The moment I saw my airplane parked and waiting beyond the thick glass walls of the Oita airport I knew my trip to Tokyo would be whacked out head trip from beginning to end. Decorated with 50 of the 150 colorful Pokemon creatures from the popular Japanese kid’s cartoon show, the plane screamed enchantment as well as insanity. Before I boarded, I sincerely wished for the flight attendants to be either, 1.) real pokemon, thus bringing a long-held fantasy to life, or 2.) real people dressed up in pokemon costumes. The sad adult truth is that neither wish came true and instead I had to settle for beautiful, polite Japanese women serving warm towels. Behold, the aircraft:
A quick hour and half later I was disembarking in a metropolis-mecca for techie-geeks and sushi-fans with a zeal to experience anything the city had to offer. My first stop: Shibuya, to rendezvous with my Scottish friend and fellow ALT, Rhoda. Shibuya’s most globally-notable feature is the massive crosswalk that boasts being the busiest crosswalk in the world. Located right outside the Shibuya Labyrinth or “train station”, the crosswalk is an ideal spot for gawking at the strange and interesting characters produced beneath Tokyo’s lights and techno beat.
On our first night in the city, Rhoda and I decided to head to the dance club/love hotel part of Shibuya were one can find a high concentration of both. On our way to the club, Rhoda spied a most remarkable establishment called Alcatraz ER—a themed restaurant where maximum security prison meets bloody surgery. I know, go ahead and freak out and yell, “What?! Are you crazy?!” because the answer is “yes, of course…I’m in Tokyo.” After being handcuffed and led to our table inside a jail cell, Rhoda and I ordered drinks that were served by nurses in bloody uniforms. The whole place was decked out to match the theme—dark, scary, prison-hospital—but the Japanese servers were still their polite and slightly awkward selves.
After we were discharged/escaped Alcatraz ER, we hit up Harlem, the largest hip-hop club in Tokyo. Located secretly among all the other clubs and bars (we had a little trouble finding it), Harlem is where all the Japanese hip-hop-posers want to be. The club is pretty big with a DJ dais filling an entire wall and enthroning as many as 5 DJs at once. The crowd there seemed intent on facing the DJs as if we were at a concert instead of a free moving dance club and Rhoda and I were the only foreigners in the club until about 1am. After I busted about a million moves, we headed out and retired for the night/morning.
The remaining three days in Tokyo were equally as enjoyable, but for now I’ll just leave you with some pictures and a few descriptions.
Posh streets of Ginza as the sun was setting on a rainy day. I did not shop at any of the high-end designer stores.
View of Akihabara, the electronics hub of Tokyo. With its endless stores filled with all kinds of electronic goods, Akihabara is also known as “geek central” and “place of a thousand virgins.”
My posse for a night out in Roppongi. By the time 5am rolled around and the trains were running again (yes I stayed out all night), I had lost all of them to the chaos of the night.
