Dead Frank

There is nothing that subsitutes for first hand experience.  You cannot learn how to fly a plane just from reading a book.  This is why you need to log hours before they give you a pilots license.  You’re going to have a tough time learning how to paint a picture just by watching Bob Ross and never picking up  brush.  And so will you have a hard time understanding how huge some of these office buildings are without standing at the very base of them and looking up.

Perhaps what is so remarkable about these skyscrapers in Tokyo is not so much the height but frequency with which they occur around the city.  Most metropolitian areas have a cluster of sky scrapers in the central financial districts.  The heights of buildings taper off outside this core.  Tokyo has massive office buildings sprinkled throughout the metropolitian area in every ward.

The best way I can describe Tokyo is through a metaphor that will make sense to most Californians.  Take Los Angeles and make the entire thing as dense as San Francisco.  Triple the number of skyscrapers from both cities.  Now increase the average size of the buildings to eight stories.  That’s Tokyo.

That word.  I do not think it means what you think it means.

Update: This truck appeared to be a delivery truck.   It was parked in front of a local beer distribution warehouse in Tokyo (near the Hamamatsucho Station).

Update: Neil points out that maybe it does mean what they think it means.  I refuse to let facts ruin my post.  Enlighten yourself: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reefer_(container)

According to my highly scientific methods of calculation, there appears to be seven umbrellas for every person in Tokyo.

Let’s start with the rain itself.  During the rainy season, also known as tsuyu (梅雨), it probably will rain every day.  My limited experience with tsuyu tells me that it won’t rain all day, every day.  The rain comes in the morning or the evening for a couple hours.

Chances are that you’ll forget your umbrella at home if it’s sunny in the morning and you’ll need to buy a new one.  I did this a couple times during my two week stay.  Fortunately you can get a cheap clear umbrella at any convenience store for 1-200 yen.  You can get a decent umbrella for 5-700 yen.  A deluxe umbrella with a nice pattern on quality fabric at a outdoor shop or department store shouldn’t cost you more than 2000 yen.

Chances are that you’ll forget your umbrella on the train.  Every time we rode the train to the end of a line, conductors would sweep through and gather up an arm full of umbrellas left throughout the cars.  Your chances to forget your umbrella increase five times when you hang it on a hand rail.  They go up twenty times if your mind is occupied with thoughts of a pretty girl or negotiating multimillion dollar import/export deals.

Chances are that you’ll forget your umbrella at some place of business.  Most shops, restaurants, and other places of business have racks outside for you to place your umbrella so you don’t track water all over their floor like some kind of heathen.  Your chances to forget your umbrella increases about three hundred times when it stops raining while you spend a few hours relaxing at the onsen.

As you might imagine, all these factors lead to you losing your umbrella once or twice.  And if you’re a social person who entertains guests from time to time, someone will probably leave a couple umbrellas at your place as well.

Trash cans are exceptionally rare in Japan.  Recycling is taken very seriously and you can find a recycle bin next to every vending machine.  If you have a wrapper from the pastry you bought at the bread shop… well, just stick it in your pocket until you get home.

The reason behind this is very unclear.  Some people say trash cans disappeared after the serin gas attacks years ago.  Others say that Japan never really had that many trash cans in attempt to keep you from littering.  Backwards logic, perhaps, but it seems too work.  This place is amazingly clean.

The picture you see is the first trash can I’ve seen on my travels.  It was found in a temple in Kita Kamakura.

Interesting Buddhist Fact Number 31: You are allowed to take pictures in most shrines, so long as you do not take pictures of the statue of buddha.

The distinction can be difficult to communicate, so the more popular temples ban photography entirely once you are inside the shrine.

This rule does not apply to the giant buddhist statue, known in Japanese as a daibutsu (大仏), located in Kamakura.  This is one of the three daibutsu in Japan and might be the only one you can get inside.  On a personal note, climing inside a buddha statue is every bit as awe inspiring as you might imagine.  Pictures do not quite capture the majesty of such a thing.

After talking this over with a friend, we decided that the previous post regarding racism is a misnomer. It’s simply health paranoia combined with mild xenophobia/discrimination. Racism implies a kind of antagonism and hatred that doesn’t exist. Neither of us personally know of any hate crimes committed here.

Forever 21 in Harajuku

Yesterday I wandered through Harajuku yesterday and stumbled upon a sight that seemed very foreign to me.  The shock wasn’t people in costume hanging out at the entrance to the park.  It wasn’t the sea of people going down tight side streets to browse through boutique shops.  It was the people lined up to get into a store.  Not just any store, Forever 21.

Yes, that’s right.  Hordes of young japanese girls were lined up to shop at one of America’s most famous stores catering to bright bargain clothing that will guarantee to last you at least two washings before falling apart at the seems.

The level of excitement was astounding.  It’s interesting to see people queue up for something besides something from Apple.

Update - My friend, Chiaki, is fascinated by this post.  She says that queues like this really aren’t a big deal from a Japanese perspective.  A mob like this doesn’t necessarily indicate that the entirity of Japan will now be swathed in bargin fashion.  The novelty is what draws the crowd, and in Tokyo there always seems to be something new to grab people’s attention.

I got properly lost in Shibuya yesterday. Dinner with the couchsurfing group was nothing short of fantastic. Taxis are a terrible way to travel around Tokyo.

And now I need to go eat some Shabu Shabu with an old friend.

… so that’s what it feels like to be on the receiving end of racism.

Here’s the story.   I’m sitting on a railing in front of a music shop, taking a quick rest after walking all around the imperial gardens.  The sidewalks are bustling with the lunchtime crowd.  As this one girl approaches me, she puts her hand over her nose and mouth.  She walks past.  Her hand falls back to her side once she’s a few paces away.  Why did she do that?  Because, you know, I’m white.  I might have the swine flu.

Oink, oink.

One thing I’ve already learned about Japan is a confirmation that their transportation system is the very definition of world-class.  Trains are frequent, quiet, and punctual.  Although many people from around the country applaud the BART system, they could stand to learn a lot of lessons from Japan.

The airport train station has a high number of police officers on patrol.  That didn’t surprise me.  What did seem unusual was that the police officer saluted the train engineer when the express line pulled into Narita station.  That little bit of formality put an odd smile on my face.

Coming out of the first tunnel also brought an unexpected surprise.  The first patch of green that I saw was a rice paddy.  It appears that even close to Tokyo, any good flat piece of land not dedicated to housing is used to grow rice.