Shinjuku

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According to some manual on what gaijin, or foreigners do in Japan, gaijin go to Harajuku to see the Real Aliens, ie. the alienated youth who cos-play every weekend... so thats what we did today...we went alien hunting.

After brekkie we braved the morning express and the press of many bodies on the way Tokyo, heading first to Shinjuku. Shinjuku station is the biggest station in Japan, and the busiest in the world with an estimated 3 million people passing through its gates each day. On weekdays during peak hour it's insane O_o From Shinjuku we hoofed it to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building where you can get an awesome 360 degree view of the massive urban sprawl, for free.

We then wandered over to Yoyogi- Koen, visiting firstly the Meiji shrine. The shrine was quite busy this morning, with a heap of wedding ceremonies taking place. The park itself is massive; despite the weekend crowds its a serene and beautiful place to wander through.

The Harajuku end of Yoyogi-Koen is equally interesting, but a rather different scene. School students and youth rehearse dances and plays in the park, people sell random junk, and street bands strut their stuff along the sidewalk. Most of them seem to be punk rock inspired, and some are actually pretty good. The usual set up seems to be a few guys on drums/guitar/bass and a female lead...there were a few random classical emsembles though, including one consisting entirely of percussion instruments.

We had lunch at a random cafe in Harajuku with a great view for people watching, after which we went to check out the cos-play. It wasn't quite as wacky as I had hoped, but cool nevertheless, the main theme seemed to be gothic punk, but my favourite was a guy (!) crossdressing as Little Bo Peep. It was quite amusing that the gaijin outnumbered the cos-players.

We later caught the train to Ginza, another big shopping area. The Sony building is located here and its filled with cool toys for adults - cameras, videos, massively gorgeous tvs, mp3 players, and cutting edge new technology are showcased.

That evening we hit Shinjuku again to catch the epilepsy inducing lights, before catching the train home. We had nigri sushi at my friend's place for dinner, her sister was home for the weekend, and her brother Yuji had just arrived home from Miami. Good times.

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