to one of the most famous Japanese pictures: the scramble crossing. At six-something/seven am on a Sunday even in Tokyo there is less people (though to say “a little” would be an exaggeration), which meant that I got a window seat in Starbucks facing the crossing. Priceless, even if the rising sun did blind me right until staff shut the blinds a little.

While having tea and a sandwich I waited for a friend of mine, who hosted me for the first three nights, and then we went straight on, heading first for nothing else but the famous Harajuku (原宿).

Harajuku is known in Japan, and across the world, as the heart of all that’s sweet, cute, lovely and what not, mainly in terms of fashion and accessories, but not limited to that. Whoever watched the Kyary Pamyu Pamyu video in the previous post, imagine a whole street like that, but with more pink and more people, and you’ll have a pretty good image of the most famous street in Harajuku: Takeshita-dōri (竹下通り). I won’t lie, upon seeing all these sweet, cute, lovely things, most of which also sparkled, the kitsch-loving magpie in me jumped in joy – my wallet less so, since I spent most of my money in Harajuku, but let’s not dwell on that too much.

View from below.

View from Bodyline's balcony (lolita clothing shop).

And the other side of the balcony view.

Cute murderous teddies.

Awesome grafitti hidden in between buildings.

What’s interesting, other than the loud and eye-hurting capital of sweet, cute and lovely, Harajuku also has a piece of more traditional Japan to offer: the Meiji Shrine (明治神宮). I must’ve mentioned it already that unless one is very interested in Japanese shrines and/or Shintō deities, then seeing a couple of shrines and temples in Japan means you’ve seen them all. However, Meiji-jingu differs in terms of scale – I think I’ve only seen shrines this big in Kyōtō. Moreover, since Meiji-jingu is a popular tourist spot, it’s hard to find this peaceful atmosphere that aids deep thoughts, though if you are looking for an escape from the noise of Takeshita-dōri, this shrine will certainly do and it is literally only a few minutes’ walk away.

And again I stumbled upon newlyweds after a Shintō ceremony.

Having eaten a little, my friend and me jumped in the metro, this time heading for Asakusa (浅草). A digression: if anyone is going to Tokyo, bear in mind that this is not a city to sit. Practically not at all. I only know of one park in Tokyo, Yoyogi, and to go there just to sit down seems a bit, well, pointles (for the locals Yoyogi is an escape from the concrete all around and a place of many interesting events, but other than that it’s just a park and as far as I know tourists don’t really go there). Just-benches to sit down in places also don’t exist, even the train/metro stations veeery rarely have a place to sit down. In order to do that and let your legs rest, you must either have some luck in the metro (and even then you won’t be sat down for long), or pay somewhere for a drink or some food and, along with that, the privilege of sitting down – and hope that there will be a sitting place available and, for non-smoking people, that none of the people around you will smoke (in Japan there’s no ban on smoking in public places and only some restaurants/fast-foods have seats/floors for smoking and non-smoking people). And if you do decide to go with the latter option, hold onto your seat for as long as you possibly can, until they literally throw you out – which is easy enough to do – because you never know when will be the next chance for your legs to rest a bit. I have bruises on my legs where I tucked my jeans into my boots from walking day til night, and I did allow myself some breaks in cafes or other MackyD’s.

Still! Asakusa. Other than being known for cheapest hostels until recently (though they’re still quite cheap, I checked), it’s most known for the Buddhist Sensō-ji (浅草寺). And for the street leading up to it which is literally made out of stalls selling slightly kitsch, but stereotypically Japanese souvenirs or food, or some less kitsch, but still Japanese things… You could say that it’s a bazaar leading up to a temple. Again, due to crowds Sensō-ji isn’t overly temple-like, but it is definitely impressive, in my opinion probably more so than Meiji-jingu, though this is a very subjective opinion.

I also hear that Asakusa is known for being the geisha district in Tokyo and that apparently there are still some working around, but for one I think in this crowd they’d be even more difficult to spot. As for two… well, if someone is really interested in geisha, I think they should try to find them in Kyōtō or some other city spared during the war and known for the traditional Japanese culture, not the modern one (ekhm, Kanazawa, ekhm).

Picture to see the scale.

Apparently climbing up and touching this giant sandal is supposed to bring you good luck.

To end the day of sightseeing well, before heading home, we went to see the night time panorama of Tokyo. Sure, you can go and see it during the day, but let’s be honest, you’d have to be a massive fan of concrete to want to do that, though maybe the higher you go the prettier it gets… Anyway, at night it certainly is impressive and even though you can see it from a few different places, we went to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, Tokyo-to Chōsha (東京都庁舎), mainly because of the free entry, while other places charge astronomical prices.

Although there are quite a few places in Tokyo where you can feel small and insignificant, nothing makes you realise the infinity of the capital like its night-time panorama. I had a similar experience two years ago, but then I knew that I was looking at a couple of cities – in this case the lights all the way til the horizon belonged to only one Tokyo. And you know that somewhere there, far away, where you can’t see any more lights are mountains too high to live – or maybe it’s just too far for the lights to be seen. I regret that I don’t have a better camera, however, I did manage to take a few snaps where you can quite clearly see pieces of this vastness. (The 'halos' are in fact the reflection of my camera in the window).

And on that positive note ends the story of the trip’s first day. I have to admit, it was intensive (both my friend and me returned knackered, and I’m still surprised at how I managed to walk and see this much on only a couple of hours of sleep in the coach), but also so typically… Tokyo-like. For a first time in the Japanese capital this first day definitely ticked all the boxes I could’ve possibly had.

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