An Endless Parade of Fashion Victims

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Ever have one of those ideas that's pure genius, only to have it ruined by the fact that someone thought of it first? And what makes it worse is that word never got around to you that it existed already? Well, I had one of those brilliant ideas today, but I'll come back to that in a little while.

Tokyo is a massive city. From 45 storeys up, in the south tower observation deck of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Offices, it's an urban landscape as far as the eye can see. Like circus midgets in a Chevette, Tokyo has 35 million people crammed into an area roughly twice the size of PEI. I know it's a bad analogy, but everything is made funnier by midgets. And monkeys. Midgets and monkeys. Oh, and pirates too. Pirates are awesome.

Anyways, I've come to the conclusion that all of Japan is essentially a suburb of Tokyo. You can cross the entire country and never really leave the city; and most Japanese cities are indistinguishable from one another, driving from one to the next they blend together smoothly. I'm going to tell people I live in a suburb of Tokyo from now on.

As for our visit, we saw the sights and toured all the major districts (Shinjuku, Shibuya, Harajuku, Ginza, Ueno, Asakusa, Roppongi, Odaiba) without any major happenings. Unless you've got heaps of money or are into nightlife, Tokyo is a little monotonous to the traveler. It's just a big, sprawling metropolis packed with look-alike streets of modern high-rise buildings, flashy cars, business people, vending machines and neon lights.

Now, don't get me wrong, Tokyo is a great city with excellent food, vibrant nightlife, ritzy shopping, an efficient public transportation network, and some of the most poorly dressed people on the planet. Shoes not matching belts, shirts not matching socks, and pants not matching anything. And women shuffling around pigeon-toed because their high heels are two sizes too big. Picture a nation of four-year-olds trying to dress themselves. But nobody knows they look bad because everybody looks bad. It's a damn shame.

With that said, there were numerous highlights during our four day stay in the East Capital:
- the chaos of Shinjuku Station;
- people-watching at the intersection outside Shibuya Station;
- the 'city-within-a-city' feel of Odaiba;
- the packed street markets of Asakusa and Ueno;
- Tsukiji Central Fish Market in Ginza;
- navigating the Metro (the subway map looks like a plate of coloured spaghetti);
- the Sumida River boat tour;
- Yokohama waterfront area and its over-the-top Chinatown
- being unable to find our locker at Shinjuku Station because it's so huge...we kept going in circles;
- Denise being approached on the street by two Japanese girls who asked "Nihongo ga wakarimasuka?" ('Do you understand Japanese?') to which she replied "Wakarimasen!" ('No, I don't!') much to the confusion of the girls;
- dinner with Yui in Yokohama, the girl Denise stayed with when she did her Japanese home stay seven years ago.

All in all, we had a great time. It was nice to have some dining options, and to chat with other foreigners at our hostel. But seeing as we live in Japan, we were a little disappointed. You don't come to Tokyo to experience Japan; you come to Tokyo to experience Tokyo. Trust me, they're very different.

Back to my big idea. While wandering the streets of Odaiba we saw a sign advertising a store selling every possible item to do with cats. And then it hit me - open a store where people pay to play with cats! Stop laughing and stay with me for a minute. Imagine a room full of hundreds...NO, thousands of kittens and all you do is play with them. If that isn't a billion dollar idea, then I don't know what is.

Well, we went inside this cat store and there it was, my idea. They stole MY idea! Sadly, we didn't go into the cat playing section, as it was grossly overpriced and there were only four or five cats and you weren't allowed to pick them up. It's a damn shame.

Camille & Denise

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Photos

Tokyo Metropolitan Government Offices
Observation decks on the 45th floor of both towers, and they're free.

Shibuya
This is the intersection featured in such movies as 'Lost In Translation' and 'Tokyo Drift: F&TF3'.

Imperial Palace
Walking for 15 minutes on a giant gravel parking lot for a teensy weensy view...SO worth it all.

Fuji TV Broadcast Center
Would've gone up to the bubble, but the place was packed with those noisy little bastards called 'children'.

Tokyo 'Tourist Trap' Tower
Feel like getting bent over for large sums of your hard-earned money? Have I got the place for you!

TMGO
It's supposed to look like a computer chip.

Minato Mirai 21
Yokohama's futuristic high-rise complex.

Yokohama Landmark Tower
The tallest building in Japan, with the world's fastest elevators.

Cosmo Clock Ferris Wheel
At 105m it's the tallest in the world.

Becoming
Me doing my impression of a Japanese tourist. I should note that the real Tokyo Tower was right behind me, but there was a line-up of people wanting to use this backdrop for their photos.

Kappabashi-dori
Most Japanese restaurants display plastic food in their front window. Well, this is where they buy it all, at ridiculously inflated prices I might add.

Comments

[Cory]

Ah Home
I love your discription of Tokyo as full of 4 year olds trying to dress themselves. Finally a place that would understand my fashion sense, if one could indeed call it that. What I really mean to say is that I would be an icon of mismatched apparel, and it would be good times for all.

[El Steve-o]

Greatest Photo-op Ever
Camille, that has to be the best picture I've ever seen. You in front of a fake tower in front of the real tower is just pure genious. No wonder the Japanese have such an inflated GDP.

[Cheryl K]

Fashion Sense
I like to call the Asian fashion sense as 80s glam rock. This Island has the same issue. But on the bright side you can wear whatever you want and they still only see your bright white shinny face!! I'll look forward to seeing more of the same if I make it to your neck of the woods!!

[Abe]

Who's gonna clean up all the poo?
The play-with-cats idea is great, but they better be toilet trained! I'm glad you enjoyed Odaiba too. I stayed there for week with a friend who was taking his masters in Tokyo. Did you see the fake Statue of Liberty too? Tokyo is great, it just gave me a feeling that there'd still be too much to take no matter how long you stayed. I'll probably go back again once, and then head off to Kyoto (lucky you!) or Hokkaido. Hope to see you and Denise there one day before you leave.

[Franco]

Yeah, I think a place just to play with cats or dogs is a good idea, especially in a big city where people live in small apts., cannot own pets, but want to occassionally play with one, for a small fee. Hope someone here in Honolulu will open one soon.