Distinctly Tokyo! - A summary of my visit to Japan.
June 1-9, 2004 was just an ordinary week for the native residents of Tokyo. But for me it was a time to experience the nation where videogames are born.
The following is a photo-enhanced summary of your CU webmaster's nine day stay in the megatropolis city of Tokyo, Japan. Please do enjoy.
Welcome to Japan
My wish to visit Japan's capital city of Tokyo had long been on hold due to finances. So when my sister-in-law informed me that a
church in Tokyo would be willing to provide me with a roof and food in exchange for a little construction work, I couldn't refuse. My trip started Monday morning, May 31st
in the Charlotte NC airport where a plane would carry me to Dallas Texas and connect with a Tokyo-bound flight. This 2 hour joy ride was just a preview of what would next
be a 13 hour flight from Dallas to Japan's capital city. The plane was on its way by 11:15 (GMT-5) and the miniature windows of American Airlines flight AA 61 provided a
scenic welcome of milkshake skies to an otherwise boring and painfully long flight. The beautiful
sights of Tokyo Bay set the background for the plane's timely arrival in the Narita Airport at 3:30PM Tuesday where I was greeted by a
brilliant glistening clock from which I updated my wrist-watch to Tokyo time (GMT+7). My currency exchange for 42,000
yen left me feeling like an evil king (though only equivalent to $385 USD).
The next 2� hours were spent on a bus watching the futuristic landscapes of the city known as Tokyo
pass the bus at speeds unfortunately too fast for my digital camera to capture properly. From what I have seen in my lifetime, the
city's design is unparalleled. Electric trains and subways join a complex network of highways, bridges, tunnels and pedestrian walks in a maze of crowded architectural
perfection. There's a lot of bizarre buildings, each seeming to try to outshine its neighbor in design and creativity. I was also told
of a highway near the Narita Airport that enforced no speed limit of any kind. What fun. After a quick pitstop and standing in awe of an authentic Japanese public
toilet, I was back on the road again. As the bus neared my destination, which was to be on the outskirts of Tokyo, the
skyscrapers thinned and were gradually replaced with green countrysides, bamboo forests and rice fields. By the time I got off the bus
the sun had retired for the day and I was fatigued from a mere 2 hours of rest on the plane. I was especially glad now to have a place to sleep because the most
reasonable hotel in this particular area was $150 USD per night.
I awoke to a motley of colored lights cast by the stained glass windows of the church Wednesday morning, just 3 hours after lying down.
I never understood exactly why Japan is known as the "land of the rising sun," but as the chirping of birds drew me outside I quickly learned the significance of the phrase.
It was hardly 4:00AM and already the entire city was wide awake to a bright blue morning sky! The sun rose just an hour later, so I familiarized myself with a bench to enjoy
the sight. While sitting there I also observed people taking the time to pick up cigarette butts while they walked down the sidewalk, or pull vines that had found their way
into the azalea bushes that grew along the road. The Mazda dealer across the street caught my attention next, perhaps due in part to a
large poster obviously aimed at my gender. The Japanese government has always slapped higher taxes on imported vehicles to protect its
in-country auto production, so the average vehicle design is quite a contrast to that of many countries.
The government also controls things like food imports to protect farmers. I saw large cantaloups in a street stand going for $100 USD each!
For having one of the highest population counts in the world, Tokyo does an excellent job of implementing trees
and parks throughout the city, and it's not hard to see why Japan has such a strong spiritual association. I quickly located the nearby
Nikkobashi Park and invited myself to enjoy its stylish bridges and shaded walking paths
for a few hours. It was a peaceful park, with pigeons trusting enough to be pet and huge colorful koi swimming
freely in the river that ran through it. Curiosity led me next down a half kilometer path along the river which eventually connected with Mizukuraido Park.
From here I just began walking randomly in any direction that drew my interest. For the next few days I strolled through quiet
neighborhoods, down lonely back streets and past traditional storefronts,
stopping only occasionally for a quick picture of a familiar sight (Mt. Fuji volcano) or to let my thoughts wander in the warmth of a
rooftop morning sunrise. I soon learned in my traveling that there's no point in smiling to anyone you pass. Why? Because they won't see it. Most people
will lower their head when they pass you and some elderly will even close their eyes. I assume this is out of respect for privacy...or maybe because I was foreign. The exception is the children, who couldn't seem to keep
from staring at me.
Evenings were often spent at Seiyu, a popular 5-level shopping mall of sorts. The first 3 levels covered everything from apparel to
videogames, the fourth was restaurants (with creative fake food displays under glass) and the top level was arcade
games. It was just 2 stations away via the electric train and only cost 150 yen ($1.40 USD). Here in a restaurant on the fourth level of Seiyu I learned not to leave my chopsticks
jabbed upright into my food. Not only does it resemble a sword stuck into a body, but there is also a ceremonial process in Japan in which the bones from the body of a loved one who has
passed away are placed into an urn using chopsticks. So yeah, really disrespectful. With the help of a friend, I also got into the Yokota Airbase Thursday evening where I spent some time
watching F-18 fighters leave the runway at sunset. The airbase, now controlled by the US government, holds a history of one of the highest suicide points in
the world. The Japanese had never lost a war prior to WWII, so the general and all the men on the base commited suicide over the loss, unwilling to live on in shame of defeat.
I learned during breakfast Friday morning that the Tokyo University of Foreign Studies (TUFS) was just a short 30 minute train ride away. So naturally, a
visit was planned for the afternoon. Tokyo University is huge, and 4-year-old TUFS is just one of its three campuses. Most classes require fluency in
both English and Japanese to participate, and Korean and English are popular subjects among the many language studies available. Most students attend their daily classes via transportation
by train or bicycle, and the campus' entrance doubles as a cycle parking lot. I was surprised to see how important bicycle transportation is in such an
advanced city as Tokyo. The sidewalks are often just as busy as the street, and cycle parking lots are quite a common sight. I was dying to get a piece
of this cycling action for myself and was fortunate enough to borrow a bike for the rest of my stay. Saturday wouldn't be spent on a bike though, I had other plans for that day.
Saturday started with a visit to the train station and purchasing a 680 yen ($6.35 USD) ticket for a 2 hour ride to
central Tokyo. Trains are a cheap form of transportation and many Japanese people are equipped with earphones or manga to pass the time. The plan for
the day was to see some tourist attractions, and Asakusa Temple offered an authentic look at Japan's architecture, culture and art. Massive temples of
artistic build accompanied by century-old ginko trees draw crowds by the thousands. I caught some traditional sights and
school dress on my camera before venturing into the side streets and alleys of
the city. Then it was back to the station for a speedy subway ride to destination number 2, Tokyo Tower. The landmark is a dwarfed replication of the Eiffel Tower and offers an unclouded
bird's eye view of miles of megatropolis city development. I finished off the day with a 700 yen ($6.54 USD) bowl of ramen noodles and joined the
madness of the neon-lit streets in a race for the next train. The subway held a crowd the size of Disney World, a
typical sight for an average Tokyo train station, which is said to transport as many as 300 thousand people every day. My thoughts traced back to my train experience earlier in the week when I
learned to waste no time boarding. The train doors had closed just 15 seconds after it entered the station, catching unfortunate me between them.
I woke up Sunday morning with sore feet hardly willing to support me another step. They had carried me for more than 40 miles in just 4 days and I was quickly reminded
of the bike I had generous access to. Those two rubber wheels would proove useful for my last few days, covering a distance greater than that walked and in much less time. Tokyo is a biker's paradise with
sidewalks along literally every little road and a mirror positioned at every street crossing to see oncoming traffic. There are few forms of inspiration higher than the rush of a million sights, sounds and
smells hitting your senses as you fly down a foreign country road on a bicycle with no clue where you're going. My experiences of the last few days were too simple and exclusive to include in words, so I
will end it here. Needless to say, I wasn't entirely ready to leave on Wednesday, but my plane ticket return date said otherwise. It was a brief stay and far too short to get an accurate unbiased view of
Japan, but an excellent vacation regardless, and I've got 150 photos to look back on.
Best Photo Picks Random Back Street - If any of my pictures captured even a piece of Japan's essence, this is the one. Tokyo City - The megatropolis giant as seen from the second level of the Tokyo Tower. Asakusa Temple - Red temples complimented by green ginko trees are always a beautiful sight. Asakusa Pagoda - The traditional five-story Buddhist pagoda of Asakusa Temple.
