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Roppongi is considered the "trendy international district" of Tokyo, and all the guidebooks point tourists there. If you take the subway to Roppongi, you'll know you've arrived there when you see the black-and-gold pillars. When you emerge from the subway station, you will immediately be accosted by Nigerian men who will grab your arm and try to pull you into night clubs with cover charges of $50-$100. You may also get grabbed by non-Japanese women in miniskirts offering "massages". You'll probably see at least one pedestrian with a bloody nose. Policemen are present, but don't do much -- they put on a nightly parade of a long row of police cars with sirens blaring, make some token arrests, then go back to doing nothing.
Roppongi has the "Tokyo Tower", which looks like a red-and-white Eiffel Tower. It claims to be 9 meters taller than the Eiffel Tower, so you could say it is Eiffel Tower 2.0. If you climb it, you can take a picture of Tokyo that looks just like the last page. There are plans to build a new TV tower that is twice as tall, although TV broadcasts are expected to be phased out by then.
Roppongi also has the "Roppongi Hills" district a few blocks away, a complex of linked buildings with malls, bars, and luxury apartments for newly transferred employees. Tokyoans call Roppongi Hills the new international vision for Tokyo, and are very proud of it. There are giant metal sculptures of spiders there also, over all the water fountains. Last year, the rotating doors at Roppongi Hills trapped a 6-year-old boy and crushed him, which the Japanese media portrayed as a symbol of the new global economy. The elevators at Roppongi Hills are also home to frequent stabbing deaths, as international gangsters and bankers who live there have frequent battles. But anyway, living in Roppongi Hills is considered a great honor in Tokyo, because then you supposedly belong to the "Hiruzu-zoku", an elite cult of internationalists.
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If you cannot afford the $20 cocktails in Roppongi Hills, then "Gas Panic" is a favored bar among American military people, and you can watch the frequent fights break out in front of the bar. They charge anywhere from $0 to $40 to go in, depending on what you look like. Otherwise, "Geronimo" is one of the few bars in Roppongi that does not charge an entry fee. Foreigners who live in Japan look down on Roppongi, so if you talk to them, it is best to avoid mentioning that you went there. |
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