It was January 2007. Cold. And the transition between winter and spring, so everything was on sale. It’s been a year and a half since I visited Tokyo. Had jotted down what stayed with me a while ago. Revisited. Its memories surfacing, like flashes of clarity in a thunderstorm.
What I saw and did and figured there. Ogilvy Office, where on a clear day you can see Mt Fuji. Basement Japanese Restaurant Oto Oto where I grated my own pungent as hell Wasabi on a shark skin grater. Got the intonation of and said Arigato (thank you) and Sumimase (excuse me) to whoever I met. Drank lots and lots of Sake and Shoju. Visited the Tsukiji Fish Market. Sushi lunch. Watched gardeners on ladders, manicuring those perfect looking trees at the Imperial Palace. Met an old soldier at Asakusa Temple. Bought stationary at Ginza. Discovered UniQlo. Watched two hours of splendid Kabuki performed by the Nakamura family. Tasted delicious raw horse meat. Sat in Vajrasana (as your feet as not supposed to face them) and from 2 ft away, watched early morning Sumo practice at a Sumo stable. Walked around Akihabara – the geek zone, bought some Manga, went to a Maid Café, had a traditional Ramen lunch. Attended a noisy, happy beer and snacks party at a Dagashi – a traditional children’s snack shop.
I saw coins for 100 bucks; commuters sleeping while standing, without support, in speeding trains; roads teeming with people but not noise; change returned on a tray and no one counts it to be extra sure; masks to protect others from catching their cold; clean and warm toilet seats no matter where you go; GPS trackers on children’s school bags; cycles and vending machines everywhere; more non-cola products from coca-cola than cola ones; everyone reading Japanese novels; books read backwards and top to down at the same time; English being treated as a foreign language; rap being as popular as Manga and Hermes; older women dressed as schoolgirls; everyone brushing after every meal; no one worrying about leaving their bags around; large buildings, small houses; brands like Diesel, Prada and Levis marketing exclusive lines for Japanese girls; more stores for women’s clothing than men; tiny dogs with backpacks for food; No public display of affection.
The older Japanese dress like the British, the working girls dress French and the school girls have high hair and love Beyonce; The government, not Ogilvy, is the hottest job in town; In a Sushi place, when a customer walks in, the whole staff shouts ‘welcome’; A fish market is the best place to eat fish; Refilling your own drink is considered an insult to your host; Chopsticks have etiquette too, if you keep them stuck in your bowl, it signifies death; The Japanese and the Koreans argue every year when the Japanese Prime Minister pays his respects at the Yasukuni war shrine; Only two families perform Kabuki in Japan and men play every role; Regular Japanese packaging is far superior to their regular advertising work; The right way to eat Ramen is to slurp it; Japanese are more uncomfortable with drunken behavior at Roppongi than with crazy tattoos and Goth make up in Harajuku; Japanese women straighten and curl their hair; The Japanese are very explicit in their directions but not in their emotions.
Flashes. And a yearning to go back and see more of this place where everything was new but nothing seemed unfamiliar. Arigato Goziamas.
No comments:
Post a Comment