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Published: March 30th 2008
Tokyo Tower
Standing at the plaza you can see the Tokyo Tower in the distance!Oh Roppongi...
I don't really know how I feel about Roppongi. It's an interesting place for sure, but there's just a different feel to it than everywhere else I went in Tokyo. I just don't know how to describe it, but I'll try...Well, according to Michael who is from from California, it has a very strong Los Angeles vibe. It isn't the prettest area, and other than the main Roppongi Hills area there isn't much else to do there as far as sightseeing and shopping is concerned. And there are so many foreigners in Roppongi. I had quite a few experiences in Roppongi, and all of them were very memorable...
The first time I was in Roppongi was with Ryan and Michael the first day we arrived in Tokyo. We had no idea where to go when we were looking for a hostel, so we decided to get off at Roppongi Station. We walked along the street for a long time searching for an internet cafe but couldn't find one anywhere. So as we were crossing this one street Michael decided to ask someone if there was one in the area. And for some reason he decided to ask
Beauty Plaza
First place in Roppongi Hills I went to the creepiest person he could find. There was this guy, obviously not Japanese, standing and talking to 2 Japanese guys and smoking. Oh and might I add that he looked like an Eminem wanna-be lol. So Michael walked up to him and asked if there was an internet cafe anywhere. The guys turned to him and said (in English) "Sorry, I don't speak English." We all just gave him a confused look. Then he started laughing and said it was a joke. He didn't know where an internet cafe was, but he pointed us to a good strip club down the street. Then he started hitting on me as we were walking away. He asked if either of the guys was my boyfriend and when I said no he pointed to Michael and was like "You should marry that guy." At this point we were already walking away as fast as possible. That guy really creeped me out!
So that was my first experience in Roppongi. And based on that story, you might be surprised to know that the next time I visited Roppongi I went by myself! No I'm not crazy...Michael and Ryan had wanted to go to
In the Plaza
From inside the plaza. Unfortunately, there wasn't much in there an onsen. But if you know what an onsen is, then you know what I mean when I say that it would have been awkward and not very fun at all for me! So I told them I wanted to do some shopping, and since Roppongi was supposed to be a good shopping spot I decided to go there. I was a bit nervous. This was, after all, my first time going anywhere in Tokyo all by myself! In fact, the farthest I've gone out alone back home is to Hirakatashi Station. So this was a big step for me. But it was nice to be by myself too. It's a very different experience when you are alone. You notice your surroundings so much more, and you really have to pay attention to where you are and where you're going. It also made me feel smaller than ever before...being in such a big city, surrounded by all these big buildings and all these people, it really made me feel small. I remember standing outside at one of the plazas and looking out over the rail at the whole city and thinking to myself, "Wow, I'm really in Tokyo!" Who would've
Tall Building
This building was really tall! ever thought I would be here? I sure have come a long way from Maryville, Tennessee...
So this time Roppongi wasn't as scary. At first I walked all the way down the street outside of the station. I left the main city area and started to head into smaller streets. Eventually I came to the road sign pointing towards Shibuya, so I decided I should probably turn around. So I walked back towards the Roppongi Hills area, which is the nicer part of Roppongi, and stayed there for a long time shopping. And there were some nice shopping malls there. The only problem is that all the stores were very high-end designer places. So I wasn't able to buy anything, but it was certainly a lot of fun to go into the stores and look at all the gorgeous clothes! After I had gone through pretty much all the stores, I still had about an hour before I was supposed to meet the guys back at the station. So I decided to go explore more of the area. I walked to the other side of the station and went down a busy street that had a lot of lights
Roppongi View
View of the entire Roppongi area (by this time it was dark outside). After being invited to coffee by some guy at the traffic light, I quickly crossed the street and kept walking. I was having a good time taking pictures and just looking at everything around me when I spotted a pet store across the street. So of course I had to go there!
The pet store was by far the best part of Roppongi! There were so many cute puppies in that store, it was overwhelming. I've never seen so many adorable things in one place. And these puppies were cuter than any puppy I had ever seen in the U.S. Of course this just proves even further mine and Lani's theory that everything in Japan is cuter. The puppies definitely are! Even though you weren't supposed to, I took pictures of a lot of the puppies. I wanted to buy all of them, they were just so cute!
Well after the pet store it was time to meet the guys so I started walking back towards the station. Luckily everything worked out fine and we were able to find each other easily in the station. Then they wanted to walk around
Plaza
More of the plaza area Roppongi a little bit, so we walked down the street I had just been to and went to the pet store again. Even the guys had to admit that those puppies were cute!
So that was my second experience in Roppongi...a lot better than the first. But the best was still to come!
The next time we came to Roppongi was after Nikko when we were with the other group. Since Roppongi is also the center of nightlife in Tokyo, we decided to go out on Thursday night. So here's the thing about going out in Japan...all the trains stop running around 10 or 11 PM and don't start again until about 5 or 6 AM. So when you go out, be ready to stay out the entire night! We caught the last train to Roppongi that night and started wandering around looking for a cool place to go. We were a pretty large group, there were the 4 Spanish girls, Diego the guy from Columbia, Charles from Colorado, Michael, these 2 British guys we met at the hostel, and this other German guy who we also met at the hostel. Oh and of course me! So yeah
View from the Plaza
The view of the area from the top of the plaza steps it was an interesting mix of people...
One strange thing was that while we were walking around looking for a nice club, these guys would come up to us and be like "Hey you lookin for a good club? I know where one is. You should go here, I've got a good deal for you." I guess they were club promoters, but they had a really creep vibe. Maybe that's not very unusual, but at least where I'm from that doesn't happen when I go out! Well eventually we ended up going to this place called 911...and it was AMAZING! The great thing about Tokyo is that there is no cover charge at most clubs. And it gets even better for the ladies! At some places (like 911) ladies also get free drinks. So when we got in there was a guy at a table giving out champagne and wine freely. You just had to go up and tell him which one you wanted! The club itself was also really nice...there were crystals hanging over the bar and all around. There was a dance floor right in front of the bar and also an elevated seating area with mirror
In Roppongi
All alone in Roppongi! walls right beside the dance floor.
One of the best things about 911 was the music! I heard almost everything I could think of that night...spanish, hip-hop, 80s rock (Bon Jovi), 70s music (YMCA, Celebration), and also Maroon 5, Linkin Park, and so many other I can't even remember them all. It was awesome how they played such a wide variety of music from so many different genres and generations, even songs that I wouldn't expect to hear at a club. And another interesting thing was the type of people who were at the club. I was most surprised to find that there were actually a lot of foreigners there, and most of them were guys. There were also a lot of Japanese people...mostly Japanese girls. And then there were Japanese guys in business suits trying to dance (a really funny sight) and other Japanese guys looking all hip-hop. But a lot of them didn't even dance. They just sat at a table or stood around the bar and watched people. Oh and there was this one Japanese guy dressed in some traditional robe who came up to our table while we were sitting and started dancing. It was
Walking
The streets in Roppongi. This is how they looked the farther you got from Roppongi Hills so funny! So then a bunch of people got up and started trying to dance around him but he got annoyed and eventually left.
I was having such a good time that night that it didn't even bother me that we were out all night! I wasn't bored or tired for a single minute, and I actually couldn't believe it was already 5 AM when we finally decided to leave. It was great! Maybe I'm just not used to such nice clubs because they don't exist back where I'm from in Tennessee, but for me clubbing in Roppongi was incredible! The only bad part was getting up the next morning and having a full day of stuff to do. But apparently it didn't bother us too much because we ended up going out again the next night! That night we went to a hookah bar, which was really cool (watch the video!!), and had planned to come back on the last train. But of course we missed it and had to stay out the whole night (we really didn't mind though), so we ended up going to some other clubs that night.
The End of Tokyo... Well,
To Shibuya
I think this is the point where I started going towards Shibuya and decided to turn around I guess that's finally all of my trip to Tokyo! It was such a crazy week, and I did so much and saw so many things. Tokyo is an incredible city. I still can't believe how big it is! I feel like my time in Tokyo had 3 different parts. The first part was the sightseeing part with Ryan as our guide, then the second part was our trip to Nikko, which was a perfect retreat from Tokyo. And then the last part was some more sightseeing but also just having fun and experiencing the nightlife. So overall I think I got to experience many different aspects of Tokyo, although I know you could spend a year in that city and still not see and do everything it has to offer.
However, as amazing as Tokyo is, I still can't say that I loved it. I found that by the end of the week, I was actually ready to go back home to Osaka. Tokyo has such a different feel than Osaka...I found that the people in Tokyo were not as friendly as the people in Osaka. They seemed to be in their own world a lot of the
Night time
Roppongi at night time and generally weren't as helpful as the people in Osaka, based on my experiences. And everything in Tokyo was so touristy. In Osaka there are a lot less foreigners, so I actually feel like I'm in Japan and that I'm experiencing Japanese life and culture. In Tokyo, I just feel like any other tourist. I guess it's different for me since I'm living in Japan and not just going there for vacation. But my trip to Tokyo definitely made me appreciate Osaka more. I was so happy when I was finally back home...I had never been so happy to see Hirakata! I couldn't wait to sleep on my comfy futon in my own room. Definitely missed that. So I guess in the end, I can say that I had a lot of fun in Tokyo and it is an amazing place, but it actually made me love Osaka even more!
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