Tokyo by foot

Well... I did explore. In fact, I went one step better... I got lost. Ask any seasoned traveller. Getting lost is one of the best ways to see the area. Without having to stick to a controlled route, you become liberated to venture off into literally "whatever looks interesting at the time". This summed up my first full day in Tokyo (2nd of March). By the end of the day, I'd figured out that I had spent 1 hour getting lost, 2 hours being lost and 2 hours trying to get unlost. At first I thought I would use the "Docomo building" as a reference point. Being one of the tallest buildings in Japan, I thought it was a pretty good plan.. I was wrong..

After having walked around for a bit, I realized that it was true what people said about Tokyo. It is indeed one big "concrete jungle". This was at least what I believed on Monday...

When I woke up yesterday, I sat up and made a list of the things I wanted to accomplish on that day. These included: determining how much money I was spending a day, finding an ATM that would take my card, finding some cheap places to eat, and generally travelling in a more directed manner. By about 2 in arvo, I had worked out that I was living on about 1200 yen per day (18 bucks), I had found a cirrus ATM, I had discovered some cheap places to eat and I didn't get lost! By this time, I was considering myself pretty lucky, but having ticked off everything on my list, I decided to take a 500m walk directly North, South, East and West of our location. All directions revealed a differnt coloured light, bigger trees and more creative architecture, but there was no 'old Japan' to be seen, until I went South. I walked for a fair while away from the hustle and bustle of central Shinjuku and just before I turned around to head back, a canopy of twisted trees and the crest of a wooden 'tori gate' caught my eye.

From that moment on, I was lead to believe that if you are keen enough to find remnance of 'old Japan' in Tokyo, you will find it nestled away at the end of backstreets and narrow alleyways, hidden from the public eye.

As I ventured further and further down the pebbled road, it occured to me that I was walking on one of a network of roads leading to a series of Buddhist shrines and sacred sites. The main shrine featured a courtyard bordered by traditional Meiji-period walls. Indside this courtyard, I found a tree which was surrounded by long networks of line upon which wooden plates were strung. I soon became aware that these plates were called 'ema' and that they were used for purposes of delivering wishes for health, prosperity, success or whatever else rocks your boat. Feeling rather in the moment, I decided to hang up my own in the spirit of my journey.


That night, Duck took me to a favourite restaurant of his and one that he frequents through the working week. Just before we walked in, he turned around and said "You wanted to practice your Japanese?" The door was opened and as heads turned, we were struck by a bellowing "iraaaashaimaseeee!!". It turns out that Duck is good mates with the bloke who cooks Okonomiyaki (Japanese pancakes with meat\seafood etc) behind the bar and each of the Japanese businessmen that were sitting there enjoying the atmosphere. It was immediately clear to me that this is where Duck really learnt his Japanese, not out of a book, but through talking with local blokes about work, food, beer, and on occassion, cute Japanese girls half their age..