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Published: November 27th 2007
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One of the many amusing signs in Tokyo
makes perfect sense, but in a hilarious way! My next stop was Tokyo, a most fascinating city with a dual nature. On one side it blends tradition, history and ceremony, with it's geishas, tea ceremonies, samurais and temples. On the other, it's a futuristic cyber-city with neon skyscrapers, intelligent toilets and ultramodern concept cars. I was hoping for some culture shock here, and I certainly got it!
One of the first things I noticed was the incredible number of vending machines. Tokyo has an estimated 6 million vending machines, and you can see them on almost every street. The most common ones sell soft drinks, beer and cans of hot coffee. Some are timed, such as the porn vending machines, which has a blind that rolls down to cover the contents between 7am and 11pm, and cannot be used. Other rarer machines sell T-shirts, bags of rice, fishing equipment and fresh flowers. There are even machines that vend "Automated External Defibrillators", which are the electric-shock terminals used for reviving heart attack victims. There used to be vending machines that sold "used schoolgirl's knickers", but they were removed several years ago by the mayor. Designers are always looking for new innovations with these machines, and there is one on
a flock of vending machines
(not sure what the plural term is. A gaggle? A dispensary?) trial which gives away free drinks. The drinks deliberately take 30 seconds to dispense, and in the meantime, the machine has a display showing an advert clip
Tokyo was hard work at times, but always fun and interesting. You find yourself surrounded by Japanese writing everywhere, and nine times of of ten there is no English translation underneath. With some languages you can hazard a guess at what a sign means. But here you have no idea if a doorway leads into a shop, a restaurant or a brothel. One of my early challenges here was lunch on my first day. The eating of said lunch was a not a problem, it was the ordering! I walked into a restaurant and sat down, but there was no menu in sight. I sat patiently for five minutes, but all the waiters walked past me and ignored me. I eventually noticed a machine in the corner which the new arrivals were using. It looked like a large vending machine and had dozens of buttons with Japanese symbols on, with tiny pictures of food next to them. Bingo! The ordering system. The pictures were too small to tell anything other than whether
Lanterns. Lots of 'em
unfortunately my Japanese is not up to translating them it was a rice dish or noodle dish, so I put in some money, pushed a button at random and hoped for the best. A ticket was printed out which I handed in at a counter. Moments layer, a delicious, steaming bowl of Ramen arrived. Ramen is a spicy soup containing thick noodles, spring onions, fresh herbs and sometimes meat. You eat the noodles, then drink the soup. All around me people were delving into their ramen with their chopsticks then slurping their noodles. Or holding the soup dish to their lips and slurping. SLURPING I tell you! This would be considered the height of rudeness in England. But here it is expected, since the slurping is meant to increase the flavour. And so I slurped. I soon realised there is an art to slurping. On my first attempt I put too much effort into it and "overslurped". My slurp was so loud that it turned the heads of veteran slurpers around me. My second attempt wasn't so loud, but I slurped so fast that the noodles slapped me around the cheek!
Much of my time in Tokyo was spent wandering the streets in amazement. Observing the fashions and
neon advertising
many bars and restaurants can be found on 2nd, 3rd and 4th floors. These are all the signs for the establishments above ground level fads, the gadgets and the gizmos, and the multitude of peculiarities and quirks that this amazing city has. Here are a few of them....
1. Pet clothing is popular here. I have seen dogs wearing bomber jackets and hooded tops
2. A Tokyo designer has come up with a clothing design for women to be safer at night, by disguising themselves as vending machines. A flap on a skirt reveals a large piece of cloth which unfolds and has an accurate design of a vending machine on the front. If a suspicious man approaches, the woman steps to the side by another vending machine and holds the sheet up in front of her.
3. There are mirrors on the tube platforms sponsored by makeup companies
4. It is umbrella culture here. There are umbrella vending machines, umbrella hooks by urinals, and lockable stands outside restaurants which can hold twenty umbrellas
5. I have seen several cars with leather roofs. These are not convertables, just cars with leather on top
6. There are bicycles with built-in mittens over the handles
7. They have "ladies only" tube carriages at night which are painted bright pink
8. Most internet cafes are 24-hour,
any idea what this shop is selling?
I had no idea what this store was, but someone has messaged me to tell me this is a Porn Video store where you can pay 1000 yen to sit in a booth alone, watch videos and... have a happy ending! and some have showers because some people practically live in them
9. One type of street food here is a fried ball of minced squid arms called "takoyaki" . They sell a "russian roulette" serving of six balls, one of which will be ridiculously spicy
10. Some petrol stations here are like open-fronted shops that you drive into. The petrol pumps hang from the roof like a load of snakes
11. Manga and anime are obviously big here. Many of the large companies have cartoon mascots. For example, a Broadcasting company has "Domo-kun" which is a brown furry cube with razor sharp teeth. He lives in a cave with an elderly rabbit, and cannot eat apples because of a quirk in his DNA. The Bureau of Sewage also has a mascot, but I hate to think what that would be!
12. You can have your tube pass incorporated into the SIM card on your phone, so you just wave your phone over the turnstyles to gain access
13. The latest Kareoke trend is "Karaoke Alone", or Hitokara. You have a tiny booth to yourself, and sing away to your hearts content without anyone else to hear your milk-curdling wails
another excellent sign
the little part that says "neglect" really tickled me When you first arrive in Tokyo, it seems very busy and chaotic. But within the chaos is a certain order. People wait patiently at pedestrian lights, even if the road is clear. Trains always run on time. And there is no litter on the streets anywhere. This last point is a curious one, since there are no litter bins anywhere either. This is partly explained by the fact that the Japanese do not eat food whilst walking, whereas half the rubbish in English bins comes from food and snacks. The Japanese are also very ordered when it comes to smoking. There are signs everywhere asking people not to smoke while walking, and there are designated smoking areas on every street. Mobile phone use is restricted too, and there are signs on tubes and trains asking people not to use their mobile phones. It is considered rude. A recent rule that has been introduced is that women should not put on their makeup on the tube. Someone has decided that this is rude also! The general politeness, good manners and ancient traditions of the Japanese had me on guard sometimes. When I was in a nice restaurant, I would occasionally wonder
okonomiyaki
try saying that after a few glasses of sake. Here I am cooking my own "Japanese Pancakes" if I was conducting myself OK, or whether I had unconciously broken some social taboos and being regarded as a Western barbarian. For example, I visited a restaurant which was full and told the waitress that I would wait. She gave me a very puzzled look. I later found out from a local that waiting in restaurant is not the done thing! Meals can be very long multi-course affairs, and the hostess just doesn't know when a table would be free, and certainly would not rush the guests for a faster turnover. If somewhere is full, you move on elsewhere.
This particular restaurant, however, was worth the wait. It was an
okonomiyaki restaurant. This is where you sit on the floor around a hot plate, and cook your own food. You start with a small bowl containing a raw egg, batter mixture, cabbage and "other goodies". You mix it all together and then fry it on the hot plate. The result looks somewhat like a pancake or omelette, but it is as different to each of those as they are to each other. This style is called "Osaka" style, but there are regional varations as there are with most
Cos-Play Kids
short for "Costume Play". At weekends the kids gather at Harijuku station in their outfits dishes. The "other goodies" vary immensely, and there are dozens of additions to the basic batter mix, such as a mixture of minced beef, squid arms, shrimp paste and ginger. Or the following exotic combination: bamboo shoots, rape blossom, flowering ferns, stewed plums and a jew's ear. No idea what a jew's ear is! Answers on a postcard please
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Francoise
non-member comment
You are so lucky!
This is time,I envy you I always wanted to go there!!!! Is it true,that you can find some vending machine with girl knickers inside that school girls leave there and that dirty old men by from the machine!?Some one told me this once,and I always doubts it? Did you see any? xxxxxEnjoy!