We’ve been in Tokyo since Friday night, and it’s definitely a very fast, cool, sleek and clean city.
Cleanliness and orderliness is definitely the name of the game here. And politeness. Everyone is so nice and kind, even more so than China (if that’s even possible).
Yesterday, as Rusel and I stood staring at the metro map trying to figure out how to get to Harajuku with extremely lost looks on our faces, a teenager came up to us with her mother and sister and asked us if we needed help. Everyone got involved and they told us how to get there, the specific train line, and pointed us in the right direction. They even stood there and watched us to make sure that we were going in the right direction, with concerned but amused looks on their faces. It was really nice.
We made it to Harajuku and the crazy fashion scene found there. I wanted to linger and look at everything, Rusel wanted to go to a museum in the area, so we split up. I had been feeling really sick all morning but for some reason, once Rusel left, it all really hit me. I was fatigued, and my nose was running all over the place. We read in the guidebook that the Japanese people don’t approve of nose blowing in public, it is considered disgusting. However, I had no choice as my nose was running as fast as a bullet train. I tried to conceal my nose blowing and wiping as much as possible but it was definitely a challenge.
Finally, I had to sit down on a bench in a small shopping area, blow my nose, and try to pass the time until Rusel and I were to meet up. I know, I know. I must’ve been REALLY sick to pass up prime shopping in one of the world’s top fashion and shopping areas. I was just beat.
Everyone is so nice here and everything is so clean, I almost felt like just finding a nice part of the sidewalk in a back alley on which to lie down in. Crime is so low here that I honestly think I would’ve been fine. Apparently, if you forget something somewhere, you can come back hours later and it will still be here. Everything is so civilized here I can understand how that would happen.
In the end, Rusel and I met up in our appointed spot – a back alley that actually looked like a street on the map when we picked it out but was actually difficult and confusing to find (of course). We had dinner at a delicious organic restaurant in Harajuku. It had the most amazing toilet. On the side of the toilet was a little “control panel” and you could pick various modes – all of which turned the toilet into a mini-bidet hitting various parts of your nether-regions. I had to try them all out – for research purposes, of course!
Although we had big plans for the night, they were all scratched because I finally was forced to realize that I was actually really sick and I had to just put everything on hold – traveling in an amazing country and one of the world’s coolest cities be damned. It absolutely killed me but I stayed in bed all day today and I’m hoping that when I wake up tomorrow morning I will have finally kicked this thing.
A few interesting things about Japanese culture that we have discovered so far:
-Cleanliness is in the details. At our minshuku, we were given a pair of slippers to wear inside and “outside” shoes are always left by the front door. There is also, interestingly, a pair of universal slippers in the bathroom (in our case, we are sharing a toilet which is in the hallway) that you slip into once you enter the toilet and then leave in there once you leave. It all makes sense, I guess. Why bring in outside dirt, and why track bathroom germs all over the house? Of course, all of the slippers – the usual ones by the front door and the pair in the toilet – are too small for Rusel.
-I am starting to keep a running tab of the number of countries where Rusel is so tall that he hits his head in the doorways. So far, Rusel received a concussion in Moscow because he was running to get me a towel (I’m not kidding, he actually got a concussion), he had to duck everywhere else in Russia, he hit his head upon entry to the Ger in Mongolia, and he whacked his head today as he was running out of our room to go to the front desk to receive a call from Adam. Stay tuned for updates on this from Thailand (surely) and (possibly) Australia.
-We also have a shared Japanese bath, but this isn’t because we’re staying in a “budget” type of place, apparently even the nice hotels have shared baths. Like the Russian banya, it’s a process and the most important step is that you shower before you get in the huge bathtub. Rightly so, the Japanese people don’t understand why you get into a bath dirty and then sit and clean yourself in the dirty water. As a professional bather (right below expert sleeper on my resume), I appreciate this attention to bathing and am figuring out how to install a Japanese bath in my future home.
-The metro system is slightly confusing in Tokyo because it is a combination of light rail and underground subway systems. They are, however, spotless. In our worldwide tour, Rusel and I are taking notes on how to improve what we now realize is the hideousness of the New York subway system. I’m sure that the transit workers union is anxiously awaiting our return and can’t wait to meet with us.
-How everything remains so clean is a mystery as it is difficult to find public trashcans. We met this American guy in Beijing who lived in Japan for a year and he told us that when he asked his Japanese friends why this is so, they replied, “Because we don’t create trash.”
-Everyone is extremely stylish here and people dress and appear more “Western” than any other Asian country I’ve visited.
-Everything is crazy expensive here, probably just about on par with Moscow and Russian prices. We have been thinking about extending our tickets past next Sunday, when we are scheduled to fly out to Thailand, but aren’t sure if we can afford it. I need to do a post on “traveling on the dollar,” but until then, let’s just say that right now, it’s the pits. Everything is expensive before you even factor in the totally weak currency, which is just like pouring sake on the wound. Cue violins: I was so sick and we are so closely watching our money, I didn’t even buy a single thing (besides nasal decongestants) in Harajuku. Oh, the horror!









