| We next took a subway ride to Shibuya, the big fashion district in Tokyo to ring in 2001. We got there a little more than an hour before midnight, and the place was just teeming with folks from all over the world. By the time the clock struck twelve, traffic couldn't even move on the street. Large screen monitors on buildings tracked the progress towards the new millennium from 50 seconds out. When the time came, a huge roar overcame the air and people started dancing, hugging, clapping and jostling about. Large scores of young Japanese men started bouncing into each other, like a makeshift mosh pit, screaming "Nippon, Nippon, cha-cha-cha!" Loosely translated, it means, "Japan, Japan, rah-rah-rah!" Basically, it was just fervent nationalism...or alcohol-induced lunacy. |  Partying in Shibuya. |
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 "Nippon cha-cha-cha!" It was like a mild riot. |
After a while, we hopped on the Yamonte train line to Harajuku, another trendy district in Tokyo, and home of the world-famous Meiji Shrine. It's a tradition in Japan to visit a shrine as soon as possible in the new year. In a mix of Buddhist and Shinto beliefs, folks toss five-yen coins into temple wells, and pray for a healthy new year or any other prayers that need consideration by the gods. The five-yen coins are thrown because the Japanese word for five yen, "go-en", is similar in pronunciation to "goen", meaning luck in Japanese. I would estimate about half a million people had the same idea as us. It took about an hour to mill through the large crowds of people before we got to the shrine. | |
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(Left) A man throws his five-yen coin over the police barricade and into the shrine. It was the only way people could get their coins in. (Right) Just a few of my very close friends waiting to enter the Meiji Shrine. It was 2 a.m. New Year's Day. |
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