Tokyo holds two superlatives: It’s the world’s biggest and also the world’s most expensive city. With regard to the latter, I don’t see a big difference to other places in Japan. I think food for instance is even a bit cheaper. With regard to the size, I can definitely confirm that Tokyo is very big. A subway ride within central Tokyo can easily take 40 minutes from one point to another, and this is just the centre. I guess that people working in Tokyo and living in the suburbs have to calculate up to 2 hours one-way every day. The good thing about Tokyo is that it is very organized (like Japan in general) and the public transport is very efficient. In fact, if you want to party, then you have a problem. The subway stops between around midnight and 5am. There are no night buses or any other substitution for the subway (like we know it from cities in Europe), meaning that you are forced to take a taxi. I heard that some Internet cafés have private rooms you can rent on an hourly basis to bridge the time until the subway runs. This is obviously way cheaper than taking a taxi.
I arrived in Tokyo on Sunday afternoon, spending the rest of the day hanging out in the guest house. On Monday I did a large tour through different quarters of Tokyo, starting in Shinjuku, the neighbourhood with the largest train station. I wanted to see how people are being pushed into the overcrowded subway coaches but at 10:30am I was too late because rush hour was already over. Then I went to Shibuya with its world famous pedestrian crossing. Back in the guest house I had an afternoon nap before heading to the Tokyo Tower (it looks similar to the Eiffel Tower) from where I watched a spectacular sunset over Tokyo. I waited until it got completely dark to see the city’s skyline illuminated and took some great pictures.
Tuesday was a horrible cold and rainy day and I did nothing except from having dinner with my room mate Jason from the US. We went to an Indian restaurant close to our guest house, which was amazingly good. On Wednesday the weather was good again and I went to some other neighbourhoods I hadn’t seen before. In the guide books they say that the quarters have different styles and characters but to be honest, for me Tokyo looks pretty similar everywhere. To see something really different, I went back to Shinjuku in the evening. It is also the city’s amusement centre and all buildings have illuminated advertisements. That looks pretty cool. I also walked through the red light district and found out that most of the amusement places advertise their “services” by showing girls in school uniform on big signboards. Obviously this must be the local taste... It’s also strange that I didn’t see any female prostitutes. Instead I saw several dozens of very young dressed-up men waiting for... for what? I don’t know how Tokyo has organized this business (I am sure it is well organized like everything in Japan!) but maybe females are working inside and males outside. Maybe they want to protect females from the weather, really thoughtful! After rejecting several very clear offers from street touts, I went to a sushi bar to have dinner. I looked quite normal from outside and the prices seemed reasonable. When they gave me the menu, I realized that the prices were for one piece of sushi and not two (like normal), so the whole dinner turned out to be very pricy. At least it was very good and I had some nice interaction with my neighbours. Their English knowledge was close to non-existent but using hands and feet we were able to communicate a little bit. I think what they understood was that I am from Germany and that I like Japan and Sushi. The latter could have been guessed inside a Sushi bar!
I am now sitting in the lobby of my guest house and have to bridge the time until my flight departs late in the evening. I will fly back to Kuala Lumpur and from there to back home on Saturday. It’s unbelievable but my time is almost over! More about that tomorrow...
With regard to Japan, I can say that it was definitely worth it coming here. It’s an amazing country with a very rich culture. The best are its people. I think I have never been to a country with a better service than Japan. All the locals I have met were amazingly friendly and tried to help me with everything. They have so good manners and are so polite, it’s really unbelievable! Details are very important for Japanese people and I think that this attitude is the reason for the country’s wealth and success. They always try to make things a little bit better and never lose their patience – admirable!
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