Japan: Part IV Day six, seven & eight (Tokyo)

I was lucky to sneek a peek at Japan’s most famous sight, Mt. Fuji, on the train ride to Tokyo. I’d been told I might catch a glimpse out the window on a clear day, but of course, there are not many clear days this time of year. They say Mt. Fuji creates it’s own weather over there. The huge cloud covering the summit that I first saw was not unusual, despite the colorful, clear pictures of Mt. Fuji you see everwhere. So, I was EXTREMELY lucky to catch a glimpse of this. (I wanted to snowboard all over it!)

Tokyo was a truly impressive city, based on it’s sheer size. Looking out from the 45th floor observation deck of the Metropolitan Government Office Building, I was stunned at the miles and miles of concrete that surrounded us. No matter what window I peered out, I never saw the edge of the city. There were miles and miles of industrialized territory.

Considering Tokyo’s noted as the most densely populated city in the world, I could feel my personal space diminish by the second. Surprisingly, though, compared to spending two summers in Seoul, another one of the world’s most densely populated cities, Tokyo felt reasonably easy to move around through crowds. After being in Korea, I’d always thought it was normal to throw a firm elbow or drop a shoulder when navigating through dense crowds, but the Japanese people proved me wrong.

Alex and I arrived late Saturday afternoon. We stashed our heavy bags at the 5-star Keio Hotel, which we scammed because Alex’s company JET program was hosting him at a conference starting the same day I flew to out.

We moved on to party in Tokyo’s center for nightlife, Roppongi. There were a number of clubs and bars on our to do list, but slowly, each option failed one by one. A number of Alex’s guaranteed good times were strangely out of business. The only for-sure thing we had that night was the “The Chicken Man,” which was a funny little 7th floor diner catering to Westerners at the wee hours of the morn.

The club was fun. It was more packed than any bar I’ve ever been to. Japan doesn’t have any city codes for fire violations / people control, which makes it quite an achievement to make it to the toilet.

As daylight pushed on, it was time to roll out of the bars with our other bar friends, and find a place to sleep for a few hours. It was my idea to find a capsule hotel, you know, try sleeping in a coffin for one night. But, as they were designed for business men who were too drunk to go home and too practical to get a real hotel room, there were very few that accepted women. We found one in the bible, the Lonely Planet, within a 30 minute walk from Roppongi. Of course, when we got there, all that remained was an empty lot in the process of rebuilding.

Now, at 7am, desperate and exhausted with no place to sleep, we had no choice but to sleep in a potentially densely wooded park or the Korean PC Bang. We chose the PC Bang and got the poorest night’s rest known to man kind. We paid the $10 fee, found a little cubby, and awkwardly past out face down on the desk. Despite my exhaustion, I only slept for about four 20 minute cycles while Alex played the new Starcraft.

A few hours later, it was time to go to Harujuku to see what Harujuku is famously known for: the goth teens in “Cos play” (costume play) on a Sunday afternoon. It was cool to see the youth all dressed up, although I did imagine the bridge area would be a bit more full of weirdos.


The Meiji Jingu Shrine was not far from there. It was a cool shrine because the wood was a natural color, compared to other vermillion colored shrines. I watched some devout Japanese bow twice, clap their hands twice and bow again in prayer. We also got lucky and witnessed a wedding procession! I was thrilled to sneak a peek at the traditional clothing; The wedding kimonos were beautiful.


Later, we went down Takeshita Street in Harujuku and did a little shopping among an ant colony of people shoved in one tiny street. I was again surrounded by the trendy teens in outrageously weird / fashionable clothing, some with buns on top of their heads and others sporting the ever-so-popular she-mullet. It was quite a difficult thing to swim upstream, but a cool experience to go with the flow.

Shopping in Harujuku was pretty fun.
(a funny observation)

We went on browsing from Harujuku to Shibuya, stopping where a million (I exaggerate) people cross the street all at once, going every which way. This famous street corner is like Times Square. I zipped up to the third floor Starbucks to steal a prime watching spot from above. It was insane to watch the heards of people build and build on the sidewalk corner, before being released by the color of the traffic light, turning to true and utter chaos.



That evening was saved for the Oedo-Onsen Monogatari (sauna). Getting clean in a nice, natural hot spring and open air bath was a huge reward for making it through the day with a few hours sleep sitting upright at a smoky computer room. The sauna experience seemed very similar to the saunas I’ve been to in Korea, except they don’t use those amazing Korean exfoliating cloths! But, I did really enjoy dressing up in the yukata.


The next morning, we awoke early from our leather recliners in the rest room, in order to catch the action at the Tsukiji Fish Market. I’ve been to fish markets before, but this one was especially memorable because of the eminent danger of men driving weird motor scooter / trucks powered by keg-like canisters. I am thankful I still have all my toes. The fish was so fresh, so fresh that we saw a few of the big guys still squirming around alive. It’s not easy being a fish.

And then, it was time for me to catch my plane to Seoul, South Korea, to begin my summer contract teaching English.

To Alex: Domo arigato!

To my friends / family: Sorry for the 6 part novel about my seven days in Japan. Hope you enjoyed it.