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Published: December 7th 2006
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Shinjuku Park
Water feature So I made it. I had a really good flight. The plane was half empty so i had four seats all to myself, meaning that I could stretch out fully and actually go to sleep. I had to laugh at myself on the plane, when the crew came around and handed out the Japanese immigration cards to fill in I realised that I had left the most important part of my documentation in Australia - the name and address of my most mate Lance here in Japan. Fortunately the customs guy had a bit of a laugh at my idiocy as well and let me through. So I had to go and find an internet terminal in the airport so I could ring Lance and let him know what bus I was catching out of the airport. Idiot.
The bus ride from Narita into Shinjuku made think that the NSW RTA (Road Tolls Authority) had been to Japan. I think we went through 4 or 5 toll booths within an 80km journey!
I am crashing on a the floor in Lance's house. I am in the Tatami mat room on a futon. Supposedly this would normally be the main
bedroom. It is actually pretty comfortable but on the firm side, I think I should be well aligned when I make it back to OZ.
I cruised around Shinjuku the other day. It is really how I pictured urban Japan - neon and lots of people. The train station at Shinjuku is the largest transport hub in Tokyo and arguably the busiest in the world. It is pretty crazy, the equivalent of the entire population of Sydney (4 million people) transit through the station every day! Fortunately for ignorant foreigners like me every sign has an English translation and even the computerised ticket machines have a button to convert them to english. The nicest thing about it is that whilst there are so many people there is no pushing or shoving (that I could see) everybody just gets on and does what they need to do.
Scooters and pushbikes are king of the urban roads. All the bikes lane split the traffic up to the head of the que where the there is a large space reserved for them (the cars are about one car space further back from the intersection than we would expect in Australia). Perhaps
the NSW RTA has not been to Japan then? Being a motorcyclist I love the idea that I can cut through the traffic and have space reserved at the front of the que for me so I dont have to race idiots off the line. Pushbikes, motorcycles and scooters can park on designated areas on the foot path, which is cool but nowhere is free so far as I can tell, I guess in a place where space is at a premium this is to be expected.
I discovered a nasty government gang that hates push bikes. These guys get around in high visibility vests, displaying their hatred with a large no bicycles print on the back. If you have incorrectly parked these guys remove your pushbike on the back of a truck. Again I wonder whether the NSW RTA has been to Japan. Here you have to register your pushbike and if your bike gets removed you have to pay a fine to get it back. Just think of all the revenue that the NSW government is missing out on, time to start charging fees for pushbikes. More taxes for NSW!!!!!
There is quite a bite in the
air. I was concerned when I saw a digital sign displaying the temperature and it was necessary to put a positive sign in front of it. I do prefer the cold to the heat but when I say cold I still mean somewhere above freezing.
Walking aimlessly around Shinjuku I went into a beautiful park. It is winter now but there remains a smattering of the beautiful Autumn colours. The light reds and million shades of yellow are amazing. I was sitting on bench looking through the trees at a skyscraper and a light wind started. The yellow falling leaves provided such a soft contrast to the harshness of the city I wished I had a video camera to record it. The image was completed by the crisp chill air and the soundtrack of a city at work. It struck me that the trees were not only shedding their leaves to survive the winter but perhaps the falling leaves were natures tears, crying over the impersonal and manufactured environment of a large city. The beauty of the natural colours in the park was contrasted by the vivid blues of the humpies built by the homeless inhabitants of this park
in one of the richest countries in the world. The cold blue humpies were still organised into neat little rows, reflecting my image of Japanese order in a world that has seemingly forgotten them.
I went to a Japanese bath house last night. I know I have been in the country for only a few days but if there is one thing I wish I could take back to Australia it would be the bath house tradition. What a wonderful way to slow down, relax and let life pass you by for a short time. Unfortunately I dont believe that the tradition could be passed to Australia without change. We are all so obssessed with our bodies and homophobic that there is no way Aussie men would get naked and bathe with each other. Truly a great shame. I found peace sitting in an outside 41 degree celcius bath, staring at the moon, while the air temperature must have been about 5 celcius. All this in a bath house in suburban Tokyo. The city rages around whilst the waters bring focus and stillness to you. Maybe this meditation would rid us of some of our anger.
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Danie
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Mwah - you will love the place as much as i did sweetie!!! I was an onsen addict - even though i had a bathroom in my unit i still went all the time. The old ladies always wanted to look at my pubic hair though (and then got disapointed) ;) Try and get to a Shinto service if you can, stunningly moving.