Japan – Tokyo Day 1

Tokyo, Japan Day 93 (May 3)

Tokyo is a massive crazy place; although everything runs in a controlled orderly fashion. Imagine using the New York subway system to cover the central metropolis, and then multiply by ten for another rail system connecting the inner metropolis to the outer megapolis. I guess this is how they cram 40 million people inside an area just a bit smaller than the New York metropolitan, with its 19 million. To top it off, the bullet train connects Tokyo with other mega-cities, leaving Tokyo station every 10 minutes.

subway map for Central Tokyo

Tokyo is also a very trendy and fashionable place. Today, while we are sightseeing, Gege and Jiejie visit a new downtown coffee shop where people are lined up for several hours to sit down and have coffee. The idea of waiting so long for coffee is so crazy, people just can’t resist the buzz. According to their report; it was worth a 30 minute wait, but not 2 hours. Afterwards, they visit a new Forever 21 women’s clothing store which just opened, but the line is a kilometer long; wrapped around a large city block.

zzz..huh…line, what line?

Vana and I head to Jingu-bashi to have pictures taken with the “costume play” vampy goth kids, who pose for tourists. They don’t want pictures taken unless you ask for permission, so they can do their special poses.

GeiGei & JeiJei dropped us off at Jingu-bashi, then headed to the coffee shop

vampy goth kid

posing for pic

Jingu-bashi is not only for gothic kids to hangout. It’s also a place for young people to express themselves. Need a free hug?

And…kids who’ve been bullied in school

We visit the nearby temple; which turned out to be a waste after already visiting Kyoto. On the way out, the subway is packed like a rock concert.

temple entrance

colorful lamps

Looks too clean to be a temple

taking a rest before heading to the subway rush

which is packed like a rock concert

Next, we take subway to the bustling youth-oriented shopping district of Shibuya, and visit the famous 109 building. The teens and twenty-something’s in this mall are decked out in $1,000 dollars worth of product and looking for more; hair, nails, make-up, shoes, bags, and clothes. I was thinking the US Federal Reserve should pass out free tickets to America in this mall, since these Japanese women look like they could pull the US out of recession in no time!

109 building is a department store for youth fashion. One for women, another one across the street for men.

fancy crystal nails

Vana trying some high heels

Say what?

Sweet looking rags

Loving the knee high socks

Men line up outside the shop for women’s un-mentionables

Like my space goggles?

Stylin hats

for cool cats

Aside from cheeky comments, the young women look really good, and are wearing the best looking clothes I’ve seen anywhere in the world. There is amazing variety of fashion; cartoon doll, goth, funky hippie, punk rocker, etc. We now see why they are the fashion trend setters for all of Asia, which by population makes them the fashion world’s leaders. It’s really amazing to see the incredible variety of outfits. But, after several hours walking around without a subway nap, the high heels, knee high socks, and short skirts all start to look the same.

Same Same, But Different?

We top the day off with a quick visit to Ginza, which is like the Park Ave of Tokyo. With its sparkling buildings and squeaky clean windows, you’d think they mix diamond powder in the city water.

arriving Ginza

kids playing video game while mom shopping in the expensive name brand store

Stand in line for some famous mini waffle in the neighborhood

Yum! the best waffle ever…definitely worth the 10 min wait!

We visit the Sony building to see their latest wares; but left un-impressed. Seems Sony is yesterday’s news with the Koreans at Samsung and LG cleaning their clock these days.

Sony building

We take the elevator to the top floor of the Imperial Hotel for the view, but balk at the $300 dollar dinner buffet. Instead, we met GeiGei and JieJie for dinner at a sushi restaurant.

Tokyo at night

Sushi boat style restaurant

Around they go, where they stop, nobody knows…

Ahi dreamin!

CLICK HERE to see rest of the pictures from this day.