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Published: April 18th 2006
zomg! dualism!
prolly my favorite picture of all time.....taken by meBefore I kinda go into whatever it is I may write about, I have tons (ok, hundreds) more pics up on my photo site here:
http://jetsetseattle.zoto.com/galleries <----no reading involved!!
What’s it been, three, three and a half weeks? I wish I could post on this blog more, but internet access is sort of few and far between for me. Or else I have to pay out of the nose for it. Speaking of which, I’m kind of sick of paying out of my nose for everything here. I’m sitting in a café that has kinda cheap coffee. 300yen ($2.80) for a 10oz. cup of black. A steal!
I’ve experienced a lot of different parts of Tokyo/Japan in these past couple of weeks. In the same day, I went to a Taiko Matsuri (traditional Japanese Shinto drum festival) and headed out to Roppongi, which is the whitest, trashiest part of Japan bar none. The Matsuri was great though! The temple it was held it was established over 1100 years ago, and still had original pieces of art and sculpture. In fact, I even signed up with my buddy Dane to take Taiko drum lessons. It’s kinda tricky because no
Narita Temple
Bangin those drums one speaks English. I think we have a performance next month. I’m not sure---people talk to damn fast.
So Roppongi---a lot of fun, but pretty trashy. I think my favorite word I’ve learned so far here in Japan is “Nomihodai,” which roughly translates to “All You Can Drink.” Roppongi seems to be the place to go for white guys to hook up with Japanese girls, and for Japanese girls to hook up with white guys. It kinda made me feel like the U.S. still occupied Japan going there. But a few drinks later and I didn’t mind—in fact, my Japanese got a lot better when I was in a few (so I’m told). Anyway, it was the complete Japanese party night: arrive at the club at 11:30 and leave at 5:30am, when the trains start running.
Speaking of Roppongi, I (somehow) landed an internship at a shrine there. I’m going to be doing mostly grunt work, but I’m also helping with Shinto weddings, and making charms. And I wear a kimono to work! As if I didn’t really stick out enough already…
I’ve also hit up some other pretty famous sections of Tokyo including Akihabara, Ueno, and
Pachinko
...trying to figure out how I won... Shinjuku. Akihabara is nicknamed “Electric town” because it is the hub of cutting edge electronics—new products debut there before anywhere else in the world. What’s also interesting about that part of town are the “Maid Cafés.” They’re basically for nerdy high-school boys, but pretty interesting. When you go in, girls in French Maid outfits greet you with, “Welcome, Master!!” And then you pretty much pay them to talk with you. Odd. Haven’t been into one yet (honest) but I think it’d be fun to try. If nothing else to try out my Japanese.
A couple of days ago a buddy of mine and I hit up Shinjuku, which is kind of like the downtownish part of Tokyo. The lights and the shops were amazing, as well as the people watching. And by people, I mean girls. Wow. And the best part about the day (ok 2nd to the girls) was that I won $50 playing pachinko! Except gambling is illegal in Japan, so I didn’t really “win money.” They paid me in gold, which you then turn around and sell in a different parlor for cash. It’s so much fun, even though it’s totally mob run.
Alright, this
Yatsu
My hometown got long, fast. I’ll hopefully post on this more often, and without as many boring details. I hope everyone is doing well wherever they are in the world! Feel free to write me anytime—I love emails from actual people!
Take care.
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James
non-member comment
GAHHAHAHA
Love the pachinko caption. Make it a mission to find out how that damn game operates before you leave...I'm baffled 'n intrigued at the same time whenever I see it. and yee, I'll try to get an email over when my paps this week is done!