TOKYO AND ITS TOWER AND ITS MIDNIGHT RECTANGLE CHILDREN
December 5th 2008 12:36
In Tokyo we stayed in Ikebukoro. The first thing we noticed in Tokyo were the people, how trendy they all are. Unlike Osaka they wore more black, the men had longer and blonder hair and larger earrings, the women shorter skirts and higher heels. Street Lights by Kanye West blasted through some speaker as Trevor and I looked at the tall tall buildings and the lights and we absorbed the fast paced people, the slow paced old people, the people handing out free packets tissues loaded with advertising, the smoke rising from the ground, the night sky, the magnificent neon lights; my eyes were so damn lucky; I pulled on my backpack and smiled and for that moment I didn’t need alcohol to forget anymore.
Some buildings said KARAOKE. Some buildings said HAPPY TIMES. Some buildings said RAMEN. There are restaurants after restaurants in Japan, most of them serving Japanese food. I wish Australia had their own set of unique food good enough for its people to repeatedly buy outside their own homes. Everything, however, was expensive. Trevor and I looked at the prices of food. If we ate out every day for the 4 days we were in Tokyo we would’ve most likely run out of money and died of starvation. So we went to a 7-11 and found dinner and beer and sat by a bench and ate and watched everyone, amazed. We didn’t walk and eat, because no one does that here. Everyone has to sit and enjoy their meal; they’ll think you’re bizarre otherwise. Someone sitting next to us was reading comic book porn.
I have a friend, Trevor told me, who lives here, he’s crazy, let’s go meet him in two days. I gave him a Sure Why Not Nod and we took our last sip of our drinks and ran through the city, touching things, observing things, taking it all in. We ran through the city until a small segment of our road vanished and became a quiet park walkway filled with lanterns and small statues of animals and strange shaped well kept trees and strange eerie lights in the distance and there might as well have been giants and dragons and giant floating mushrooms because it was pretty much a dream.
We climbed Tokyo Tower, a sort of Eiffel Tower wannabe tower, and from the top people could view Tokyo from 360 degrees. Trevor’s mouth was open. The buildings rose from Tokyo like they’ve just woken up: they were all in line and rectangular, they were like grey creatures and they looked at us strangers and they did not say a word, they just wanted to look at us and think about something. When you look at Tokyo from the top, the buildings go well past the horizon. There is no end to the city. It’s building after building after building. I sort of felt enlightened and sad at the same time. I can imagine someone going crazy in that sea of endless rectangular creatures.
When I came to Japan I wanted to escape. I wanted to deny. I wanted to clear my head. I wanted to be inspired. I wanted to see art, I wanted to hear different ideals and understand things more, appreciate things more. I have never belonged and I never plan to belong. I glanced at Trevor. He was talking to a girl with bleached blonde pigtails and a short skirt and checkered knee high socks, her shirt said BURKLEY, HAPPY ENDLESS ELLAY. She noticed me and smiled. I looked back out at Tokyo and pressed my fingertips against the clear glass.
View from Tokyo Tower
Next up:
More of Tokyo, Kyoto and travel tips
Travel tips:
When lost, don’ be afraid to ask for directions (make sure to try and study basic Japanese directional vocab just in case they can't explain it in English: "miggi" means right, "hidari" means left, and "massugu" means straight ahead). People are surprisingly helpful. A lot of the time people have gone well out of their way to help us find our location. Once there was a woman who brought us to her hotel and offered to use her mobile phone. She then asked us to stay for a price but then we ran away.
If you know nothing about Japan but want to travel there anyway, you can always pay for a tour package. If tours are well out of your range, you can apply for a Tokyo Free Guide. Tokyo Free Guide is run by a group of volunteer tour guides who are willing to take you around Tokyo for free. They do it because they love traveling and learning about new cultures and also because they want to practice their English. In exchange you may have to pay for their meals or entry tickets. Click here for the Tokyo Free Guide link. I have also heard that you can get a Kyoto Free Guide.
| 80 |
| Vote |
Add To: 
subscribe to this blog
Comment by Mountain Fog
HAHA! That sounds funny; but maybe you were really lucky and just escaped the clutches of the Japanese Black Widow Spider Woman!
I am jealous of you, as you are in one of the lands I always wanted to visit, and indeed had the ticket, but came down with glandular fever just before I was to leave, (with a stage show I was stage managing).
So, no need to say 'have fun!' for you are obviously having a ball!!!
cheers
fog
Comment by Lilla
From The Home Front
Enviro Warrior
Dream Herald
Esoteric Bookshop
A pleasure indeed.
Lilla ...