Huynher's Adventure: April 2006

Describing Tokyo to someone who has never been here is not an easy task. There just isn’t one word that can be used to describe this fascinating city. Our first impression of Tokyo was the sheer number of people everywhere within such a small area. There are approximately 12 million people that reside within Tokyo’s 1,288 sq. km. About one-fourth of the total population lives within commuting distance of the city. This translates into a mob of people that packs the subways, crowds the sidewalks, and fills the department stores beyond belief. In some parts of the city, the streets are as crowded at 2am as they are at 2pm. But among the busy-ness of the city, one can still find an oasis of tranquility and even a few windows on life as it used to be lived in the past.

The sheer level of energy is another striking aspect of Japan's capital city. It is an amazing example of what a country can evolve itself into even after WWII. However, despite its’ mega-construction, Tokyo hasn't fallen prey to supermarket culture yet: streets are lined with tiny specialist shops and bustling restaurants, most of which stay open late into the night. Close to the soaring office blocks exist an older kind of Tokyo - old wooden houses, small Japanese inns, old ladies in kimonos sweeping the pavement outside their homes. More than anything else, Tokyo is a place where the rush pace of consumer culture collides with the quieter moments that linger from the older traditions.

To sum up our experience of Tokyo, I wrote up a list of our favorite moments in the city. There is just too much to write about this city in one blog.

Top Moments in Tokyo

1. Tsukiji Fish Market – It is one of the largest wholesale fish markets in the world. Every conceivable type of fish and flesh were on display, being diced, sliced, slapped and chopped into bite sized chunks, ready for the waiting public. I don`t think we’ve ever seen so many dismembered limbs and gushing blood in one viewing. In addition to the slicing and dicing, there are also men in black rubber boots rushing wheelbarrows and carts through the aisles, hawkers shouting and lots of the fishermen zooming around in electric carts carrying crates of fish. They drive those suckers as if they are F1 drivers! You have to watch out for them, they don’t stop for anyone. Kenny was a victim – one of the electric carts hit Kenny in the leg as it was zipping down the aisle and before we could look up to see who hit him, it was already zipping down another aisle. Crazy drivers!! But no visit to the fish market is complete without a morning breakfast at the nearby sushi bars. (Let me remind you that this was 6:00 in the morning) The sushi was cut right off the back of the fish and served to us at the bar. It was definitely fresh and real raw. So raw, it practically melts in your mouth. But I think it was too early in the morning to be eating such raw sushi as our stomachs were sending us running back to the hotel.

Fresh Tuna anyone??

Using an axe to slice open the tuna

It was one of these suckers that hit Kenny

Eating our Sushi breakfast

2. Buying meals from a Vending Machine. Vending machines usually bring to mind canned soft drinks, but in Tokyo, these machines offer meals such as hot noodle soup and Teriyaki Beef on Rice. These machines are great inventions. You choose the meal you want from the machine, it spits out a receipt and you go to the kitchen counter to show the chef, and your meal is ready in 5 minutes. Its fast and efficient and the food is delicious.

3. Shopping at the Daiso shop. Daiso shop is a 100 Yen shop (which is equivalent to our Dollar store in Canada). It is a 4 floor storey shop that offers a wide array of goods, including clothing, kitchenware, food, stationary, tools, household items, toys, and various Hello Kitty, and Winnie the Pooh items. The Daiso shop is ten times better than the Dollar store we have in TO. It actually sells very useful and cute items. Kenny and I always make a stop if we see one to find cool cheap gadgets and to try out the different snacks and drinks. Yah to Daiso!!!

4. Eating at the sushi bars in Shinjuku. It’s quite fun. You sit down at the bar and there in front of you are various dishes of sushi, maki, sashimi, and even soup moving along the conveyor belt. It’s fun to eat at these places because you actually get to see the various kinds of sashimi that is eaten in Tokyo and let me tell you that some of them are quite funky. Kenny and I were always adventurous when eating at the sushi bars, but then again sometimes we wished we weren’t.

5. Playing at the Pachinko parlors. Pachinko is a mix between a pinball and slot machine. Inside the parlor, it is loud & extremely smoky. There are rows of people (mainly men) sitting in front of the machines as they play with their balls. Kenny and I wanted to play a game and of course all the instructions were in Japanese. We tried to ask how the game is played, but no one spoke or understood English. So we said, “What the heck, lets just put in some money and see what happens” As we inserted the money into the machine, a number of steel balls were dropped into a loading area. We pulled onto the only knob there was, and a ball was released and projected by a spring (like a pinball machine). The ball then falls through a series of pins on the screen and into this special hole at the bottom. We were then rewarded with more balls. At this point, Kenny and I assumed that the aim of the game was to get the balls into the holes. The more you get, the more balls you will be rewarded with. Obviously, most of the time, the balls unsuccessfully fall through the pins to the bottom and never make it into the holes. We also later figured out that the knob was used to control the speed by which the balls are shot onto the screen. The balls that you win can be exchanged into goods that are available at the parlour. Most of the people there, had trays full of balls, wonder how long they have been playing at these machines??

6. Walking around Shinjuku, Roppongi and Harajuku at night. Tokyo definitely comes alive at night. With its bright lights and massive amounts of people on the street, you wonder what day of the week it is. It doesn’t matter whether it is a weekend or a weeknight, there are always people walking around at night shopping, meeting up with friends and eating. It definitely is not like Toronto, where the city is dead by 10pm on a weeknight.

Shibuya Area

Harajuku by day

Harajuku by night

Shinjuku Area

Roppongi Area

There are two things that we wished we did see in Tokyo which are 1) to see the groups of suburban Japanese teenagers sport outrageous fashions and costumes. We read in Frommers that they normally gather on Sunday afternoons, at the mouth of the Meiji-jingu shrine. However, as we got there, there was none in sight. We stuck around waiting for them to appear, but we were out of luck. It probably had something to do with the cold weather. I don’t blame them for not coming out when temperatures are only -2 degrees Celsius. 2) To see a live sumo wrestling match. We arrived in Tokyo at the wrong time. They only hold sumo wrestling matches every other month beginning in January and we were in tokyo in February....so sad!!

What we would have seen....

The closest we got to seeing sumo wrestlers

The puffer fish is known in Japan as a delicacy, but it takes a brave soul to eat it as it is poisonous and if not prepared correctly, you can die within minutes. It is the liver, gonads, intestines, and the skin that contain a neurotoxin called tetrodotoxin (the poison) Only chefs who have acquired a special license can serve the puffer fish. I read that during this exam, which only has a 25% pass rate, the chef must prepare and then eat a meal of puffer fish...scary!!!

Cutest snoopy town in the Harajuku district

Looks delicious doesn't it, but its all fake...Tonnes of fake food in the restaurant display windows

Keeping an eye out at the Shinjuku Station

The ever popular Initial D car showcase

Concept car found at the Toyota Car Showcase

The controversial Shrine - Yasukuni Jinja: it is a shrine where the spirits of Japanese war dead are enshrined and worshipped as gods. It is controversial because 14 "Class A" war criminals are worshipped here.