Tokyo by night

Senso ji temple

Lady on a bike, in a park

Senso JI temple at night

We arrived into our apartment in Tokyo with 36 hours of sleep deprivation, 3 in-flight movies and copious amounts of free complimentary`s (courtesy of BA) under our belts. Our first hostel was based in one of the old parts of Tokyo, called Asakusa. Asakusa sits on the Sumidagawa River, which runs through Tokyo and gave the city its original name of Edo, which means “gate of the river” (creative hey!?). Tokyo got its current title after the Tokugawa shotgunate (military government) were established there and became so big and hard that they governed the whole of japan. Taking the title of capital from Kyoto and kindly using it as an anagram to create the now termed Tokyo, with its Japanese meaning of “Eastern Capital”…..

imperial palace gardens

After we checked our bags in and had the all mightiest of power naps we began to nose around Asakusa. Home to one of the oldest temples in Tokyo, the Senso-ji temple with 1,500 years of History. We saw traditions of paper burning and praying in the form small pieces of paper, tied in a knot and left on frames of wire. We wandered for a bit longer, through the old streets, covered in Japanese symbols and drawings draping from awnings, getting more and more complexed by the menus and advertisements. We ended up settling on a small, smoke filled restaurant which was full of Japanese men dinning alone. We sat down surrounded by Japanese symbols, Japanese people, in Japan whilst trying to talk Japanese and the whole time listening to Beastie Boys, ill communication being played throughout the whole restaurant. Its been a re-occuring theme throughout the whole stay in Tokyo, you can be in the most traditional of Komodo shops for example, being served in broken English whilst gangster rap is being played and lyrics of guns, bitches and bling are being yelp whilst no-one blinks an eye.

workmen, working... at night. they love the neon!

After the first day we rented bikes to get around the city and take in as much as possible. We came across the Imperial palace and gardens in Hibya, then Tokyo business area, Electric City and Ueno Market. All of which could quite easily take a page to explain but i`ll try to dwell on the best bits… Electric city is, believe it or not, where you get all you`re electrical goods from. This place is crazy, typical Tokyo: futuristic, advertisement laden and busy, busy as hell. If you’ve seen the channel 4 advert where they`re walking though the backstreets of Japan and the neon lit channel 4 symbol is made as the parts pass, then you get the idea of this place. You could quite easily spend all you`re finances a thousand times over here and still find something new and fascinating. Ueno market however was a bit cheaper, it was a bit like Cambden market, as far as being under a train line and eclectic but Ueno was like its older, bigger brother that was built on acid and steroids. Very crazy and overpowering but beautiful at the same time, you got a real feel for Japan here. Super friendly people who are willing to share and smile and a window into where many film directors may have got inspiration for many scenes in many films.

old lady on an old bike in a super modern area, electric city.

Since then we had a rainy day in Shibuya, the shopping capital of Tokyo, full of young, uber trendy girls who all wear high heels as a religion。The　only thing is a very small minority can walk in them and this makes for some very funny viewing, as you see their attempts at class tarnished by stumbles and trips. This was also our first introduction to Japanese gaming culture and there multi story arcades full of the most bizarre machines. Just walking into some of the areas spins you out, with the amount of whirling noises and flashing lights, an epileptics nightmare for sure. The next day started with sun however, so we were back on our bikes and back to Ueno to take more in. This time we discovered a huge park full of temples, performing arts and chocolate coated bananas. We met one of the most curious and sweet men so far. He seemed like he was homeless yet spoke the best English of all the folk we`ve met. He was like any old man you`d meet anywhere in the world, trying to right the wrongs of the world with anyone that would listen. He avoided answering many of the questions that we asked him, which made us more intrigued into his story. He passed many judgments on the youth of Japan saying that the girls were all looks with no mind or feeling and that boys were a little better but still not 100% ok, “in his opinion”.

Uneo market

The last full day in Tokyo took us to harajuku. A super cool area of Japan full of expensive vintage boutiques and such like. This area made you realise why everyone works so hard and looks so good! The main aim of the trip to Harajuku however, was to find this spot where goths and dress up girls met and paraded theselves round. It was listed in the guide books as “a must see for photo opportunities”. They seemed in low attendance today though and as we walked around the park we realised why. Just around the corner to their normal hang out spot, a fashion label were doing a 2day viewing of their new line and all the glamorous girls in their high heels were out in force, trying to get filmed by the local media　ａｎｄ　ｓｔｅａｌｉｎｇ　ｔｈｅ　ａｔｔｅｎｔｉｏｎ．　This didn’t deter the Tokyo Rockabilly Club though and ａ　ｇｒｏｕｐ　ｏｆ　ｍｉｄｄｌｅ　ａｇｅｄ　ａｎｄ　ｏｌｄｅｒ　ｍｅｎ　ｍｅｔ　ｗｉｔｈ　ｔｈｅｉｒ　ｑｕｉｆｆｓ　ａｎｄ　ｈｉｇｈ　ｋｉｃｋｓ　ａｎｄ　ｄａｎｃｅｄ　ｔｈｅ　ａｆｔｅｒｎｏｏｎ　ａｗａｙ　ｔｏ　ａ　ｃｒａｃｋｌｙ　ＰＡ　ｂｌａｓｔｉｎｇ　ｏｕｔ　ｏｌｄ　ａｍｅｒｉｃａｎ　ｒｏｃｋａｂｉｌｌｙ．　Ｉｔ　ｇａｖｅ　ｌｉｇｈｔ　ｔｏ　ｗｈｙ　ｔｈｅｒｅ　ａｒｅ　ｓｏ　ｍａｎｙ　ｃｉｇｇａｒｅｔｔｅ　ｖｅｎｄｉｎｇ　ｍａｃｈｉｎｅｓ　ｏｎ　ｓｔｒｅｅｔ　ｃｏｒｎｅｒｓ　ｉｎ　Ｔｏｋｙｏ　ａｓ　ｎｏｔ　ｏｎｅ　ｏｆ　ｔｈｅｍ　ｗｅｒｅ　ｗｉｔｈｏｕｔ　ａ　ｓｔｙｌｉｓｈｌｙ　ｐｌａｃｅｄ　ｃｉｇａｒｒｅｔｅ　ｆｏｒ　ａｎｙ　ｐｏｉｎｔ　ｏｆ　ｔｈｅ　ａｆｔｅｒｎｏｏｎ．　Ｗｅ　ｌｅａｖｅ　ｆｏｒ　ｋｙｏｔｏ　ｔｏｍｍｏｒｏｗ，　ａ　ｍｏｒｅ　ｔｒａｄｉｔｉｏｎａｌ　ｔｏｗｎ　ｉｎ　ｊａｐａｎ　ｗｈｅｒｅ　ｗｅ　ｈｏｐｅ　ｔｏ　ｆｉｎｄ　Ｇｅｉｓｈａｓ，　ｆｉｎｇｅｒｓ　ｃｒｏｓｓｅｄ！！

praying / wish making.

rainy shibuya.. so many people with so many umberellas

River running through Asakusa.

Street warden

Old street lady.

street wine vendor

busy busy busy

masks at makys

Houses... On a street.

Blue Whale in a tin... well a bit of a blue whale anyway

Ａ　ｂｕｓｙ　ｓｈｏｐ　ｄｉｓｐｌａｙ　ｉｎ　Ｕｅｎｏ

ｅａｔｉｎｇ　ｎｏｏｄｌｅｓ

Ｒｏｃｋｉｎｇ　ｏｕｔ，　Ｔｏｋｙｏ　ｓｔｙｌｅ－ｅ

ｒｉｖｅｒ　ｖｅｉｗ　ｉｎ　ｔｏｋｙｏ　ｙｏ

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