Golden Week in Tokyo

It's been only one month since I started my new job in Japan, and already I get to take a week vacation. Is this the actual truth behind the seemingly so busy Japanese work attitude? Or is it simply the often mentioned easy life of a teacher that is so full of holidays? None of the above, as it turns out. It is much rather a case of good timing that I got to enjoy the ancient festival of "Goruden Week", just like the blooming of the cherry trees a few weeks earlier. In fact, this is going to be my only week off for a while, until another week in August, which Japanese students look forward to as the "great summer vacation"! How pitiful, although I know that once it comes around I will have to make the most out of it, no matter what.

This was also my attitude towards golden week. I had several options, and I didn't want to leave anything up to chance. I had an invitation to Nagoya where a former Active teacher found a job after leaving the Nagaharas'. (I have no idea about the story, that was before my time. I just met him on his way out.) Another idea was to visit a good friend of mine from our time in the Public Service, back in Berlin. He lives in Hiroshima, and it would have been awesome to catch up on old times and celebrate the new ones. As he had to work, however, I opted for the third choice, and went to see a friend in Tokyo, whom I met more than six years ago in Buffalo, and hadn't seen since.

Before arriving, I had the craziest images about Tokyo in my mind: An insane city, full of neurotic people, all on the go, rushing across the busiest crosswalks, wearing the strangest outfits, using the most ridiculous hi-tech equipment, while being bombarded by oversize advertisement from all directions, in all colors, shapes and forms. Of course I soon had to realize that all these stereotypes were hardly accurate. Actually everything in Tokyo is WAY MORE EXTREME, and no exaggeration could do justice to its off-the-wall, in-your-face, kick-your-ass reality.

I arrived at Shinjuku Station at 10:00 am on a wonderfully dry and sunny Thursday morning. Surrounded by skyscrapers, wide avenues lined with trees, and a bright sunlight reflected from shinny cars and glass facades, I was relieved not to be greeted by traffic jams and rush-our madness. I knew though that it was just a matter of time before I would be thrown into the midst of it all.

Tokyo backwaters
Because my friend knew about my aversion to massive crowds, she decided to ease me slowly into the Tokyo that fits our description of the world's biggest city, and took me to see the residential district of Nakano first. Although it is in the middle of the city, and quite urban, it is a relatively peaceful area, with many parks, small pedestrian walkways, with blooming green bushes and flowers flowing out of window-boxes. In between there were little cafés, playgrounds, Shinto shrines, and sushi eateries, all in a neat arrangement that provided a pleasant morning stroll in the city. Our walk was certainly not without a purpose. After all I had previously introduced her to the wonderful hobby of geocaching, and we had to find two boxes that were hidden in that district, which was just as new to for her as it was for me. After spending three hours exploring what's probably the most harmonious part of Tokyo, enjoying a delicious mocha, logging our finds, and having lunch, we felt ready to tackle Shibuya station.
beautiful Nakano
Shibuya is the place that comes to most people's mind when they imagine Tokyo: A triangle of pedestrian crossings with loads of people on it, and an ocean of blinking neon lights above them, not to mention the gigantic screens. That is exactly what we had all around us. Kinda like Times Square in New York, with the exception that Time Square is merely a huge intersection whereas Shibuya goes on for several blocks in every direction. Moving screens everywhere you look, music videos blasting from the street-corners, flying saucers and pink apples fighting for attention with a massive talking noodle-bowl. Between the wide streets the narrow walkways are reserved for pedestrians, where even more flashing advertisement is packed between the buildings. In a way it reminded me of the Niuwendijk in Amsterdam. And just like in Amsterdam, the domineering sight were not so much the buildings, which had their own strange splendor, as the people walking between them.

Fashion is something Japanese people don't take light heartedly, especially in Tokyo. Each area has its own blend of styles and flavors, be it torn jeans miniskirts with gold handbags or combat boots with lace umbrellas; knee-stockings with black-and-white striped ties or balloon skirts with frayed spandex leggings. Somehow everything finds its place. There is hardly a fashion item produced in the the last hundred years that would not be utilized somehow by someone. And even though nothing matches, in the end everything matches with the craziness around it. And Shibuya is where everything meets. A strange experience that will startle the visitor at first, until he ventures on towards Yoyogi park and Harajuku, where a new level of shock is looming.

The proverbial (or maybe just pop-song-ial) Harajuku girls with their wicked styles are bound to catch anyone off their guard who think they've seen it all. Unless they've really seen it all, which would mean they are familiar with Harajuku. In that case it would not be surprising to see a girl, dressed up as a punk-rock-panda-bear, playing paddy cake with a dread-locked chick in an 18th century wedding gown. Others merely look like Strawberry Shortcake or some characters from an anime series. Between these types of teenage freaks your average goth, punk or hippie is just one of the many faces in the crowd. Nevertheless, they are still present, and each subculture has specific rules on what to wear and what not to. Some buy their stuff at one or two certain stores, and go to parties where all of them are dressed accordingly. So even though they are celebrating individualism and non-conformity, what it ends up being is really the opposite.

I did not take any pictures of people, but if you want to see what that infamous Harajuku fashion looks like, I reccomend a video on YouTube. Not the Gwen Stefani video for sure, but instead this collage: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xj_Oor-CG-I The pictures are great, but I would turn the sound down.

Before the day drew to a close, we went to see yet another part of the city, mostly, but not exclusively for its delicious 100 yen sushi. Although it was only four metro stops from Shibuya, this area was completely different, still not any less weird. Shimokita, as it is called, caters more to an artsie, boheme kind of crowd. It is just as extreme in style as Harajuku or Shibuya, but here people tend to keep things more "real". No fantasy science-fiction anime characters here. Instead, Shimokita has everything for your surfer-hippie or rockabilly, your 60's mod or 90's grunger. Here, I almost felt a little bit caught up in shopping. I even bought a tie. It is the craziest tie that I'd still consider wearable. One discouraging thing about style in Tokyo is that you can go bankrupt quite easily. Your average flannel or Hawaiian shirt is somewhere between 3000 and 6000 yen, the really cool ones are more. So I had lots of fun looking around, thinking that I HAD to come back, and secretly feeling happy about living in Shiojiri where I wouldn't be tempted to become a slave to fashion.

It was getting late and I had to check into the capsule for the night. I stayed at the cheapest and most convenient place that Tokyo had to offer, and probably the only one with availability during golden week: a capsule hotel. This Tokyoite contraption is the perfect place to crash for the night. Yes, the "rooms" are fairly small, but other than that it has all the amenities that you could ask for. After checking in, you can stash all your stuff in a locker, as you won't be needing anything while there. In the locker you find the pajamas for the night, as well as towels, toothbrush, and shaver, all vacuum sealed for single use. Shampoo, toothpaste, and such are all provided in super luxurious bathrooms, and the hallway has a nice soft carpet under your feet. The capsule itself is pretty much a bed with enough space to lay down, sit up, and turn around. Cozy. There is a TV with a console that has everything you could want: headphones, light-switch, radio, and an alarm clock. Check out is at 10 am. All very convenient. Spending a night there costs 3500 yen.
my capsule for the night

The next day I was invited to a Japanese barbecue. It was fun. I finally got to use all the Japanese I'd forgotten that I knew. It made me realize how much I'm still in need of catching up. The food was also pretty good, although nothing I had expected. Steaks, ribs, sausages? None of that at our barby. Shrimp? Getting closer, but it was more along the lines of octopus, squid, fish, some other shellfishes, and the absolute highlight of golden week: yaki soba, that is fried noodles with vegetables. It was all delicious. Afterwards we went to Karaoke with some Japanese friends to the top floor of a nearby skyscraper. On one side of the room was the view over the plaza, while on the opposite wall a gigantic flat-screen was projecting the music videos along with the lyrics (each in its respective language). Karaoke is a wonderful invention, and I know I would have so much fun at it, with people who like the same music as me, in the same language of course.



After one more night at the capsule, I finally set out to explore Tokyo by myself. I wanted to get some books in English, something that seems to be a rarity in my parts. There was a used book store nearby and I decided it was not too far away. The most difficult part was to leave Shibuya in the right direction, the rest was easy. The bookstore was exactly as I had pictured it: tucked in some high-rise building, a small shop with books piling up on the shelves everywhere. I knew pretty much what I wanted to get, and I found exactly what I was looking for: Japanese Inn by Oliver Statler, a wonderful piece of historic fiction about the Tokaido road, and a book about Shintoism explaining about shrines and practices, possibly about spirits and such. After asking the guy I got both. Additionally I bought a book of Japanese tales, which should be fun as well.

Rounding off this relaxed visit, I met my friend to go out for some crepes, got some sort of fancy candy for the teachers at Active, and took the train to Shinjuku Station where my bus was going to leave. As a final impression of Tokyo, I saw a Nazi rally outside Sinjuku. They were flying the old empirial battle flag, playing traditional Japanese music, and blasting speeches through a megaphone about those damn foreigners coming into the country and taking over. Japan needs to toughen up and expel the foreign companies, etc. Nobody seemed to care one way or the other. There seems to be a small fraction of these kind of right-wing extremists in every country, who bark loudly while everyone knows that these crazy fanatics have no chance of getting into power. Except for the US, of course, where they are already running the show. I was going to take a picture of them, but my friend's reaction made me change my mind. She had the same look on her face as the Guatemalan who told me not to take pictures of the garbage that was piling up in their river. Never mind, the impression was there. Nevertheless, I had an amazing and very memorable golden week in Tokyo. I can't wait to go back!