I decided, somewhat late into December, to book a trip to Tokyo over the Christmas weekend. With the majority of my friends going abroad or visiting family on that weekend I felt I didn’t really want to be left behind in my cold flat alone over the Christmas weekend. I decided in the end that it would be much better to be lonely in Tokyo, with enough bright lights and distractions to keep myself occupied than it would be in Kokura.
I had to travel to Fukuoka for my flight, a short Shinkansen ride to Hakata station. I left the night before my flight and booked a cheap hotel. Fukuoka is a city that I’m now familiar with, though not always comfortable in. A few of my friends who live there have a good knack for finding the interesting secrets and good places to hang out and dine, but I haven’t quite managed that yet. The flight itself was unremarkable, apart from the fact I decided to walk to the station (strong winds causing trouble on the subway line). When I arrived, I found myself on the wrong side of the airport, and so I had to catch a taxi to the domestic terminal. I arrived with fifteen minutes to spare. But other than that, I arrived in Tokyo Narita without much incident. That was the first flight I had taken by myself.
I took the Narita express train (expensive, but direct) to Tokyo Station (東京駅), and after eventually finding the exit (train stations in Tokyo seem to me more like subterranean rabbit warrens than anything else) I emerged into the cold, windy air of Chiyoda. I still had most of the day to wait until I could check into my hotel (an up-market capsule I found in Asakasa), hungry and tired I went searching for food. The buildings surrounding Tokyo Station (東京駅), and the Imperial Palace area strange mix of the modern and the not-so modern. I’ve found little European-style stone architecture in Japan, but here in Tokyo their seemed to be a fair share of buildings (mostly governmental department headquarters, or banks, or older companies) that used a red brick. Next to them of course are the towing office buildings with their surprisingly good selection of restaurants and Izakaya on the bottom levels. The sheer size of the buildings still gets to me, nothing in Japan makes me feel more alien than looking up at those gigantic buildings. It feels strange to me that Britain has shown such little desire to build upwards, or to even build much at all. We seem to prefer horizontal space.
Later, after probably one of the worst foods I have had in Japan (Nikudon, with cheese チーズ肉丼), and after a much better bowl of udon (うどん), I found my hotel. The First Cabin in Asakasa was the third capsule hotel I have stayed in whilst living in Japan. It’s less a capsule, than a bed in a dorm however. You separate yourself for the world by a curtain you pull down. The ‘room’ contains a bed, air conditioner, two (!) electrical sockets and a television (which thankfully didn’t run 24-hour pornography, unlike my first capsule experience in Osaka). I found it very comfortable. It reminded me of when I moved into my own bedroom at my parent’s house, which was the smallest room, barely room for a bed plus me.
That night I decided to visit Shinjuku, the area of Tokyo I stayed in when I first arrived in Japan. It’s bright, busy and loud. I spent a good time wandering, Shinjuku is home to a few interesting sights. My favourite is the large Godzilla statue looming over the Shinkjuku Toho building. A favourite stop here is Don Quixote, a store that sells everything and nothing at the same time. This is the place where I imagine a large number of the ‘weird Japan’ stories emanate from. On five or more floors, you can find t-shirts, food, cosmetics, sex toys, mobile phone cases, costumes and an endless assortment of the strangest things. It’s all tat, but unique tat, tat that doesn’t seem to want to impress anybody. Cool tat.
Shinkjuku is home to a large number of bars and Izakaya, being close to Christmas most seemed to be stuffed to the brim. However, I found a Mexican place, with live music playing. For my final meal of the day I had nachos, and a tin of Sapporo that cost far more than it should have.
The World is Quiet 