Tokyo Times: Part 2

Everyone told me to go see the Tsukiji Fish Market.  Everything I heard or read about it made it sound like a bustling, exciting place where you could see every kind of fish and, probably, get incredible pictures.  Everyone told me that if I wanted to see the Tsukiji Fish Market, I needed to wake up at 4 a.m. and get there by at least 6 to see the good stuff.

SCREW you, everybody.

I did wake up at 4.  I was out of the ryokan by 4:30, and arrived at the train station shortly afterwards, only to discover that the trains weren’t running yet.  So, after waiting around for a while, I was at last on my way.  I was exhausted, but delighted by the prospect of seeing human-sized tuna.  And when I arrived at the Tsukiji market, do you know what I discovered?

I discovered it wasn’t open to the public.  Not until 9:00.

Of course, I didn’t discover that right away.  I discovered it after wandering aimlessly around the vicinity of the market, getting horribly lost, and finally abandoning hope and buying a sushi breakfast.

On the bright side: the sushi was the best sushi I’ve ever had, I DID get some pretty cool pictures, and when I got back to the ryokan the boys were still asleep, so I went back to bed for another three hours.

Super Tuna

Creepy red fish

A 4a.m. roller coaster

In conclusion, if you are planning to visit Tokyo in the near future, DEFINITELY go see Tsukiji.  DEFINITELY DON’T wake up at 4 a.m. to do it.

Later that day—you know, at the time of day when REAL PEOPLE exist—we headed to Ueno Park to see the sights.  I wasn’t totally sold on the plan, because nobody had been able to tell me what was so great about Ueno Park, but almost immediately I got the answer.  Observe:

Things happening in that video: old Japanese ladies in absurd outfits are dancing to Latin music.  One of the musicians—who are, incidentally, awesome—is playing two instruments at once.  And one of my friends puts his hand awkwardly in front of my camera.

Things you may have missed: the guy in the yellow shirt, yellow tiger-print knee socks, a pleather newsboy cap and STUDDED PLEATHER SHORT SHORTS.  What a winner!

When we’d had our fill of…all…that… we continued on through the park and ended up at the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum.  I was pretty stoked because last semester I took a Japanese art history class, so I actually recognized some of the works and artists featured in the museum.  

Like this bronze sculpture by Vincenzo Ragusa (who is, surprise surprise, not Japanese)

Oh man, this post is getting long.  We had a busy day.

After the museum, we took a train with no driver (OMG) to an island called Odaiba, where there happened to be a Mexican festival happening.  We all had fun taking pictures in Odaiba, because you get a really good view of the city, and the sun was just setting when we were there.

I hope you like lights cuz lights are coming your way

That big red tower in that picture is Tokyo Tower.  Its design is based on the Eiffel Tower, but is several meters taller (which is a bit douchey, in my opinion).  And speaking of Tokyo Tower…

It's really hard to get the whole thing in a photo

…that’s where we ended our evening.  You can get a pretty impressive view of Tokyo from up there.  Check it out:

Everywhere you go in Japan looks like something out of Bladerunner at night

Whew!  What a busy day.  And now, our parting gift:

They just keep rocket launchers, y'know, around...

Tokyo Times: Part 1

Some icy fruity things at Sensoji.

Okay, so Portland is still my favorite city in the world, but Tokyo is a very close second.

At the end of last month, five of my friends and I took an overnight bus to Tokyo, where we spent three amazing days doing pretty much every touristy thing there is to do in Tokyo (with the tragic exception of the Parasitology Museum).

Here’s a quick rundown of the weekend (or at least the beginning of it).

Thursday, 11:20pm. Just barely make it in time to board the night bus at the Osaka Sky Building after accidentally taking the wrong train and getting trapped in the subway. Soon realize that between the driver’s recklessness, the lights shining right in our eyes, and the lack of legroom, we will not be sleeping much.

Friday, 6:00am. Arrive in Tokyo and make our way to Ikebukuro, where our ryokan is located. Within minutes of disembarking the bus, we discover who is not a morning person, and I have my very first encounter with a squatting toilet. Oh joy.

A ryokan is a traditional style Japanese hotel. Ours was pretty bare-bones (five futons and some public bathrooms) but they gave us these sweet yukata to wear!

So photogenic!

After dropping our bags off at the ryokan, we headed to Akihabara, which is the place to go in Tokyo if you love electronics or anime porn. I’ll let you guess why I was there.

This girl gave us stickers.

It’s fun to walk around Akihabara because there are all these girls dressed as maids and stuff handing out flyers. And yes, we went to a maid café. And no, it wasn’t as creepy as I thought it would be. We got delicious desserts and drinks, and the maids all said “nyan” at us a lot. You’re not allowed to take pictures inside the maid cafés, but if you buy a Polaroid with one of the maids they give you a wide selection of animal ears to wear.

...Yes, of course I did that. When I find a scanner or get back to America, I’m showing that Polaroid to EVERYONE.

My friend Sean, and in the background, naked anime chick!

After we had exhausted the delights of Akihabara, we continued onward to Asakusa to visit the Sensoji. It is a pretty impressive sight, for a number of reasons. First there’s these big lantern things.

Thanks, Japanese ladies, for adding to the drama of this photo.

Then there’s these guys in short shorts who want to carry you around.

These aren't even the shortest shorts I saw men wearing in public.  More on that later.

And then, there’s what seems like a mile of shops filled with omiyage (souvenirs) or candy or other little knickknacks. 

And lots and lots of tourists.

And THEN, on top of all that, this lady was there.

I have so many questions.

I mean, DAMN.

After a brief nap at the ryokan and the second most welcome shower of my life, we once again ventured out into Tokyo. This time, we headed to Shibuya, which is what you are probably thinking of when you think of Tokyo.

Poor Hachiko had to deal with this every day.

Unfortunately, after the excitement of getting through that giant crosswalk fades, we realized that there is actually not much to do in Shibuya except eat and shop. And since I was the only girl in the group of five, we decided to eat.

Fun fact: in Japan, instead of saying “buffet-style,” they say “baikingu.” That means “Viking.” I take this to mean that you’re supposed to guzzle your food like a goddamn Viking. And that is what we did at the underground Indian restaurant in Shibuya. (And Ali Davis, if you’re reading this: just as we were leaving a music video from Endiron started playing, and I made everyone stay and watch it).

And thus ended our first day in Tokyo. Further adventures will be recounted in further blog posts, but for now I will leave you with this image:

The best part?  It's a chain.