Taking the train back to Tokyo on a Friday afternoon was a great feeling; while it was certainly pleasant to spend some time in the countryside, there’s nothing quite like traveling to a major cultural city (especially Tokyo) for the weekend. Being Golden Week in Japan, cheaper lodging in the city’s more popular areas was difficult to come by, so we had to suck it up and splurge a little bit for our last weekend. As we cleaned ourselves up and enjoyed some 7-11 happy hour beers in the room before heading out for the night, we absolutely soaked up the gorgeous view from the thirty-something-eth floor of our hotel.
While searching for weekend activities, I had stumbled upon a weekly pub crawl that seemed promising, not least of which because it caters to English-speaking folks. This particular weekend’s crawl was in Roppongi, a district known for its nightlife. The crawl had the usual free shots, drink specials, and icebreaker games as we bounced among a few nearby bars. Andrew and I really enjoyed meeting and talking to a lot of people with wildly varying backgrounds but who all call Tokyo home. After the official crawl was over, we continued barhopping with some new friends until the early hours, mostly at Mistral Bleu Train Bar, where the music was supplied by the hundreds of rock CDs that lined several shelves of the bar. The bartender was also a joy to talk to since she knew American and British rock very well, especially a lot of the music I grew up with.
On Saturday, we took the train to an incredibly crowded and steamy Harajuku station so that we could check out the Cinco de Mayo festival. We walked around briefly and didn’t stay long (and ended up getting Mexican food from a local restaurant instead), but we did spend a while exploring nearby Meiji Shrine and Yoyogi Park, one of the largest parks in Tokyo. The park is an expansive sprawl of beautiful forest and the largest walking paths and torii (Japanese gates) I’ve ever seen; I swear this park was built for giants. Most people we saw were out for a walk or sightseeing or visiting the temple. I don’t remember seeing anyone exercising or playing sports, but we did pass quite a few archers who had finished shooting just before we arrived and were heading home.
To kick off Saturday night, we started with Popeye brewpub, a recommendation from Andrew’s father when he visited Tokyo. It was completely packed when we got there and they managed to squeeze us in, but then began the game of musical chairs: first standing at a barrel table on the steps, then upgraded to another barrel table further up the steps, then crammed into an alcove at a tiny table, then upgraded to a prime spot on the front patio. We had several excellent craft beers and a decent amount of free food (a perk of ordering specific beers at happy hour), which turned out to be our dinner. Popeye is in Ryogoku, the neighborhood at the center of the sumo universe; as we were sitting on the patio, we exchanged peace signs with a sumo wrestler who walked by and looked somewhat longingly at all the beer and food.
After Popeye’s, we went back to Roppongi and progressed through our fine-tuned, scientific methodology of finding a bar. Truth be told, we wandered for a long time (no one said this approach was perfect), to the point that we passed the same prostitute den mother multiple times. Eventually we found what we wanted: a pleasant karaoke lounge with darts, a nice bartender, a dancing PSY doll on the bar, and a group of friendly Japanese girls, one of whom could speak English pretty well. Fast forward many hours through lots of darts games and karaoke and it was another solid night. Brushing up on our J-pop knowledge that night in Hakone, if only for namedropping purposes, paid dividends.
Sunday was sobering, both in a let’s-not-drink-anymore sense and also a we’re-leaving-Asia-tomorrow sense. After a late start, we went to Ginza – a district known for its very high-end shopping – for a solid Indian buffet lunch and a few trips to some interesting local stores. Our main reason for going to Ginza was to visit one of the lesser-known museums there and we settled on Advertising Museum Tokyo, which showcases exactly what you’d expect: advertising. It was incredibly interesting, covering everything from Edo-era store signs to modern commercials to some of the most artistic, successful, or fascinating international ad campaigns of recent memory. Highly recommended. And it’s free!
That evening we went back to Golden Gai to get our fix of closet bars, as that felt like the only appropriate way to end the trip. Our spot from earlier in the week was full (i.e. there were six people in there) so we drank at the fantastically-named “Kangaroo Court Decision” and then an upstairs bar catering to backpackers. After chatting with the well-traveled bartenders there for a couple hours, we decided that it was time to wrap it up and head back.
Appropriately, the next day was dreary and rainy as we walked through the streets and hopped a couple trains to get to the airport. Andrew and I had separate flights, so we said our goodbyes and I found myself as a solo traveler once again. For the second time in nine months, I sat in quiet sadness as I crossed the inky expanse of the Pacific Ocean. As was the case the previous July, I was excited about what lay ahead of me, but I already missed what I was leaving behind.
I’ll have to write down my thoughts about my trip as a whole later, but for now, I’ll make some observations about Japan. Presented in no particular order:
- Japanese people dress very well (and fashionably) pretty much all the time. As a general rule, if a Japanese person is out of their home, they’re looking good. For instance, when we were walking through the bamboo grove in Kyoto, we saw multiple girls prancing around in short skirts and heels. In a grove! Not that I’m complaining, of course. Obviously most of my empirical evidence comes from looking at Japanese women, but the guys are well put-together too; some of them clearly spend a lot of time on their hair alone.
- Public transportation in Japan (just like in Hong Kong) is surgical. It was eye-opening to experience well-run, clean, and frequent rail travel everywhere we went. It also helps that, and there’s no delicate way of putting this, the riffraff that makes public transportation in America (especially San Francisco) less desirable just doesn’t exist in Japan. Or Hong Kong. Or anywhere else in Asia I spent time in. I don’t have an explanation for any of this, but clearly Asia’s doing something right (or secretive).
- Japan was probably the most difficult place to travel. English isn’t big in Japan like the other countries I went to, partially because Japanese culture tries to stay well-insulated and partially because they don’t need to cater to tourists. Seafood plays a huge role in Japanese food, so purely vegetarian food was also tricky to find. I very much understand the reasons why, so I’m not complaining. Neither of these obstacles are deal-breakers, but they do force me to do more research and have more patience.
- Japanese people can be shy about speaking English in public because they might get self-conscious about attempting something they aren’t skilled at. We found the bar scene to be a huge exception to this rule; we met a lot of locals that were very eager to talk to us, even if they barely spoke English.
- Trains of all varieties were deathly quiet. I very much appreciated not hearing conversations or one-sided phone calls.
- Certain transit workers would perform what I’d call politeness or safety rituals. For instance, the stewardesses and conductors on the shinkansen would stop and bow to the car upon entering or exiting. One of the bus drivers in Hakone would point in four different directions before pulling away from each bus stop (which reminded me a bit of the New York subway sign-pointing gag).
I’m certainly not obsessed with Japanese culture (as some Westerners are), but I’ve always found it intriguing and finally visiting the source did not disappoint. Our time there was enlightening and entertaining.
Finally, I have to express my thanks to Andrew for pulling the trigger on a plane ticket so quickly and accompanying me for three weeks. It was certainly nice to share costs for lodging, but more importantly, it made a huge difference to have a travel, drinking, food, and shenanigans buddy. I know he will read this post at some point, so, Andrew, here’s a collection of our favorite Japanese signs and inside jokes:
