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Published: October 16th 2009
We had to delay our plans a bit getting to Tokyo because of the aftereffects of the typhoon that ripped through Japan the night before. Nagoya, a city we would pass through on the way back to Tokyo, saw the brunt of the storm; major flooding in the area eventually killing two people. As Kyoto settled down and the rains stopped, there were still delays in the train travel due to high wind. We bummed around the city, visiting the shops and picking up some stuff before we jumped a train around 3 p.m. which got us into Tokyo around dinnertime.
We were checked into our hostel and recommended a conveyor belt sushi place in the neighborhood called Akihabara. Japan has two (among others) reputations out there; 1) it is super expensive, and 2) it is the electronics capitol of the universe. Akihabara is a place we wanted to visit anyways, because it loosely translates to “Electronics Street;” where the Japanese go to get their high techies at discount prices… and it did not disappoint us.
On the top floor of the electronics mall, was the sushi place, but getting there was the fun part. Before we even stepped
foot into the mall, we were bombarded with shops of wall to wall gizmos; cameras, ipods, iphones, mp3’s, Nintendo Wii’s, digital picture frames, and accessories for them all. This place was lit up brighter than Times Square with neon advertising the stores and products. It was neverland for the tech nerd.
Then… the mall. This place is the ultimate in anything that needs electricity. Eight floors stocked of anything you could imagine; each floor dedicated to particular products; kitchen appliances, video games, TV’s, music, sound systems, toys, and cameras (I’m forgetting a bunch, but you get the point), all with their dedicated floors. It was mayhem, and awesomeness all at the same time. The food floor was at the top, and, in time, we got there and enjoyed out original purpose of going there, some raw fish and saki… we dominated that conveyor belt.
The next morning we mapped out a few places we wanted to visit making a big circle around the city.
We started in a city park, called Rikugian Gardens that was to have some cool, and typical Japanese style gardens, a break from the hustle and bustle of the city. It was very
peaceful, it was all centered on a beautiful pond in the middle of the park. We found out the land was once owned by the first owner of Mitsubishi motors, which is an interesting fact. It was a good first stop that helped ease us into the city (if the last night was any indication, we were in for it), which was the lion’s den we were about to go into.
Shibuya, sounding exactly what LeBron James would yell after a dunk, is the busiest part of the city, possibly the world… yes, world. It is a center for shopping, but that wasn’t the draw for us, it was one particular intersection that is known to be the busiest and most photographed intersections in the world. Really, doesn’t’ that peak your interest, too?
It was something to behold, I’ll post a video of this. The word overwhelming is the only quasi-accurate adjective. There is an absolute wave of humanity that envelopes the entire street as soon as the light turns, I’ve never seen anything like it. We just stood there for a while watching the phenomenon happen two or three times. Not only are there loads of people
that cross the street at the same time, it’s also quite long. I’m not sure how many people go through that crossing in one day, but has to be well over a million (wouldn’t be surprised if that’s only one change of the light, either). Wild… welcome to Tokyo, population 12.5 million.
We took some time to discover some of the back streets also. There were some really cool shops. Tokyo-ites (wait, would they be Tokyoans?) have a funky, cool, and effortless style- everyone is just so cool looking, it’s great- makes me want to find some kind of style someday. These were the shops that sold all those wicked cool outfits and accessories that everyone sports. I’m not a shopper, at all, but it was cool to check these places out.
We also hit up a funky, artsy, neighborhood, near Shibuya, called Kichijoji. It was more our style, filled with little coffee shops and funky second hand stores. It was a cool vibe and didn’t feel like Tokyo at all. We could have spent a lot more time exploring there, but we had a huge city to check out.
Next up, Ginza, and the Sony Building’s
showroom- a place I was particularly psyched to go to, because this is where Sony has all their present and future products on display for people to play with… and I love electronics for some reason. It was pretty cool checking out some of the products yet to be released, even. Laptops that are literally as thin as one of those manilla business folders (and just as light, too), ear buds that sound like you’re at a concert, some cameras that have peaked my interest (Christmas is coming, I’ll be patient), but the coolest thing I messed around with is the huge, touch screen computers that aren’t quite out yet. I felt like Tony Stark on Ironman, just waving my hands around and the computer responded. There was a tiney little keyboard, not much of a thing, since the giant flatscreen did the brunt of the work based on your touches. Man, I felt cool. But with exhaustion setting in, the most valuable stop was in the home theater setup- something Bill Gates would even be interested in.
As we left, I turned around and took a picture of the Sony sign on the outside of the building with
my little camera. I had a weird thought just then, “For my little Sony Cybershot that’s been with me for so long, this must feel a lot like meeting all your ancestors… it’s the promised land for this guy.” Kind of funny. I also posted some thoughts on
TheExpeditioner about all the electronics we’ve experienced in Tokyo.
After dinner, it was off to the Tokyo Tower. It’s basically the very same structure as Paris’ Eiffel Tower, but 12 meters taller. We thought it would be cool to see the panorama of the city. On our way, we stumbled upon a cool shrine with a zillion baby Buddah statues lining a walkway and dressed/designed up so cute. It was a pleasant surprise on our walk. Mt. Fuji was clouded over, unlike when we got to see it on the train ride to Tokyo (that was really cool), so that was a little disappointing, but we caught the sunset from there. It was really neat to see the city transform into ‘night mode.’ It was a beautiful skyline and backdrop to our last evening in Japan.
We stopped at a cheaper restaurant, basically a mix of a bar and diner,
that had no chairs or stools, all the patrons stood at the bar or sat outside on crates eating their ramen. It was cool, and they were quite prevalent, so we stopped and enjoyed our rice and beers streetside.
Then, before calling it a night, we headed to the TokyoDome. There is a cool little city surrounding the Dome (sports fans will know this stadium as where the Japanese version of the Giants play their games, a really good team in Asian baseball). We bummed around the small amusement park which had a big roller coaster, huge spa, shopping mall, and huge ferris wheel we were too late to ride. It was one last shot in the arm of Tokyo neon lights before we hit the sack.
We were off to the airport around one o’clock, so to kill the morning, we went to a place known for its hip youth culture, Harajuku, but was foiled since a festival was preparing to set up shop there, apparently driving away all the kids. The Tokyo funky youth culture has become quite famous with their outlandish dress. Too bad we couldn’t take part in that.
Then, Cass caught sight
of a Japanese dance festival that was supposed to happen not far from there. We waited for a while, and withstood another surprise rainshower to be rewarded with some cool dances. The costumes were beautiful and the energy of the performers was intoxicating, so we stood as long as we could, before doing a run through the trainstations on our way to the airport.
What a cool country. It’s a land of ancient customs and traditions, futuristic contraptions and ideas. Not a land of contrasts, but of cooperation… old and new don’t contradict each other, they compliment each other. It has vision and grounding, and a work ethic and system of living that is set up for the successful attaining of them. One could spend years here exploring and learning of Japan and still not be completely satisfied.
As for us, our short one week vacation will have to suffice. We are blessed to have yet another opportunity to experience a different culture, providing an even deeper understanding of the world and its people, and giving us a perspective that we will take with us as we continue our lives, for the foreseeable future, in the U.S. It
sure has been a year to remember…
*** Just before publishing this, I finished uploading the rest of our pictures we took while in Japan on my flickr photopage, click
here to see the Japan set of pictures, and click
here to see all of the sets. I think I only have the Vietnam pictures up there now, but check back in the future, there is a link on the front of the blog here, and I will slowly be putting up our best of the best pictures from Korea. Thanks and enjoy.
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