Tokyo, Round 2
So I’m back.
Ah, yes- Tokyo! The finely arranged chaos of it all. The sea of black-suited men and well-coifed ladies on the walk to work in the morning, the giggling schoolgirls and dazed tourists in the afternoon. All the ramen shops, yakitori, kaiten zushi and curry houses. The layers of ritual and custom that wraps the locals in comfort- still alien as I start to adjust to it as the status quo.
And the sounds: “Irrashaimase” cheerfully spoken every time you enter an establishment and “arigatou goizaimashita” spoken to you every time you leave, like clockwork- to the point where you begin to feel that it is as definitively and naturally associated to your coming and going as would be to hear the sound of a knock when you rap your knuckles against your desk. The melody played at 5 PM each day that can be heard from any point in the country. Ubiquitous disembodied mechanical voices that start helpfully giving directions and advice at every turn.
Anyway, I have a bit of a backload of pictures from before I left, so here are a few.
A couple weeks before my visit home, my friend and I went to Tokyo Dome- where the Giants play. We went to ride the roller coaster. A nice steep and scary one, that gives you a great panorama of Tokyo from the top. The day we went must have been cosplay day, because there were tons of them. A group of them was nice enough to pose for this picture for us.
This was taken at a shop in Akihabara: This shop was dedicated to all retro games. That shelf you see in the background is pure Dreamcast games. Anyway, if you’re a gamer then there’s no need to explain to you how incredibly cool this store is; and if you’re not a gamer, there’s absolutely no way I could ever hope to explain the same, so I’ll leave it at that.
This was taken from the balcony at our office on the day the Chinese prime minister was visiting Japan. The uyoku (right wing nutjobs in black sound trucks who want to bring back the glory days of the Emperor) and the police were playing a game of cat-and-mouse. The uyoku were trying to protest the Chinese prime minister's visit (with about 5000 watts of sound) and the police cut them off, creating a massive traffic jam in the process.
Hanami (Cherry blossom viewing) in Kichijoji. Unfortunately this is taken from a cell phone camera, but it was quite a sight to behold.
All the parks were packed with people drinking and talking and enjoying themselves on blue tarps, taking in the view of the sakura (cherry blossoms) in the brief period of time (about a week) while they are in bloom.
Ah, yes- Tokyo! The finely arranged chaos of it all. The sea of black-suited men and well-coifed ladies on the walk to work in the morning, the giggling schoolgirls and dazed tourists in the afternoon. All the ramen shops, yakitori, kaiten zushi and curry houses. The layers of ritual and custom that wraps the locals in comfort- still alien as I start to adjust to it as the status quo.
And the sounds: “Irrashaimase” cheerfully spoken every time you enter an establishment and “arigatou goizaimashita” spoken to you every time you leave, like clockwork- to the point where you begin to feel that it is as definitively and naturally associated to your coming and going as would be to hear the sound of a knock when you rap your knuckles against your desk. The melody played at 5 PM each day that can be heard from any point in the country. Ubiquitous disembodied mechanical voices that start helpfully giving directions and advice at every turn.
Anyway, I have a bit of a backload of pictures from before I left, so here are a few.
A couple weeks before my visit home, my friend and I went to Tokyo Dome- where the Giants play. We went to ride the roller coaster. A nice steep and scary one, that gives you a great panorama of Tokyo from the top. The day we went must have been cosplay day, because there were tons of them. A group of them was nice enough to pose for this picture for us.
This was taken at a shop in Akihabara: This shop was dedicated to all retro games. That shelf you see in the background is pure Dreamcast games. Anyway, if you’re a gamer then there’s no need to explain to you how incredibly cool this store is; and if you’re not a gamer, there’s absolutely no way I could ever hope to explain the same, so I’ll leave it at that.
This was taken from the balcony at our office on the day the Chinese prime minister was visiting Japan. The uyoku (right wing nutjobs in black sound trucks who want to bring back the glory days of the Emperor) and the police were playing a game of cat-and-mouse. The uyoku were trying to protest the Chinese prime minister's visit (with about 5000 watts of sound) and the police cut them off, creating a massive traffic jam in the process.
Hanami (Cherry blossom viewing) in Kichijoji. Unfortunately this is taken from a cell phone camera, but it was quite a sight to behold.
All the parks were packed with people drinking and talking and enjoying themselves on blue tarps, taking in the view of the sakura (cherry blossoms) in the brief period of time (about a week) while they are in bloom.