TOKYO
There are people crossing the street
underneath clear plastic transparent
umbrellas, while business men scurry
along without a second glance at you
((though not in the brash way that
business men in western countries do).
Multi-coloured taxis rush past you in a
beautiful dance - one yellow, one green,
one black – it’s almost as if every
mundane thing becomes a joy. Vending
machines, jewellery stores, photo booths,
udon shops where you can buy a meal
for less than 5 dollars, and seven story high
shops dedicated entirely to stationery.
Stumbling out of Tokyu Hands with a bag
full of pens and patterned masking tape,
you decide to try your hand at daytime
karaoke. The walls are covered with
album covers and snapshots of old
patrons. A waiter brings you your drinks.
Next stop: a cat café. Sitting on the floor,
you enjoy a Japanese iced coffee while
cute, fat cats come and curl up to you.
The rest of the afternoon is wisely spent in
Tower Records, where you find weird and
obscure CDs for only 1,000 yen each. You
take a bunch of their slogan stickers, “No
music, no life”.
On your way to the Golden Gai district in
Shinjuku, you pop into a Pachinko arcade,
enjoy a meal at an all-you-can-eat Shabu
Shabu joint, and drink three ginger
highballs (a delicious drink consisting of
whiskey and ginger ale). In the Golden
Gai district, you stumble through tiny
alleyways, looking upward at the
overhanging jungle of telephone wires
and dim lights. You feel as if you are in
some sort of ancient mini-town that’s
been preserved just for you. The streets
are eerily isolated, as people are too busy
drinking in bars the size of