Tokyo

I am on the 30th floor of a building in Shinjuku and looking over a tremendous number of lights, white and fleshy, yellowish, and red flickering ones as far as my eyes can reach.
It’s incredible that there are so many people on the move, the lights of cars in a line is like an never-ending snake crawling to Tokyo, sometimes crossed by trains full of commuters going home. But still I am here, together with Wataru, a Japanese friend but currently studying in the Netherlands, who was here to visit his Italian girlfriend Adriana, and a good German friend of mine, Constantin. It seems a little miracle that we were able to meet each other in this tremendous city. Just a brief meeting with people from all over the world, a moment in time, all gazing over the vastness of Tokyo. How to describe my experience Tokyo, a city with at least 12 million inhabitants, numerous parts with all their own distinct character. I and my travel mate Constantin decided to try to go all kinds of different parts to get a kind of kaleidoscopic experience of Tokyo, both covering the tourist as well as the back alleys. The rustic feel surrounding the Imperial Palace, with all kinds of joggers passing us by, all neatly dressed in sporting gear, taking a break from life. But also the flashing lights, the crowd, the constant movement of Shinjuku, and the fashionable youth in Harajuku, standing at the corners, some singing songs, others doing tricks on their skateboards. The cramped subway, people who almost loose their shoes in their desperate try to catch a train, although 5 minutes later the next one will come, equally crowded. My favourite district, the book district, with neatly organized bookshops, quite different from those in Kyoto where the books usually are piled up everywhere at the shop and you have to be really careful not to hit anything. And if you continue walking you’ll end up in the heaven for anything electric, Akihabara. And of course I had to visit the district which at first appeared at my study books, Ueno. Around Ueno Station there have emerged all kind of little shops selling a number of different kind of goods, people are bargaining, people are screaming for attention. It has the feel and air of a market place, which stands in contrast with the usually shops that sell brand names. And especially in Ginza, where one can find most of the flag stores of all the European and American brands that the Japanese are so fond of. A visit to the famous Yasukuni-shrine with it’s infamous museum, which has really a lot of information but sometimes not exactly the information I learned in my history classes. At 5 o’clock, after a 2 hour nap, back on my feet to visit the fish market in Tsukuji, all different kind of fish, which I could not discern, but they were all going to be sliced to be pieces to be consumed. And Constantin and I did or share, to eat fresh sashimi at a little restaurant in the neighbourhood. But not only our stomach had to be filled, but also our cultural appetite. After seeing Noh in Kyoto we also wanted to experience Kabuki, and we watched a dance and a play. It was nice that one could see the elements similar to Noh but also the differences, it does not have the monumentum of Noh, but has an attraction of it’s own, by it’s fast dances, which clearly show the actor’s ability.
And before I knew I was back in the bus, gazing out the window to this enormous city, totally worn out but still feeling the adrenaline of all the different experiences running through my veins.