Immersed in Tokyo: The Stations, The People, The Toilets
At one point in the evening, our guide Yuma turned to us (my husband and I) to ask us where we were staying so he could give us some recommendations. We pointed in the direction of the Godzilla head building that was our hotel.
‘Oh that’s Kabukicho. That’s Japan’s biggest Red Light district.’ he casually told us. Now I couldn’t see the expression on my face, but I’m sure I looked horrified.
‘It’s fine, it isn’t seedy or scary. However the Japanese mafia, Yakusa owns most of the establishments in that area. But don’t worry, you probably wont interact with them at all.’ he told us in an attempt to comfort us. My husband proceeded to give me a look that told me my hotel selection days were over. I went over our walk in the area last night. Sure there were some establishments advertising ‘Asian Touch for 2000 Yen’ and ‘XXX Thai Massage’ parlors. And there was some graffiti on the wall. But there were also huge neon signs on both sides of the road and humungous skyscrapers looming over us. There were large swaths of people wandering around after work, laughing with their co-workers. There were terribly dressed tourists with backpacks taking in the sights and smells. There were men advertising Robot fight shows and loud karaoke experiences. When I think of a Red Light district I imagine sleazy back alleys with dim lighting and pimps jumping out at you on either side. I did not imagine this.
To be honest, if he hadn’t told us, we would probably never have known.
On our first day in Tokyo, the first challenge we faced was how to exit Shinjuku railway station. You might think we were dumb bricks but Shinjuku station is not your average railway station. Its the busiest in the world with an average of 3.64 million people using it during the day. There are 6 different train companies that ploy their trains through it. If that wasn’t confusing enough, there is an underground shopping complex within the labyrinthine passages of the station.
Also, there are no real exit signs. Just signs that tell you what gates they will lead to. You have no idea what floor you are on, or on which side of the terminal you will make it out of. There are East and West sides of the station that are separated by an overground road, but there is an underground passage to get there as well. It took us 2 days to find that underground passage.
Hauling your luggage around on narrow escalators without trying to disturb morning commuters is a difficult task on its own. Doing it without looking at distractingly beautiful loaves of sweet asian bakeries is another task altogether. Finally after walking around in circles for 25 minutes we came out of the station and voila! We were on the fourth floor of a shopping complex, still above the station. Eventually we did what we should have done ages ago, asked for help.
There is a reason why train stations feel like all purpose monoliths. There isn’t time to walk far to find that quaint restaurant or store in the fast paced mania that is Tokyo. That’s why some of the best restaurants and shopping complexes are literally within the station. The hard working locals though, frequent their own special intimate Izakayas. These are mostly tiny bars (barely 8 seats per bar), with cheap drinks and wild themes served with small plates of unusual food. It’s not your regular sushi or ramen, its more like char broiled chicken necks, beef tripe stew, a pancake that is nothing like any pancake you can imagine and sliced raw tomatoes.
The most famous alley for some of these izakayas is ‘Piss Alley’. Walking through it was an explosion for the senses. Its noisy, full of sizzling pans and spitting hearths with clanking skewers and the loud chatter of relaxed people merrymaking. The energy is infectious. You can’t help but relax a little, smile at everyone around and you find yourself suddenly wanting to try adventurous food. You don’t want to ask, you want to try. I can understand why this alley is so popular with tourists. It looks straight out of an Anthony Bourdain episode of quintessential Tokyo. You can tell though that it’s become touristy by the fact that most of the establishments have signs saying they don’t want you taking photos of them. In English.
Our guide Yuma was very patient with our questions about Japanese culture. And we asked a lot of questions. He said the vast temperament of the Japanese people was to be patient and respectful. It was evident from our interactions with shopkeepers and fellow travelers that this was the case. They would bow when saying hello and thank you. If you enter a restaurant all the staff yells ‘Irrashimaise!’ (welcome/come on in). It’s disconcerting at first, to hear that when I first entered a restaurant. I feared I had broken some unwritten rule! After hearing 3 cries of ‘Irrashimaise!’ I thought, okay this is normal, I didn’t screw up.
That the Japanese work hard and long hours is known to all. While in Tokyo, I also found that they put a lot of effort into de-stressing as well. There is a wide range of entertainment available which caters to all kinds of tastes karaoke, slot machines, video games, video games combined with slot machines, you name it! There are arenas called Pachinko which are basically thick with cigarette smoke and hybrid pinball machine mixed with video games which you play while heavy metal japanese music is screeching in the background. You don’t cash chips, but ball bearings in trays.
There is a lot of socializing with colleagues and bosses happening at least two or three times a week! It serves the dual purpose of busting stress and climbing the corporate ladder. There are copious amounts of sake and beer consumed as well as round after round of small plates. This lifestyle seems completely unsustainable. Yet, it was curious to see that everyone I ever saw in Tokyo looked trim and fit as a fiddle. Apart from High Blood pressure, it doesn’t seem like the Japanese fall sick often or suffer from other lifestyle diseases. I asked Yuma about this. He paused for a moment to think and with a twinkle in his eyes said, it was probably genes.
I wasn't totally convinced.
He added that this crazy paced lifestyle was having a toll on the people mentally and physically as their population has been dwindling in more recent years. Japan is a largely homogenous country, you don’t see a lot of immigrants or outsiders. This means they can have a strongly specific culture of following rules and being deferential. The entire population is so typical in this fact that Yuma had lost his wallet three times and it turned up with the police each time without a single yen missing.
However the homogeneity enhances and continues the negative aspects of the culture as well. Old traditions remain tightly wound to daily life and unlikely to adapt over time. There is no tempering of the culture with a mish-mash of other cultures flowing in. It seems their lifestyle is likely to remain unchanged forever, untouched by outside influence.
One of the greatest aspects of Japanese culture is their adherence to absolute cleanliness. This can be seen almost immediately with the surgical masks that a lot of them wear in public spaces. If you don’t know about this already, it looks there is a widespread pandemic. They also don’t have trash cans in public, instead they are encouraged to carry their trash and dispose of it at home. The streets are squeaky clean. Their bathrooms are high tech and and every time I sit down on my cold toilet seat at home, I feel a twinge of sadness that I am not in Japan where it would be toasty warm and heated to perfection.
The toilets are in one word fabulous. And its not just in the fancy hotels or restaurants. Even the train station washrooms are kitted out to the max. They are these futuristic objects that one can get used to fairly quickly. Most of them make background noise or music when you sit down, to give you the comfort of not being heard while doing your business.
They have sprays to help you wash your intimate areas. The water pressure is adjustable. They are heated which is helpful in the winter. The first time I sat on a heated seat was so wonderful, I was there much longer than I needed to be. It felt like a warm hug for my behind. I fiddled around with lots of settings, and tried all the features, basically what I would do with a new iPhone except for the sitting on it part. Spot on Japan.
It is so much to take in, as a first time visitor to Tokyo I found myself enthralled by the largesse of it’s people and the orderly chaos of a city like I’ve never seen before. They don’t walk on a specific side like left or right, but there is a specific side in each passage and it can change suddenly at the next turn from left to right and back again. They always walk on the correct side. Never missing a step, or fumbling their way. You almost feel like you are disturbing their regular order, you with your Google maps trying to find out which direction is North in your shabby tennis shoes as they navigate their lives in classy shoes with ease every day. I didn’t visit Tokyo, I was allowed to be a part of it for a few days.
