My Tokyo

So I've finally got my act together... We went to Japan in May/June, but I'm only just sitting down now to post about my wonderful adventures.

We landed in Tokyo on a Friday night. We didn't get up to much on our first night, on account of being tired due to the long trip. But it was pretty surreal catching the train from the airport through Tokyo... The pulsating neon lights made me feel like I was in "Blade Runner"...

On the Saturday night, we hit Roppongi. I had heard conflicting reports about Roppongi. Some friends said it was awful, some thought it was great fun. We were just looking for a pub to watch the football (correction, Steve was looking for a pub to watch the football), because it was the first game of the season, or something, I didn't really know or care...

Two things I noticed - cheap drinks and lots of foreigners. We met some travellers, mostly young Americans, who didn't seem to mind watching the football with us. Overall, I thought it was pretty fun, until I was nearly accosted by an overbearing Jamaican bouncer from a nearby hip-hop club.  Seriously, I'm not interested now leave me the f$#k alone.  He tried to tell me that they were playing the football in the club.  Yeah right.  Kids, be careful of dudes like this in Roppongi.  From what I've heard, they entice you into the club where they slap you with a hefty cover charge.  If you refuse and try to leave, they sik their 'heavies' onto you and make you pay.  Scary. 

We were staying Akasaka, which was pretty central to all the hotspots - Roppongi, Shibuya, Shinjuku, Harajuku. We went shopping in Shibuya - it felt like I was at a carnival, with flashing lights, music and yelling everywhere. 

My personal highlight was checking out the cosplay kids at Harajuku park. There were Japanese rockabilly punks and kids dancing to Elvis tunes. Some kids were jamming with trumpets and a drum kit, playing "When the Saints Go Marching In". The drummer was wearing a horse head - hilarious.  I wanted to join in.  These kids know how to have good clean fun on the weekends. 

This is what we came for - I always wanted to visit Harajuku park and see the kids dressing up. Hundreds of people gather to watch them there, and the kids seem to appreciate the attention.

Tokyo is definitely a place to get an eyeful of contemporary Japanese culture. We visited a couple of shrines while we were in town, but we mostly saved the traditional sights for later in the trip. This was our chance to see the fast-paced lifestyle in one of the biggest cities in the world - the biggest city I've ever been to, at least.



I was surprised at how easy it was to get around.
I was dreading the subway system, because I had seen videos of people being crammed into the trains like sardines. But we managed to mostly avoid that, as we didn't travel in peak times.

If you're a guitar fan, you must check out Ochanomizu. It is filled with guitar shops for as far as the eye can see. I promised Steve we would check it out, after I dragged him to a million shops in Harajuku. Ahhh...the shopping...it's so gooooood.

I love Tokyo. Will definitely return in the near future...