This entry was posted on 2001-04-22
At home in Tokyo
I realize that my last two entries have been quite boring. I wish that I had something a little more interesting to report. But being sick makes you less adventurous and more apt to take it easy.
I wanted to write an interesting entry. I was going to save this until I arrived home, but seeing that my readers are probably avoiding my diary like the plague, I decided to do this now.
Tokyo Q, one of the city's best websites publishes an annual guide to the city. At the beginning, they have a section called "being at home in Tokyo" where the authors talk about those little things that make Tokyo well...Tokyo. Some of the characteristics mentioned in the 2000-2001 guide are "homeless men supporting themselves by retrieving discarded magazines from the dustbins in stations and selling them back to commuters for 100 yen," "young children going off to school with leather backpacks, black for boys and red for girls, and yellow hats to make them visible to motorists," and "the little truck that drives around the neighborhood calling out 'green bamboo poles for sale!' the poles are for the purpose of hanging out laundry , and every once in a while, evidently, someone needs a new one."
That is just a short list of what the authors of Tokyo Q think what makes Tokyo Tokyo. (If you have any interest in Tokyo at all, you should pick up a copy of the book and browse it. True, it is mainly of interest for travelers and residents, but the descriptions of the neighborhoods, the "Last Year in Japan" section, and the Tokyo characteristics are all very well written and very interesting.)
Anyway, in the spirit of Tokyo Q, I decided to write up a list of characteristics that, to me, make Tokyo Tokyo.
Here it goes:
The "door closing" and "train arrival" music that you hear at the train stations
The police, directing traffic, with their flashing red night sticks
The people paid to wear advertisements and stroll up and down busy nightlife districts
The streams of people crossing a busy intersection, in all directions at once, when the "walk" sign is illuminated
The neon and the back alleys that come alive at night
The commuters falling asleep on the trains and waking up precisely at their stop
The almost lyrical greetings coming out of every store
The small temples and shrines tucked away in the heart of major districts
Salarymen going crazy over the sakura in Ueno park every spring
The vending machines for everything imaginable
The signing crosswalks
The huge television screens mounted on the sides of buildings (and watching Tokyoites stand in the middle of the sidewalk, motionless, watching horse racing and sumo wrestling)
The district maps along the sidewalk that even long term residents have to refer to so that they don't get lost
The sellout sales in the train stations
The devout Buddhists lost in prayer at Shinjuku-eki (the world's busiest train station)
The noise from the arcades and pachinko parlors
The Waseda students having club meetings near Takadanobaba-eki
Ueno, with its Tohoku-like feel
The crows atop the commuter trains on their way into the city every morning to rummage for food
The white seat covers in the taxis
The black nationalistic vans driving around blasting their propaganda (which most people ignore)
Rummaging through the trash heaps to find appliances and furniture in almost perfect condition
"Shot bars"
Teenagers dressed as their idols gathered near Harajuku-eki
The food selection in the basement of every big department store
"Engrish" appearing on everything for decoration
Shinkansen pulling in and out of Tokyo-eki
The ancient fortune tellers on busy streets at night
The Oedo subway line, with its modern, artsy stations
The umbrellas for sale everywhere on rainy days for 500 yen
The led displays on the sides of some buildings which give the latest news and weather
People wearing face masks, to avoid getting or giving a cold
The large display of psuedo-medicial hangover drinks for sale at station kiosks and vending machines
Feeding the koi during a Sunday afternoon stroll in the park
The public baths, complete with denkifuro (electric baths)
The booklets outside every travel agency with pictures of scenery and food of faraway places
The fact that a suburb of this, the world's largest city, is the second largest city in Japan (Yokohama)
The ethnic restaurants with their Japanese touch
Watching salarymen hurrying to catch the last train home after a night of drinking with their co-workers
Love hotels, with their flashy signs and creative facades
The large trucks, with lights mounted on the front to indicate how fast they're going
The "dance" game at the arcades
Teenagers in Shibuya testing out the latest fashions (most of which are short-lived and outrageous)
The people and police who go out of their way to make sure that you find your destination
And the list goes on and on...
Ahhh, Tokyo, you will always be unique to me. There is nothing in the world remotely like Tokyo.
have anything to add to my list? lemme know!
the last day...