The Week as a Tourist: Part 2
The third day in Tokyo started earlier than the second one, thankfully, but I didn’t venture too far outside of the area I had explored in the previous days. With Bryan Cranston’s voice playing in my ear, I walked back to the Shibuya Crossing. The first place I went to was a store called Bic Camera and I wasn’t shopping for a camera. Bic Camera (along with nearly every store in Japan that incorporates the word, camera), is an electronic store that sells a variety of products ranging from phones to washing machines. I went in hoping to try to find a sample Huawei P30 Pro, so that I could try out it’s camera and do a direct comparison with it and the camera on the phone that I own; the Google Pixel 3a XL. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to find it, but they did have a decent variety of phones that were fun to look at.
Just after leaving the Bic Camera, I caught sight of a store so familiar to me that it shouldn’t have been intriguing. However, it was. There was something about this Starbucks that made it seem special from the first time I saw it two days earlier. Out of every shop surrounding the Shibuya Crossing, this Starbucks had, in my opinion, has the best location. It’s located directly across from the Shibuya Station and has a second story seating area that perfectly overlooks the massive crossing. I didn’t know at the time, but I later found out that this is one of the most frequented Starbucks locations in the world. Everytime I had completed the crossing before, I looked up at the Starbucks to see the people on the second floor, filling up every available seat, either waving or filming below. However, I was happy to see that not every seat was full, so I decided that today was the right day to give money to one of the world’s largest corporations.
The line to order was shorter than I thought it would be, which was due to the most efficient team of baristas I’ve seen. They were able to make the Matcha frappuccino I ordered in what felt like half the time it usually takes. Granted, that could be because the only size they offer is a tall, but they were so nice as well that I’m more inclined to say that it was pure skill. By the time I reached the second floor, the prime seats I saw earlier were taken, but there were still two seats available. I was able to find a seat that slightly overlooked the crossing and was right across from the Shibuya Magnet, which ended up being a nice view. While I was relaxing in the Starbucks I decided to look for local tours around Shibuya that would include areas more hidden to tourists and popular with local residents. The one that I decided on was called the “Must do Walking in Shibuya”. The tour didn’t start until 4:00 pm and with it being 2:30, I decided to stay in the Starbucks until then. The tour guide sent me an email asking the attendees to meet him near the statue of a dog just outside the Shibuya train station called the Hachiko Memorial Statue. This statue commemorates the life of a faithful dog with a tragic story. The story goes that, in 1924, a professor named Ueno Hidesaburo, in the Department of Agriculture working at the Imperial University of Tokyo (now the University of Tokyo), was gifted an Akita pup in 1924, which he named Hachiko. That pup grew up to be an extremely loyal dog who would walk with his master to the Shibuya station every day and walk back to the station alone to meet his master after his day at work. Sadly, Hachiko walked with his master for the final time in 1925 when, while working at the University, he died from a stroke. Despite this, Hachiko continued travelling to the station for the next ten years to wait for a master that would never return. There’s more to this story than I wrote and I would write more, but this post is already pretty long, so I’ll return to the tour.
I arrived at the statue a little early so I could take pictures of Hachiko and I’m glad that I left when I did because there was a line to take pictures that ended up taking close to ten minutes. Just after the pictures, the tour guide arrived. His name was Shogo and he was a local resident of Tokyo and an aspiring singer. Only two other people showed up for the tour; a kind couple that lived in the south of Japan. Just a short while later, the tour began. After crossing the scramble and learning about the Starbucks and some of the surrounding shopping centers, we walked over to a few restaurants that were well liked by the locals, including a conveyor belt sushi place, a ramen restaurant, and a location known for it’s tonkatsu (breaded deep-fried cutlet). However, the area that intrigued me the most was a secluded alleyway filled with tiny bars. These bars were so small that the maximum number of patrons they could hold was ten people. I never ended up going to one of these bars, but I wish that I would have for the more local feel that they seemed to provide. I also learned that the curtains that hang outside of bars in Japan used to be used as a large napkin by patrons to wipe their hands off before leaving. This was not only convenient for customers leaving the bar, but also for those trying to decide which one to go to because the dirtier the curtain, the more popular the bar, which usually meant the better choice. After the bars, we moved on to look at more shopping areas and fashion stores. Most everything there could be found in the United States (except a multi-story Skechers store). There was one store, however, that can only be found in asia called GU. GU is a clothing store that is under the same parent organization (Fast Retailing), as Uniqlo, but their clothes are, on average, half the price of Unoqlo’s and about the same quality. Shogo also informed the group that GU is a pun for the Japanese word, Jiyū, which means freedom. We ended the tour in a place underneath Shibuya Station called Tokyu Food Show, which was filled with street food-like vendors selling a nice variety of authentic dishes, desserts, drinks, and snacks. This underground food haven also had a deal in which all of the food would be discounted at 8:00 pm, or an hour before the vendors closed.
I thanked Shogo for the great tour and had to stop myself from reaching for a tip (because Japan doesn’t rely on a system started by industries that couldn’t pay their employees full wages and stay in business at the same time, during the Great Depression). With it being 20 minutes until 8:00, I decided to sit down near the Hachiko statue and watch advertisements play on the very large building mounted screens surrounding the area. The time passed quickly and I was ready and excited to get some cheap food!
The food was wonderful! I also definitely spent too much, but the word sale is just too powerful. Either way, I’m happy that I bought three small meals instead of just one because it made for a great brunch the following day. Just before leaving I caught sight of a matcha stand with quite pricey ice cream and iced matcha drinks. I definitely walked over to the stand, looked at everything they had to offer, and made eye contact with the vendor. I could practically taste the matcha when my instincts told me to leave. As I turned off the lights for the night, I went to bed happy that I had saved $6.50 by not buying a cold matcha beverage.
The third day in Tokyo ended up taking up a lot more space in writing than I predicted it would, so I’m going to end this post here. Thank you so much for reading and for your continued patience. I will write again soon!
The Week as a Tourist: Part 1
My first full day in Tokyo was wonderful! I got ready at about 10:00 and, not knowing the JR line or the subway system in Tokyo just yet, decided to call an Uber so that I could go eight minutes to Shibuya Station About five minutes later, I left the Wise Owl Hostel in Shibuya and went off to the station. Upon arriving, I realized that I had been dropped off very close to the station just the previous night. I felt very silly having used an Uber to go what was likely a fifteen-minute walk away, but I was happy to be there and knew that I would learn from this. I walked around the area for about an hour, entranced by the new scenery. It was a sea of glass and concrete. While that description fits most cities, there was something different, to me, about this ward in Tokyo. The buildings were versatile and on every floor of a multi-level building was a shop or restaurant. No space was wasted, it seemed, and I greatly appreciated that. There were unique shops and local restaurants and cafes surrounded by stores of familiar brands and fast food restaurants. I stopped in a few to look around but kept walking until I reached a very large crosswalk. I was surprised by the number of people waiting to cross the intersection and was reminded of Times Square or Leicester Square, as there were billboards with video and picture advertisements on nearly every building surrounding the area. It wasn’t until after I had crossed that I found out that this is known as the world’s busiest crosswalk, with five individual crosswalks and ten lanes of traffic converging into one large area, nicknamed the Shibuya Scramble. It was a little exhilarating being among thousands of people, all with their own agendas and motivations.
After doing a little more exploring, I went to meet a good friend, who has been studying abroad at Keio University for the semester. It took 40 minutes to meet him, but it was great to see him. We went to an Americanized restaurant called, “Jonathan’s”, which was quite good! I had a pasta dish that was very tasty and a matcha ice cream dessert that made my taste buds happy!
Immediately after finishing lunch, I left my friend and began the journey back to Shibuya, this time to meet my three friends who were teaching English at Aoyama Gakuin University with the Freeman Asia Program. Sadly, one of them sent me the wrong address, so I waited over half an hour for them to join me. Getting worried that I missed them, I went to a place with free WiFi and found out that they were a ten minute walk away. I was glad they were close, but we all waited so long for one another that one of them had left the bubble tea location and the other two had finished their drinks. However, we were still able to talk about how their experience in Japan had been up to that point (being four weeks in to their internship), and what they still wanted to do with the time they had left. We talked in the shop until I finished the bubble tea (which was matcha flavored), and then we left so they could show me the outside of the campus where they worked and the area surrounding. The Aoyama Gakuin building where they worked was like any other office building in the surrounding area, but I don’t know why I was expecting to look any different. Unfortunately for them, the building was over an hour commute, by train, away from the sharehouse they were staying in. I felt bad for them, but inwardly knew that I wouldn’t mind having that long of a commute because I love listening to audiobooks and that would be the perfect opportunity to do so. After looking around for about thirty minutes, they had to leave so they could be well rested for their work the following day, so I decided to leave as well. Thankfully, I learned my lesson and walked the twenty minutes to the Wise Owl Hostel.
The following day was a pretty short day in all honesty because I stayed up much later than I had initially intended and ended up waking up at 1:30 pm! That is the latest I’ve ever slept in and I was unnecessary disappointed in myself. Once my self-dissatisfaction had subsided, I was ready for the second day of exploring (at 2:30 pm). I walked, again, to the center of Shibuya and decided to ask for travel recommendations in the store, Lush. My reasoning was that it was a popular and international business, so I guessed the people working there would likely be comfortable with English and, more importantly, their stores always smell fantastic. With a survival Japanese book in hand, I went in to ask for help. The attendants were very kind and recommended a few restaurants, cafés, and shops that they really liked. I was very grateful and (the sucker that I am), made sure to buy a tiny bottle of shampoo as a way thanking them before setting off to the first location. Unfortunately, the first location they recommended was closed for renovations, so I walked to the next location, which was called Freshness Burger. I had a teriyaki burger, which in America would seem definitively Japanese to me, but in Japan felt much more American. It was very tasty and the Matcha bubble tea (my personal favorite), was a delicious pairing. With a happy stomach, I went to go window shopping at two of the locations they suggested called, Shibuya 109 and Shibuya Magnet. Soon after going into Shibuya 109, I realized that it was an all women’s shop. I thought about getting a shirt for my Mom or one of my sister’s, but decided to leave after looking at a few price tags. Magnet was on the opposite side of the Shibuya crossing from 109, and with their being sister stores (according to the Lush attendants), I assumed that Magnet would be an all Men’s store. It appeared that I was right when I saw the directory outside, but I couldn’t find the escalator up to the shops and instead of asking for help, I left.
Side note: I wish with every fiber in my being that I had not found that escalator. Despite it going up, the area above was the closest space to an underworld I’ve ever entered. Filled with temptation and guaranteeing regret, is currently my least favorite place that I’ve ever visited. That’s all I’ll say now, but will add more when I finally catch up and am able to write about it.
Shortly after leaving the store, I was hit with a wave of fatigue and made the lovely and lively trip back to the Wise Owl Hostel. I listened to Bryan Cranston’s memoir, A Life in Parts (which is a really good book, in my opinion and would recommend to anyone who likes his work or enjoys memoirs), for about an hour before going to bed at 10:00 pm.
That ends part one of my first week, but I will write again soon. Thank you for your extreme patience!
Ian in Tokyo 