Twenty First Century Tokyo

View from our apartment of the Sky Tree

Just like other super cities in Asia there is always something exciting your senses in Tokyo and yet it is so different to the chaos and noise of the developing nations on the main land.  Tokyo is on one hand a whirl of hyperactive energy and yet it is incredibly organised and easy to enjoy.  The amazing trains which are always on time and practically cover the entire city allowed us to enjoy the city to its full, from the entertainment districts where anything goes to the calm and traditional havens that offer an escape from the addictive overload of modern Tokyo.  Although it is impressive in the day the city really comes alive at night and it is easy to spend hours wandering around gazing at the flashing lights and crazy shops and bars, although trying to avoid the drunk Japanese business men whilst doing it can prove a challenge.  Although we were in a quiter district we had amazing views across the city at night that included a strange monument known as the Golden Poo which sits atop of Asahi Beers headquarters and the amazing Tokyo Sky Tower.

The Scramble

Cat Woman!

After the excitement of the Sumo Wrestling we started to explore a little more of modern Tokyo, heading to the west of the city called Shibuya.  The area is famous for manga and insane Japanese fashion (the strange maids and school girl outfits from manga) as well as the world’s busiest intersection (a bold claim!) known simply as ‘The Scramble’.  People swarm from all directions as every light changes at once and yet as soon as the lights have turned the pavement is again bursting as people wait for the next rush (it looks better than it sounds, particularly at night).  Like everything in Japan this was still done in a strange, respectful manner as collisions are resolved with a polite bow, as with most greetings in the country.   As we walked along the narrow streets huge signs advertising god knows what loomed above us as the shop front on the ground floor does not necessarily represent every floor above. Noticing a Cat Café Hannah made a beeline for the top floor of one such building and we were soon in a pretentious room with some twenty cats lounging around clearly living the good life. We also visited the world’s largest collection of manga with wall to wall comics, models and costumes of all genres with a particularly strange adult’s only section (think the sex scene in Team America).  We  were able to recover with a beer in a ‘beer bus’ and take a breather from the sensory overload of browsing in Japan.

The entrance to the  Robot Restaurant

Another famous area of the city is Akihabara, famed for its Maid Cafes and anime shops.  According to the Japanese the Maid Cafes which are full of attractive young women dressed as maids is meant in no way to be sexual but a place to be as cute as possible and to make people smile.  They perform little dances on a stage and speak in ‘cute’ high pitch voices.  Maids roam the streets with flyers tempting people inside but even this was comparatively normal to the Hobby Lobby Store which housed the most lewd models in some very comprising poses in the centre of what is effectively an adult toy store.  The 7 floors were filled with all sorts of strange models, comics and memorabilia and was packed with mainly but not exclusively young men who were pretty preoccupied with the strange merchandise on offer. The whole area was filled with similar shops and cafes with fans playing fantasy card games, making models or watching cartoons.  Akinhabara is also known for its electronic shops with everything from tiny one man shops to mega department stores featuring every electrical device and component known to man buried away in the chaotic stores. Some stores even have 'Pepper' humanoid robots outside dancing and interacting with people, often with far more enthusiasm than any shop assistants in the UK.

The chaos of Shinjuku

The entertainment district around Shinjuku in the west of the city is set around the world’s busiest train station (2 million people per day!) and is infamous across Japan.  As it is the most seismically stable area of the city most of the skyscrapers are here and we took the lift up to the 45^th floor of the Government Offices in the evening for amazing views across the city although it was not clear enough to see Fuji.  Shinjuku is also Japan's largest and wildest entertainment district with a huge red light district famous for its Love Hotels (themed hotels for short stay fun) and numerous bars and clubs.  At night the area is a whirl of colour and noise with gangs of men tempting people into buildings and drunk Japanese locals staggering about the streets.  Leaving Hannah for less than 30 seconds I was accosted by a 70 year old women trying to offer me Japanese girls on a set of cards like a pack of top trumps. At this point a man next to her saw Hannah approaching, quickly apologised for the women's mistake and they both ran off into the crowds!  Around the corner the Robot Restaurant has without doubt the most impressive shop front ever but the lights from all the competing shops and bars leave you feeling dazed and confused as we tried to fight through the crowds.  It was here that we accidentally stumbled across what we later discovered to be one of Tokyo's best Sushi restaurants, Himawari Sushi.  Having everything from smoked duck sushi to incredible marinaded mackerel and salmon for less that a pound a dish  was a pretty good way to spend the evening!  With its old and new Tokyo is a city you could spend a life time in and still not understand it but the week we got to taste the madness made it one of our favourite cities we have explored this year.