Tick Tock Tokyo
Even if you are flying into Tokyo, you will most likely arrive in the city itself through its main train station, where the essence of the city — a people in motion — is on full display. There is, it seems, somewhere everyone has to be right away. The time is ticking in Tokyo
This phenomenon is best illustrated — and made world famous — by Shibuya Crossing because of the sheer number of people that cross it in peak hours and the seemingly chaotic way they do it
and is really best experienced from within
Around the crossing, the energy and the bright neon continues, with endless shops and restaurants bursting with people
Worried the energy would be overwhelming, we stayed in a quieter residential area, near the more touristy but slightly less garish neighborhood of Asakusa
Nearby is a huge outdoor market (only a small part of which is visible here) and a Shinto temple with the biggest lanterns ever
While the market is mostly tourist-oriented, it does have some excellent and authentic treats and local wares like engraved chopsticks and fancy fans.
Just a few blocks over is the kitchen supply street with stores dedicated to pottery and knives. We’ve been wanting a Japanese knife for ages, and Masha’s been wanting to add to her collection of tiny chawanmushi pots. Masha’s dreams finally came true
Skytree Tower
In our ongoing quest to climb the tallest towers of each city we visit, we of course had to go up Tokyo Tower. Completed barely ten years ago, the Skytree is Tokyo’s main TV & radio broadcast tower. At almost 650 meters tall, it’s the third tallest structure in the world, after Burj Khalifa and KL’s Merdeka tower (still under construction).
Its imposing futuristic design is visible from across the city, and haunts it at night like Sauron’s eye
The tower has two observation decks at 350 and 450 meters. Since the latter was more expensive and demanded a lot more waiting in line, we decided that a thousand feet up is high enough. The view from the observation deck of the tower is stunning in that the city extends as far as the eye can see in most directions, bounded only by distant mountains and water on some sides
After much handwringing, the girls mustered the courage to stand on glass floor
TeamLab digital art exhibit (and Unko)
Tokyo is a place full of interesting and quirky things, like the Unko (cute poop emoji) museum Masha insisted on seeing
Toky is also always hosting at least one TeamLabs digital art exhibit. We decided upon making TeamLabs Planet our other special event on Masha’s bday. It consisted of a sequence of giant rooms, ranging from warmly wet, to wondrous to psychedelic to spiritual. Some of the coolest were
Crystal room
The Big Ball room
The Flower Immersion 1 room (3d projections)
The Flower Immersion 2 room (3d orchids)
A bit of food art
Another thing that Tokyo does well is the art of food, whether edible or not! And of course, when we say inedible, we mean the art of plastic food (Shokuhin Shompiru) associated with Japanese restaurants since early 1900’s. Tokyo’s Kappabashi-dori street (aka the same Kitchen Town street on which we got our knives) is also famous for stores selling this art-form. Nearby, we decided to learn this unique art form. Some intense concentration, a chemistry lesson, an art lesson, and hours later…some quite realistic sushi emerged! Watch out we don’t trick you when you are visiting
After all this work making fake food, we were hungry for the real deal. And one cannot mention Tokyo without mentioning Tsukiji fish market. It is no longer a fish market (that has moved), but it is still a hustling and bustling food market with some of the freshest luxurious sea products, desserts, wagyu and more. You have to come there (way) before 1:30pm when everything basically closes down. We did not know… and so of course had to go twice. But boy — was it worth it!! Where else can you find sushi, luxurious tubs of uni, premium tuna, delicate Michelin worthy mochi concoctions, and so so so much more
On reflection
With our time in Japan drawing to a close, we couldn’t quite settle on how we felt about our month in this fascinating place. On one hand, we realized that our rosy pink dreams of delicious food wherever you look, magical cherry blossoms and general la di da were not quite right. To be clear, we realized Japan is no one thing. It is a complex country with an amazing history.
It is both organized and logistically painful at times. Case in point, you will find people in neat lines waiting for one of the 4,000 daily trains going through Tokyo station. But you have to find that train first, and you are likely to have to walk 15 or so minutes in the station to do so. And when you get off that train on a cute street neatly packed with buildings full of restaurants, you might realize the address system in Japan does not follow any order (other than the year the buildings were built). Google maps doesn’t show half the restaurants near you, and the common use of calligraphy means you can’t translate a thing on the signs or the menus with your nifty Translate app. (At this point, we suggest looking for the restaurant’s logo to find it, and randomly pointing to other people’s tables and their plates to order).
Japan is also both open to tourists and friendly and warm, and sometimes closed and guarded. There were many instances where we found a coveted restaurant only to be told it was full (it was not), or it was member only — i.e., only people they know can enter (a common occurrence in Tokyo), or it doesn’t accept kids. There are reasons for all this of course, and they are deeply rooted in the Japanese culture of caring about the experience and relationship of a transaction vs. its monetary value. Some may be rooted in misbehaving tourists mucking it up for us. Either way, it can be disheartening.
At the same time, we had many amazing and warm experiences in Tokyo and Japan generally. An awesome college student/guide in Osaka (Yuta) spent half the day with us, strolling, eating Okonomiyaki and chatting it up. Friendly lunch patrons in Tokyo helped us figure out Ramen ordering machines. Grandmas asked us about ourselves and took pictures with us in the Hakone open air museum. A kind soba cafe owner in Kyoto let us in past open hours and fed us dinner on a late travel night, treating Alya to a delicious fried rice ball when she wasn’t eating well. A gregarious mountain-climbing Spanish-Japanese izakaya owner in Kyoto practiced his English with us, and encouraged Alya by putting her Haiku on his wall.
In the end, it was both what we imagined, and completely not. It was cold, gray, tight on space, and sometimes difficult. And it was also organized, and beautiful, and fascinating, and fun and delicious. Whatever it was, I know I want to go back.