Tokyo – Day 2

Being jet lagged to fuck, I had an awesome night’s sleep at Keiko and James’ place.  I also finally got to have a melon pan, which despite what Yakitate Japan has taught me, it doesn’t actually contain any or taste of melon in the slightest!  The name simply comes from the shape, which resembles a melon (clutching at melons if you ask me, or is that a different game?).

We had a busy day ahead of us and Jim-bob was quickly becoming quite ill with his sore throat.  Keiko was also worried about me (bless her) since I looked like an express train had hit me the night before, so we played it by ear.  I actually outlasted Jim-bob but that’s besides the point.

We headed out towards the station where I noticed that McDonalds serve some breakfast burgers on sesame seed buns, talk about bizarre!  We got on a train line, which I sadly can’t remember.  Anywhere that I went to with either James or Keiko, I can’t for the life of me remember names or directions to.  Our first destination was Yoyogi Park.  Jim-bob likened it to Hyde Park and it was your average central city park.  Visually, it looked a bit downtrodden and gloomy.  I also got to see one of these infamous Japanese crows which are truly huge, no doubt an inspiration for the abundance of zombie crows found in the Resident Evil games.  It was a Sunday morning and there were plenty of people up and about, mostly in yoga sessions and power walking.  There was also a large gathering of dog owners participating in what I can only call dog play groups.  I couldn’t stop laughing at this one massive dog which was constantly trying to hump every other dog in sight; some sort of dominance thing, or so Jim-bob tells me…  The variety of dogs was impressive, and you would struggle to find a wider selection of canines short of going to Crufts or some other dog specialist convention.

Jim-bob and I headed towards Meiji jingu for a moment of spirituality (and plenty of photos).  The day was overcast but warm, and pretty much held out until the early evening; pretty much ideal for a day’s worth of sightseeing.  There were tourists aplenty since it was a Sunday, and I’m not just talking gaijin here; Jim-bob explained that ever since the economy went bust in the early 90s for Japan, in-land tourism has increased significantly which makes sense.  I saw plenty of adverts and posters for such places like Hakone and Hokkaido, and living in a small town but visiting Tokyo would be no different to me visiting London for the weekend.

We did the motions before entering the shrine: washed our left hands first, then right, and take a sip of the water (optional).  It was an impressive sight to behold, and was immaculately well maintained.  What was interesting was that there were plenty of modern refurbishments to the shrine, such as new storm drains and flood lights.  I wonder if Japan has the same sort of protected historic building mantra as the UK does, or whether they sensibly make changes where they’re needed?  I saw a tree where you could write a wish or a prayer on a plaque for 500 Yen; I didn’t bother with it this time but on a repeat visit, I decided it would be worthwhile.  I settled on just a simple prayer and went through the ritual which involved throwing in a coin with a hole (not so sure about this since the free guide says “a few coins”), bowing twice, clapping twice, and making your prayer before you let your hands go from the second clap.  Did I feel any more spiritual or at ease with myself afterwards?  Not really since it was so busy, hence the repeat visit at the end of my trip.

Our next stop was to Shinjuku to visit the Tokyo Metropolitan Government building.  At the base of the tower was some sort of girl scouts meet.  There were plenty of stalls and girl scouts about, and even Ampan man made an appearance!

There are two towers at the TMG building and I believe we opted for the North tower. Admission is free, though bags are prone to search before you’re allowed to enter.  Going up to the observation deck, there is a cafe of some sort and a souvenir store which seems to sell everything remotely Japanese. The view from the deck is incredible; all you can see is urban sprawl right into the horizon.  On a clear day, it is apparently possible to see Mount Fuji.

I think we had lunch at this point.  We went to a chain ramen place in Shinjuku near the station and Yodobashi Camera.  Like most chain eateries, you go to the ticket vending machine near the entrance and insert your pennies, and make a selection from the menu.  It’s an efficient way to run a restaurant, and removes some of the problems with taking orders.  We both settled on a basic cha-siu ramen, which were indeed very good, which I found surprising for a chain.  Chikara later explained to me that ramen restaurants are a dime a dozen, and that they have to at least be decent to remain competitive and stay open, so there you go.

We decided to head back to Harajuku bridge to see some goths and rock-a-billies.  It was a bit crazy and there were tourists aplenty.  I enjoyed it but it’s the sort of thing that I’ll only ever need to experience once, Harajuku on a Sunday that is; any other day and it’s your normal shopping district.  Harajuku is one of the many youth fashion camps in Tokyo.  There are plenty of shops and stalls selling the sort of stuff most students rock most of the time.  I actually ended up buying a pair of jeans in Harajuku since my trusty pair of Ralph Lauren’s had given up on me.  The flies had broken and there were several large holes in the crotch area; I semi-flashed Keiko the night before haha…

We headed back to Yoyogi Park to see us some rock-a-billies.  There were only two gangs there, and both wouldn’t have looked a miss in a Grease musical.

Once we were done with Harajuku, we headed over to Akihabara.  I wanted to get a particular lens for my camera and this was the place to get it.  The one I wanted is simply a high-end version of the stock 18-55mm lens I was given, but with a bit more zoom and a bit wider (17-85mm).  We found a Laox discount store, which also offered duty free shopping (why it was discounted, I don’t know), and all in all, along with a protective filter, came to about 68,000 Yen (about £350).  The other bonus is that it’s definitely made in Japan, since there are rumours of some Canon lenses being made in Malaysia depending on the batch you end up with.  The customer service was also exemplary; the sales guy gave me the lens to test out on my camera and he tried his best to communicate with a few English words and phrases.  I’m also certain that he said that my lens was ideal for “gravure” photography…

According to Jimbo, Akihabara is no longer the place it used to be.  Despite only ever having seen Akihabara in pictures, film, and third person accounts, I did get the vibe that Jimbo described was lacking.  The place had become full of tourists and there were very few authentic otaku about; most had moved to the back streets or other locales.  It is still a great place to shop for electronics and other anime related goods, but don’t go expecting it to be as crazy as it once was.  There are still plenty of maids about though near the train station, though I did not visit a maid cafe sadIy.

Next up, we hit a few arcades on the main street.  I finally got to try my hands on Street Fighter 4 which isn’t as bad as I was expecting it to be.  The visuals are a lot nicer once they’re in motion and the jarring Westernised look isn’t quite so obnoxious.  The joystick was something I could not get along with though; it had an odd square gate as opposed to a regular circular one so it was very difficult to do smooth motions.  We also played Taiko no Tatsujin where we both got down with the Evangelion theme.  I got to play Initial D too so I was a happy bunny.  All of the arcades allowed smoking which was like heaven for me.  What is a bit odd is that it’s easier to find somewhere to smoke indoors in Tokyo than it is outdoors, due to various restrictions in place.

At this point, Jimbo’s throat got significantly worse so we headed to a very pretentious cafe at the station.  After a drink, he decided to head on home and we parted ways until the following Wednesday.  Leaving me alone in Akihabara is a dangerous thing to do…

I continued to do some solo exploration and ventured further up the main street.  I popped into a cool electronics department store called Sofmap because I needed a new camera bag since my old one no longer fit with the new lens.  Cutting a long story short, I bought the wrong one and needed to buy another one .

I checked out a few anime stores and found one in particular that was very good, they had their merchandise sorted by anime so it made it very easy to look for stuff.  Sadly, most of the merchandise was for the most recent of shows, leaving me out in the cold.

I was getting quite hungry at this point so I decided to hunt down the Mos Burger which Kiyomi had recommended.  I opted for the seafood rice burger which wasn’t bad, but it was very bland.  I had to douse the thing with so much salt just to give it a kick, which I found myself doing quite often whilst in Japan.  The food is good, but generally very flavour neutral so if you like your spices, I’d pack a travel bottle of Tobasco.  I ended up talking to a random German guy who was in Tokyo on business, who shared my thoughts on the food.

Conveniently, there was a smoking shelter next door to Mos Burger.  I don’t know about the rest of Japan, but in Tokyo, you can be fined for smoking on restricted streets (majority of Shinjuku falls into this category).  As I mentioned earlier, it is actually easier to pop inside somewhere for a smoke than it is to traipse around looking for a smoking shelter or an ashtray outside.  As a result of this, the streets of Tokyo are generally very clean.  I wear jeans which tend to drag on the floor a bit and after a day of walking around London, they would be ready for the wash, but in Tokyo, there was plenty of wear left in them.  One other perculiarity I noticed about smokers in Japan is that few ever smoked the cigarette to even remotely near the butt.  Most would get to about halfway or 2/3 and would then put the cigarette out.  They simply are that cheap out in Japan that it’s possible to do this, hence why I’ve come back to the UK with a fair few more cigarettes than I should have hehe…

At this point, the heavens began to open up so I decided to walk home.  On my way there, I passed a store which had a meaty looking queue outside so there must have been some sort of DVD, or game release at midnight on the Monday.  I’d had a hardcore, but thoroughly enjoyable day and felt enlightened.

Photos of the day can be found here and here.

Tomorrow, I will visit the Studio Ghibli Museum in Mitaka, Shibuya for some fashion and music goodness, and Omotesando, where I would end up getting lost for the first of many occasions in Tokyo.