Tokyo
Trip Start
Sep 04, 2007
1
54
59
Trip End
May 28, 2008
Tokyo,
Kanto,
Japan
Friday, May 16, 2008
My hostel was actually a basic capsule hotel. First thing to do was to leave my shoes at the door and pickup a pair of slippers. The Japanese certainly keep things clean. My bed was a top bunk, but unlike normal bunks each bed has its own small room or capsule, with a curtain for privacy. There were 28 capsules in the room and I could already hear the sound of snoring businessmen, but I was so tired it didn't keep me awake.
The next morning I set out to discover some of Tokyo. There are over 12 million people living in Tokyo, which is actually made up of 23 cities (wards). I walked around the Shinjuku area first of all and got used to the noise and activity. I made the mistake of wandering into a gaming arcade full of pachinko machines. These are a kind of pinball/gambling machine which consist of thousands of balls falling through pins. The noise of the balls falling was horrific, but added to that was the cheesy music, flashing lights and loads of cigarette smoke for the hundreds of 'businessmen'. Surely they should have all been at work at 11am on a Thursday morning? I had to leave after a few minutes to get some fresh air.
I then headed over to Tokyo Metropolitan Government Offices to visit the free observation deck on the 45th floor. The lift was full of young Japanese people who kept glancing at me and smiling. Eventually one girl asked me where I was from. When I replied 'England' there was a chorus of 20 'ahhh's and everybody in the lift seemed happy. The view from the observation room was amazing and really showed just how huge Tokyo is. It stretched out as far as the eye could see in all directions. I spent the rest of the day exploring some of the other areas of town, including the famous Shibuya crossing, the stereotypical Tokyo 4-way pedestrian crossing. One of the more unusual places was Nekobukuro, an apartment for cats. You pay an etnry fee and then spend as long as you like playing with the cats. Unfortunately the cats seemed worn out and tired of playing with all the Japanese kids.
The next day I was up early to get to the Sumo stadium for 8am. The Sumo tournament lasts a couple of weeks, and I was lucky enough to be in Tokyo at the right time. A few hundred seats are available to buy on the day, whereas the most expensive ringside seats were all sold out. I was inside the stadium to see some of the early bouts which were between the youngest sumo wrestlers. They really weren't very experienced, but it was worth going to see because you are allowed to sit in the empty ringside seats until the 'owners' came along. But after an hour I was bored so I spent a while wandering around Akihabara Electronic Town. This is where all the electronics shops are selling the latest computers, phones, cameras and gadgets. I also visited the nearby Edo-Tokyo museum which covered the history of the city.
Later in the day I headed back to the Sumo stadium. The professional athletes were arriving now (by underground tube of course). Infact I was in a small corner shop when one Sumo wrestler walked in to buy some snacks. It was a small shop but I managed to let him squeeze past.... I didn't want to get in the way of him and his food! The Sumo bouts later in the day where much more fun than earlier. Some of the wrestlers played for the crowd, but there was still a lot of bowing, throwing salt and preparation. The bouts themselves lasted anywhere from a few seconds up to perhaps 30 seconds. I really enjoyed the experience though.
