Sunday, January 4--Tokyo Highlights

On this, the first day of Jenny’s visit, we wanted to show her Tokyo. Now we know from experience that you can’t see all of Tokyo in a day, so we narrowed it down to a couple areas we thought would make the most lasting impression. We chose to make the hour-long train journey to Harajuku for several reasons. First of all, it is home to the largest shrine in Tokyo, Meiji Shrine. I knew that all shrines and temples would be mobbed at the beginning of January as worshippers came to pray for blessings of good fortune in the New Year. However, I naively believed the numerous sources that said this all took place during the first three days of the New Year. I thought we’d encounter close-to-normal crowds, being as we were going on the fourth day. NOPE. The place was a mob scene. We could do nothing but wade into the sea of people and let the tide carry us around the grounds of the shrine. We occasionally pulled ourselves out for a few photos, but were soon drawn back into the crowd as if by an undertow.

When the waves of humanity finally carried us to the exit of the shrine, we headed across the bridge near the train station, hoping to spot the second reason we’d come to Harajuku—the “freaks.” On Sundays, this area of Tokyo has become a gathering place for eccentrically-dressed young Japanese. Some congregate around the bridge dressed as punk rockers, anime characters, maids, or animals, while others wander Takeshita-dori (a narrow street full of shops catering to young people) in poodle skirts and 50s greaser attire. It seems the number of “freaks” has declined in recent years, ever since a once-pedestrian street was opened to vehicle traffic, but we still found several photo opportunities today.

Last stop in Harajuku was the Oriental Bazaar, billed as the best souvenir shop in Tokyo. They did have an impressive selection of gift items, at very reasonable prices for Tokyo, as well as two floor of interesting antiques. (Side note: Remember our trip to Ueno Zoo with Rudy in October, and the fruitless search of Shinjuku for Shakey’s Pizza? Well, we found it on the way to the Oriental Bazaar—too bad we had just finished a huge lunch of tonkatsu. Its location has been duly noted, though, and we vow to return with Rudy to partake of their lunch buffet.)

Exploring Harajuku took up most of the day, but we wanted Jenny to see Akihabara, Tokyo’s electronics district. The streets are nothing but wall-to-wall electronics shops, and are closed to vehicle traffic on the weekends. Thousands of people wander up and down searching for the best deals on TVs, iPods, cameras, appliances, computers, and video games. We arrived after dusk, so got to experience the dazzling displays of lights shining from the highest buildings, advertising Sony, Dell, Sanyo, and countless other electronics manufacturers.

Jim and I had been to Harajuku and Akihabara last summer, so I knew what to expect, but by the time the three of us dragged our weary selves back onto the train this evening, my head was still spinning. Watching all of those people, hearing the street vendors yelling over the drone of innumerable conversations, smelling yakitori and crepes and curry, feeling strangers brush by you in the crowded streets—Tokyo assaults all of your senses, and it takes your brain hours to process everything it has experienced.