Crazy Girls, Mooning Tokyo, and Capsule Hotel

Over the weekend I went to Tokyo. I went with my predecessor JET Norm. He is from New Zealand and just left for home yesterday. Tokyo is the place to be, I have to say. It has EVERYTHING! The tricky part is finding it, especially since funny looking characters that I think represent a four year old child's view of the world actually mean "Bathroom" or "This train stops at Karagawa" or "Delicious rice surrounded by seaweed with fish flakes on top." Anyway, during my two days in Tokyo I saw a lot.

AKIHABARA

I went to Akihabara, the electronic capital of the world. Every shop sells electronic stuff--cell phones, computers and all it's inner workings, cameras, camcorders, mp3 players, DVDs...you get the point. Me being a capitalistic American, I was going from shop to shop trying to find the best deal for a camcorder. You know, comparing prices, features, if it has an English version or manual. For several reasons, however, you just need to go to one shop: 1) every shop has the same stuff; 2) all the shops have the same prices, and; 3) well, actually there isn't a third reason. The weird thing is, I think of Japan as a very intelligent, efficient, and sensical country. But all the shops in Akihabara are pretty much pointless. My idea: make one gigantic store that has everything and get rid of all the other shops.



















This is the main street through Akihabara (they close it on the weekends because of all the people)

Oh, one other thing that Abihabara (and the rest of Japan) has to offer: PORN. Lots and lots of porn. There is pretty much porn everywhere. You really can't walk five feet (or 1.524 meters, for those metric people) without seeing some sort of naked Japanese person. Oh, and it isn't taboo or anything. There is porn in every convenience store, even in the supermarket next to the canned fruit and baked goods. And there is no shame in looking at it for several minutes, or hours in some creepy old men cases.

HARAJUKU

Harajuku is a shopping district in Tokyo. It is very modern and there are a lot of American stores and tasty restaurants. However, most tourists go to Harajuku to see the ultra-alternative teenybopper, punkie kids all dressed up in their crazy get-up. Some are dressed all fuzzy and cute, while others go for the satanic, Marilyn Manson look. Tourists come and take pictures of these attention-loving youngins. I was about the only tourist brave enough to actually take a picture with them. See if you can spot me in the pictures.




















I think they were going for the cleaning maid/Pilgrim/Jane Austen character look.




















This makes me think that Sturgis and Carebears somehow mated and had children in Japan.




















I asked this "doctor" to put her stethoscope on my chest for the picture. This made her displeased. Also, note the amazing acting I did with that "sick" look on my face...the St. Olaf Theater Department is really kicking themselves now.




















Shoot...I wish they were wearing green. I really like green. I'll have to come back.




















Believe it or not...the one on the left started biting my leg right after the picture was taken. Must not like the food here.


SHIBUYA

Shibuya is another great shopping area. It is also the location where they filmed "Lost in Translation" (I think). The only really interesting thing I thought was the world's busiest pedestrian intersection. There are SO many people!!! In fact, I think all of North Dakota and Wyoming combined have less people than this crossing....and remember they cross like every 1-2 minutes. Where are they all going? Probably to buy porn (note see Akihabara for clarification).



















Note: if you disagree with me, you probably have never been to Shibuya and North Dakota and Wyoming. If you have, well...then you know that I am just trying to show the fact that this crossing is enormous. If not, go about as if you never read the last statement.


ASAKUSA

Asakusa is an older part to Tokyo. It has a really sweet temple that my Japan Travel Guide describes the following way, "if you only see one temple in Tokyo, this is the one to see." With that said, I never saw it. It was too late and I had to get to my glorious capsule hotel.

The capsule hotel works like this: you come in and mumble through the few Japanese words you know, like "konnichiwa." Then you buy a ticket from a machine for a capsule...you give your ticket to the man at the front desk and he gives you some slippers that are size 6. Put them on and slide your own shoes into a locker. Then you go to your other locker where you can put your bag and other belongings for the night. Inside the locker are these ridiculous and tiny outfits that you wear while in the capsule hotel. Also, if you want to, you could sleep in your locker, since it is basically the size of the capsule you will be sleeping in for the night.


















The great thing about this capsule hotel is that there is a public bath on the top floor. There is nothing like being naked in front of a bunch of Japanese guys after a long day of trekking through Tokyo. No, seriously though, it is AMAZING! So relaxing and soothing. Oh, and because it is on the top floor, you can go out onto the balcony (completely naked, mind you) and look out over Tokyo. So me being the immature foreigner that I am, I mooned Tokyo. I bathed for about 45 minutes moving between the hot bath and the coolness of the outside air. I now have the skin of a fresh newborn.


















This is my capsule. One thing to note: you see the number just below my capsule? 5019. Well, that is how many capsules are in a room the size of most garages. Let's just say that snoring translates the same in both Japan and America.


TSUKIJI

Norm and I woke from our cave-like dwellings at 5:30 a.m. to go and explore the chaotic beauty that is Tsukiji Fish Market, the largest fish market on the planet. Nothing like the smell of rank fish to wake you up in the morning. Yum. The fish market had everything that lived in the sea. Octopus. Squid. Little shrimp. Medium shrimp. Big shrimp, haha...that is an oxymoron. Huge tuna. Crab. And lots of other things that I have never seen before in my life.


















Here is a tuna. Yep, the chicken of the sea. They use little hatchets and band saws to make their cuts, pretty cool.




















This man, who wanted to remain anonymous, was cutting the heads off these fish as they were flopping around. On a side note, I am told that the best sushi is served just blocks from the market--now that is freshness!


MISCELLANEOUS

Along with the above attractions, I also visited Ginza (the real glitzy, sex and the city, part of Tokyo), the Imperial Palace, Shinjuku (a very modern, business part of town), and many other random areas. It was a great trip, and I learned a lot.

MY NEW HOME!

Home Sweet Home.

English: Uenomura
Kanji: Hangman edifice, two alien lovers,
dead tree, and crescent wrench

Everything IN the kitchen sink?

When I was in Tokyo with my sister and my friend Matt, we went and ate out at a real nice restaurtant in Harajuku. This is a picture of what-I-thought-was the urinal. So, I did my business, zipped up, and then needed to wash my hands. Well, there was no sink in the bathroom, just the toilet and some liquid soap next to the "urinal." Well, it turns out that the "urinal" was a sink. Whoops...cultural miscue #1. Doesn't it kinda look like a urinal though?

Lost In Translation, The Sequel

Well, I have been here for about a month now and some peculiarities and observations I have made are the following:

1) Japanese people bow like crazy. And me being the culturally ignoring foreigner that I am, I bow back, and then they bow back again, and then I again bow. This goes on for several minutes until I have eventually bowed my way across a room. In the next room I have to do the entire bowing process again.

2) If you know one or two Japanese phrases and use them even halfway decently the Japanese people will say you are an absolute whiz of the language. They will say something like: "AHHHHH! You know Jappppanese vaaary vaaary well."

3) Sometimes when I am sitting in the office at school I over hear the teachers talking. Well, most of the time I just zone them out. However, there are times when I hear them jabbering away in their crazy fast Nihongo and then all of a sudden I hear 'Isaac-san' and then they start laughing or say something like 'AHHHHH.....HAI!' and then they casually pass a glance my way. Haha....ha....um...I think they are plotting to kill me.

4) Fishy Tasting Flakey Things + Any Food Product = Instant Deliciousness
However, the above statement is false for most foreigners, including yours truly. You know that fishy taste that most people dislike about fish--in fact, in the U.S. the best tasting fish are normally the ones that don't have that fishy tasth--well, that is like filet mignon here.

5) The absolute best drinking parties are in Japan. Reason why: it is not proper etiquette to fill one's own cup with a drink, like sake, beer, or wine. Instead, someone else is always there to fill your cup to the brim every time you need another drink. Beware however, this can actually backfire but you won't realize it until the next morning, or mornings, afterwards like in my case.

6) Raw horse is never okay to eat despite how drunk you may be. And although it may taste good at the time, that is just your drunk brain playing drunk tricks on you. You will realize your error the next morning in the shower as you are puking up Black Beauty. Sorry for the visual.

7) Driving in Japan is considered to be only for the craziest of crazy people. In fact, many passengers wanting legalized euthanasia will oftentimes volunteer to ride shotgun with no seatbelt.