Tokyo Japan Layover
Tokyo is quite an amazing contrast of ancient and modern, both coexisting in surprising spaces. During my short time in the city I walked my feet to soreness. This was despite all the subway rides. I have a habit of walking around an area, seeing something interesting and walking on over. This pattern repeats and before I realize, I walked a dozen miles.
Before arriving in Tokyo I prepared many locations on maps to go and explore. Some were intended for a later trip when Elise and I will travel together. However, I ended up hitting about 80 percent of the places anyway! All this traveling needed proper fueling so I started each day with the hotel breakfast buffet featuring both western and Japanese breakfast fare. I mixed all of the above together in my stomach to achieve optimal fullness.
I saw parks, I saw shrines, I saw skyscrapers, people, trains, and pristine streets. Similar to my other layovers, I didn’t really go in anywhere but made sure to at least get a photo of the noteworthy architecture. To punctuate the picture taking I had a lovely lunch at some mall. This was a teppanyaki place where I treated myself to a Waygu steak meal. The meat itself was the best I have ever had, truly tender and flavored with a simple touch of salt or pepper. Just the type of culinary experience I hoped to enjoy in Tokyo.
What struck me in Tokyo was the cleanliness. Each street and sidewalk was absolutely spotless. Not a single piece of graffiti, litter, not even a fallen leaf to soil things. It seems that people in Japan follow the rules quite strictly. I don’t get the impression that they have excessive laws but all the rules like “no littering”, which aren’t followed in the US, are on full display here. People wait patiently at an empty street crossing for the walk sign to turn green, in stark contrast to the necessary jaywalking in India. All this makes Tokyo a peak urban environment. I cannot fathom how you could have a more ideal city. The only eerie thing about it all is that maybe it is somewhat robotic, somehow lifeless. Although….
The Shibuya Scramble! Where other areas of the city may seem almost devoid of life, this place certainly was not. It seems that the crossing only has notoriety because it has reached a certain critical mass where almost everyone making the crossing is there just to see everyone else around them crossing too. It is doubtful to me that people are using it as a means to actually commute someplace, rather just be part of this human experience.
Nearby was Harajuku where you could fulfill your fashion and maybe fetish dreams. A mix of unusual thrift and new stores offering vending machine toys or 6 inch platform, knee height, lace up boots. This street is likely the vision of many basement manga enthusiasts. I didn’t purchase anything here, nor did I purchase anything during the whole trip (minus food). The allure of capitalism just wasn’t hitting right in Japan.
The weather was hot mixed with humidity which was remedied by several showers throughout the days. I had practically a whole second day in the city as my departing flight wasn’t until 7 pm. My sore legs didn’t let me get as far on this day. I decided to see a traditional Japanese art museum. No photos were allowed so you will have to imagine 16th and 17th century artwork centered on insects and their collection/appreciation. Mushi as it is called in Japanese, collecting fireflies or going out to listen to the sounds of bugs has been appreciated in Japan for centuries.
It was then time to be off to the airport. Narita is quite far from the city so I had to work my way through a very busy and overwhelming train station. I purchased a ticket from a machine but wasn’t able to get through the gate to my intended train. I had bought the wrong thing and needed to get it corrected at the train office. The person I worked with there was very courteous and refunded my mistake before giving me my intended ticket. With that corrected, I was on my way back to Bengaluru once again.
