Time in Tokyo: Take One

Japan’s nickname, “land of the rising sun,” has become a little too real for me after my second week in a row waking up at 0600 to the sun shining through my window.

[polite laughter]

Most days I attempt to doze a little while longer before catching up with my friends and family whose days are winding down into afternoons in the Central and Pacific time zones before making the 10ft trip from my bed to my dining room to my kitchen and making breakfast. With all the time I have before having to head to work, I’ve been enjoying making breakfasts consisting mostly of rice, eggs, toast (the thickest [and best] slices of bread I’ve ever seen), bacon that comes in half-slice packs of four and I suspect is just ham, and green tea.

An example breakfast

Between washing dishes, frustratedly attempting to cuff my shirtsleeves to give my hot forearms some reprieve, and doing pushups every time I see my body in the mirror, I’m always rushing out the door. In my white button-down, black pants, and black leather shoes, I’m almost anonymous in the morning rush save for my half-bun and alternately painted fluorescent fingernails. My train car on the JR East Yamanote Line turns my headphones into silence-cancelers in an inversion of expectation — this train car is full to pushing-room only. My ears pop as I head up to the 34th floor of Yebisu Garden Tower in a similarly crowded/silent elevator, tap my entry card on the sensor and walk into my office to spend my day learning (it turns out that’s what working at a think tank means!). From trying to find high-resolution US computer science graduate students’ career destinations data to analyzing the evolution of new health technology with Big Data, Wikipedia has my back as I try to understand vocabulary that made me miss my AP Macro study sheets. Reprieve from silence comes with lunch out with my exceptionally funny and kind coworkers. Most young and from eclectic backgrounds like Ericsson, publishing, and event planning, they tell me about the cultural impact of the movies “Sharknado” and “California Down,” discuss the singularity, and help me find out the nearest place to bet on a Keirin bike race (if you watch, watch to the end). In the afternoon I have to go to the bathroom a lot because the office’s water is so good.

Staying hydrated + a cherry burger out with coworkers

After a day’s work, I frustratedly roll up my sleeves once more and become another commuting particle in Japan’s mass transit system. On my way home, I pass at least 10 stores that predominantly sell face masks and and take my pick of three grocery stores to pick up ingredients for dinner. Just before my matchbox apartment bursts into flame from the heat of my stove, I finish dinner and clean up before sitting down to eat, content with my independent day. Sometimes I walk around my neighborhood to visit local parks and hang out with tailless cats before reading some Octavia Butler short stories (or Octavia’s Brood) and playing old games on my PSP, then showering in my waist-height, 5-sided cube that drains straight into the floor. Before bed I clean my sink to minimize cockroach contact, brush my teeth, and think about how much this routine means to me.

Shin-Okubo station (mine)

For the first time in my life, I’m not trying to be busy all the time. I’m content cultivating my own garden, being with myself and taking things at my own pace. Alternate title: this is so much better than a vacation.


Written by Seiji Eicher ’20, FSI Global Policy Intern at The National Institute for Research Advancement in Tokyo, Japan.

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