A Tokyo Gaijin Survival Guide

Hi everybody!

It's your favorite TUJ alum, a bit misty-eyed at knowing that her good friend will be leaving for Japan tomorrow. I know a few people stumble onto the website from time to time, so maybe someone will read this Tokyo Survival Guide?

I'll try to update as I think of things and if you have any questions just ask or feel free to browse the rest of the blog!! Dozo!

1. The Metro is your friend. The first thing I did on the plane was memorize the Tokyo Metro and JR Yamanote maps. It's the best thing I did, because it allowed me to hit the ground running, so to speak. The subway signs and maps are the best English you will see in Tokyo too, so it's comforting. You can even download it to your video iPod now. Awesome. Don't plan on taking a taxi ever as they are incredibly expensive.

2. Don't spend every night in Roppongi. Seriously. Don't. Roppongi can be nice on occasion. The beer tastes familiar, there are Western style eateries, you'll see a lot of Caucasian faces. But is this why you came to Japan? There are plenty of fun things to do in Shibuya, Shinjuku, Meguro, Gotanda, and so on. Yes, it's close to TUJ, but you'll be missing out on the izakayas and punk clubs in favor of the seedy bars populated by Aussie expats and Russian prostitutes. Some of the most interesting nights I spent were those in which I spoke with locals: not your classmates and certainly not those gross, horny white businessmen.

3. Tokyo doesn't need to be THAT expensive. The combinis are the best deals in Tokyo. You can buy some udon or soba, cut up some bok choy and carrots (that they also sell there), scramble some eggs, pour on some hot sauce, and make a perfectly good meal. It's best to eat your big meal at lunch, since most restaurants offer good set deals and a ton of food that will cost at least three times as much at dinner. Temples are free to visit, and the best part of Tokyo, walking around and window shopping, etc. is free. If you buy your beer in the combini, it's also much much much cheaper than going out to a bar. Save your money to travel. If you run out of money and have to nix that trip to Kyoto? Gah!

4. Watch out for the mayonnaise. That goopy stuff on your chicken. Yum. Looks like cream sauce. It's mayonnaise. Want some pizza with a tasty white sauce? Nope, mayonnaise. With corn. Delish. The little surprises baked in the middle of things can be fun, but can also be like having some Bernie Bott's Every Flavor Beans.

5. Eat Japanese Food! It's delicious. The Shabu Shabu place they take you on your first night of TUJ is gross. Do yourself a favor and get some good shabu shabu. And some okonomiyaki. And sushi at Tsukiji. Anmitsu in Asakusa. Department stores also have good restaurants on their top floors. Try it all. You'll miss it when you're back home.

6. Spread out your sightseeing. Don't run all around Tokyo at once. Save some trips for later on so that you have something to do later on in the semester. I made that determination earlier on in the semester, and it was one of the best that I made. I did the biggies first: Harajuku, Shibuya, Shinjuku, Ginza and then saved trips to Asakusa, Tokyo Station, Ueno, and others until later. It definitely made things a lot more interesting.

7. Take advantage of the TUJ language courses. The most upsetting thing was how many people paid for and then subsequently dropped out of the language courses at TUJ. People don't speak as much English as you might expect in Japan, and the more phrases you learn, the better off you'll be and the more respectful you will appear to Japanese people. I learned more from my erudite roommate and the TUJ language courses than in most of the law classes. Sorry! It's true!

Also, you might be approached by students hoping to improve their English by speaking with you. Usually, they're harmless. You might get a free meal out of it if you're willing.

8. ATMs. Most ATMs will not work with foreign cards. You can use the Citibank ATMs and the ATMS at the yuubin kyoku (post offices). Plan accordingly! Also, most restaurants and even some stores will not take credit cards. Japan is not a credit card culture like in the States.

9. Experience the culture. Go to a ryokan. Go to a sento or onsen. Watch the terebi, even if you don't understand. Don't be a Ropponger. The kawaii-ness might freak you out a bit at first, but it'll grow on you. Rejoice in the bizarre!

10. Clerks in Japan are way more attentive than in the States. Enjoy it and try not to be freaked out like I was. Irashaimassseeeeeeeeeeeee!

11. You might be stared at. Especially if you have breasts or blonde hair. It's a bit disconcerting at first, but usually it's harmless. Just try to look away and if it continues, a few choice phrases can usually throw them off.

12. Grab the ads! Free tissues! Yay!

13. Combini culture. You will bring a meal over to them. They will say something to you in Japanese. They're asking whether you want it heated. Then they'll ask if you need hashi (chopsticks). The donburi and onigiri are good. You just need to figure out which ones are full of sea urchin and which ones have good things like salmon and tuna. It's almost always usually cheaper to go to the combini than a full-fledged supermarket. The produce is less expensive at specialized fruit shops as well. Have your family ship peanut butter and other goods from the States if you need them. They are SO much more expensive than the Japanese brands.

Normal blogging

As you well know, I have left Japan. I will probably be returning to this page at various points to wax nostalgic and post a few more Top Ten lists, but it won't be regularly updated. I've returned to my normal blogging lifestyle (sporadic, more reflective) over at Wicked Words, so join me there if you're not merely a Japanophile or looking for photos of manga babes.

Indoor fishing

All I know is that I think this concept would be a huge hit in the States and I probably shouldn't publicize it here lest someone steal my vision for the greatest restaurant ever, but here goes. So there's a restaurant, right, and in the middle of the restaurant is a boat shaped seating area. There are also bridges throughout the eatery. Why? Because the boat and the restaurant is surrounded by water; in essence, a giant fish tank with at least a hundred fish living mildly content lives for about a few hours. Because then, the diners will hook a bit of shrimp on a simple bamboo pole and catch them. In theory you place the flapping fish in a net and a waiter takes it away. When it returns, it is prepared as you like it: as sashimi, grilled, fried, broiled. You name it.

So it was an awesome way to spend my last night in Tokyo. I caught a fish, attempted to hold it up in order to get a photo with the fish; it escaped much to the chagrin of the waitstaff. And then Jeremy caught it again and we were able to catch the same fish anew. It was exceedingly delicious, broiled in a casing of rock salt, served alongside other izakaya type specialties. Can you beat that idea? Nah, didn't think so.

It was Mother's Day when we went, so many families were treating their moms to a night of no cooking. The atmosphere was jovial and festive, full of bottles of sake and pints of Kirin. Let me just say for the record, that I did not participate in a "catch and release program," despite the libelous statements of certain others.




Those wanting to experience the fishing restaurant themselves (Zauo, several locations) feel free to do so, but do not import this idea to the States on penalty of my fury. Thank you.

Adventures in Shibuya

Well, the nicest thing about being back in the States is that I can meander down the sidewalks without a worry of being mauled by a salaryman hopped up on Boss coffee either on a bicycle or armed with a suitcase and a pair of short (but fast) legs. (See Tokyo annoyance #1). I realized I never wrote much about Shibuya, with its famous intersection, Shibuya Crossing. There it is to the left. To be honest, I never could stay more than a couple of hours on the streets of Shibuya before the claustrophobia set in. Most of the time, Shibuya meant window shopping (Oh, how I wish I could have bought those cheaply-made but unique shoes in Shibuya! Curse my size 9.5 feet!) and heading off to Shibuya Kaikan for Dance Dance Revolution, though I did partake in the izakaya and club scene there as well.

DDR is not as huge in Japan as it once was, (other Bemani games like Taiko no Tatsujin, Pop 'n Music, and Beatmania are more popular) while it continues to be a huge hit in the U.S. It was recently announced that DDR is going to be the subject of a Saturday morning cartoon show on CBS next fall and a new version of DDR was released first in Europe and North America before making its way to Japan. Kind of sad.


While Harajuku is home to the Gothiloli girls, Shibuya is home to the kogals, or kyogaru, who in my opinion, are much much scarier than any goth could ever be. Kogals are known for wearing ludicrous amounts of bronzer, crazy-ass eye makeup and short, short, SHORT skirts and fishnet stockings. They basically just hang out and shop and text message at Mos Burger and do purikura and flaunt their disposable income (which comes from living with their parents, thus only having to pay for transportation and keitai denwa bills). Apparently Gothiloli was a counterculture reaction to the kogals, which now makes perfect sense.

I mean, c'mon! How scary is that? And how does she dial the numbers on her phone! I guess hers is probably voice activated or something. Anyways, I find this infinitely freakier than any of the multiple piercings of the Harajuku goths, don't you? It creeps me out something fierce. OK, now you've seen it. You can scroll down now. Thanks for humoring my taste for the absurd. Yowza.

In any case, Shibuya is a pretty great time, and there's more to do in that one precinct of Tokyo than in most big cities alone. Here are some photos from one of my last nights in Tokyo when we went to an izakaya in Shibuya. Hopefully we're easier on the eyes than the kogal, but I won't take that for granted.



The scariest photo in the world can be found here. Rachel took the second photo of Shibuya Crossing.

Top Ten: Favorite Days in Japan

Aww, since I'm back in Philly, I'm getting nostalgic over here... But I have to proceed...

10. Ikebukuro wackiness: The wackiness was interminable at Ikebukuro on a really rainy day. First we headed out the exit and saw a Cafe Du Monde, the famous beignet and chicory coffee shop from New Orleans, went to one of my favorite stores in Tokyo for more wonderful Japanese pens, and of course, at Namco Namja Town, we saw the scariest toilet in the world, ate ice cream at Ice Cream City (complete with the insane array of flavors in the museum!) and free dumplings at Gyoza Stadium. The craziness refused to stop. You know I love that.

9. Anime festival: This would be higher if there were more freaky otaku and costumed manga crazies, but alas, no. But the sheer magnitude of this ode to anime was worth it, along with the cheap cels, the free useless swag, the awesome mini-concerts and readings, and the costumed babes that looked like they'd rather be working at Lawson's. The night was topped out with some conveyor belt sushi, and who can argue with that?

8. Clubbing, bar-hopping haze: I know there was one particular day when we went to no fewer than six bars in a haze of Japanese debauchery, but don't ask me to give you the details both for my own honor's sake and for my bedraggled memory's sake. I will say that I sang the Celine Dion song from Titanic karaoke-style for a round of drinks and waited in the freezing cold and snow for the best sushi on earth. The rest of the blanks have to remain blank.

7. Kanamara matsuri: Rum and cokes at 10 a.m. in front of guys carving penises out of daikon radish, sausage vendors, and the lollipops. Seriously, this fertility festival was a serious affair for some, but for most it was an excuse to bring out your inner phalliciousness. Afterwards we wandered around Yokohama's Chinatown and while the Chinese food was nothing to write to China about, it was still a fun way to cap off the day. Oh wait, I basically capped it off by incessant giggling . . . "I just went to A PENIS FESTIVAL." Good times.

6. Meeting with Justice Hamada: Second Supreme Court justice I have met, after Ruth Bader Ginsburg at Brown '02 Commencement. It was wonderful to tour the Supreme Court of Japan and meet an amazingly humble man like Justice Hamada.

5. Harajuku, Shibuya, & Meiji jingu (first week in Tokyo): Jet-lagged and bereft of any knowledge of Japanese (but having memorized the subway system already), it was a beyond gorgeous day in January (maybe about 58 degrees) and I headed off to Harajuku on a Sunday. I remember walking, walking, and walking, armed with my Time Out guide and my Tokyo City Atlas and still incredulous that I was in Japan. I befriended some students from Waseda University, and they took me to a little underground café after I agreed to speak with them about America so they could practice their English. We ate the sickly sweet crepes that they sell along Takeshita Dori, the shopping street for Gothloli gear and then we bid farewell, leaving me to peruse Kiddyland, Snoopyland, LaForet, and to trek over to Meiji jingu, where I sat on a bench and people watched for awhile until I walked over to Shibuya just in time to watch the neon illuminate Hachiko at the JR Station. One of my first days, but still goes down in my memory as one of my favorites.

4. Nikko (Day One): Strolling around the UNESCO temples, meeting the friendliest Japanese boy imaginable (who drew my portrait) at a lunchtime restaurant, gorging ourselves on shabu shabu for dinner and drinking Belgian beer after Belgian beer. (No offense to Asahi Super Dry, but you just cannot beat a Belgian white beer after a long day of walking!) Follow that with a comfy ryokan and drunken Scrabble, and you have the perfect weekend getaway.

3. Setsubun: I would guess that I was one of the few non-Japanese people at TUJ who actually knew what the heck Setsubun was, but having celebrated Setsubun every single year at college (Emi brought mame and the essential oni mask home from Japan every year after winter break), I needed to have the real Setsubun experience. I was a bit obsessive about this, as Jeremy might tell you, but it all worked out for the best as it was amazing! We wrestled our way through the crowd to grab crappy free stuff, I almost got maimed by a mochi flying at extremely high velocity, and I learned that Japanese senior citizens are just as passionate about their free swag as American seniors are. Ah, gotta love that WWII generation! Oni wa soto! Fuku wa uchi! After some tasty CoCo curry, the cute guy at the Peacock Daimaru florist stand gave me my own oni mask. Nice!

2. Hanami day: Jeremy and I caught the train to Kamakura, saw a not-so-large bell but made up for it with delicious amazake, hiked a trail over to Zeniarai Benten, the money washing shrine, got kicked out of a curry place (prompting me to yell like an idiot telling customers not to go in there in my broken Japanese) but made up for it with sweet potato ice cream. After which I met Rachel, Joe, and other classmates at Ueno Park for a hanami; I sat under the sakura, drank a lot of wine and Sapporo and liqueur (but not enough to incur a hangover), met some interestingly smashed Japanese women with a penchant for Jim Beam and some American, Canadian, and British English teachers. A quick trip over to Akihabara afterwards was worth it if only to see this guy and get the full-on otaku experience. I think if there is a quintessential day in Tokyo, this is it.

1. Kyoto: I guess this isn't just one day, but it feels like one long dreamy day and it's hard to pick one of the three days that Yvonne and I were there. Some examples: seeing geisha dashing to their appointments in Gion and a huge lit sakura ki in the park, the gorgeous Kinkakuji and Ginkakuji, walking the back trails to temples and practicing my Japanese, matcha ice cream floats and grilled dango and anmitsu and takoyaki, and finding cute little trinkets that I thought I would find in Tokyo, but could not. I'll go on: the spectacular view at Kiyomizu-dera and drinking the water that will hopefully help me to live to be 100, drifting down the sakura-laden Philosopher's Path in awe, the friendliness of the Kyoto people, bamboo forests and lush countryside, and Japanese brides and beautiful old women in heirloom kimono, and... Yes, I need to go back to Kyoto before I turn 30.

[Namjatown, Shibuya, and Roppongi trees taken by Rachel!]

Racist chocolate

Yes, young people do love hip hop culture in Japan, but that doesn't mean they can't enjoy a little racist chocolate while they're at it, right? This Mexican chocolate bar (sold at a toy store in Tokyo) features milk chocolate covered peanuts ("conguitos", if you will) enveloped in a bar of white chocolate. Unable to assimilate, the conguitos maintain their dark color even in the mass of whiteness. To be fair, most Japanese are not aware of the minstrel shows complete with blackface performers with the pitch black skin and the exaggerated lips that later turned into the all-out offensive ads for watermelon and pancake syrup.

Japanese obviously don't understand the history behind blackface (at least I hope not), but that doesn't mean they're immune from controversy. One of the once wildly popular Pokémon characters was clad in blackface until they were forced to change it to "purpleface" in response to criticism from some African Americans. Jynx, complete with big lips and huge boobies, seduces with a special hip sway. Her very special Pokémon episode does not air in the U.S. or U.K. and she has been cut out of some other episodes airing in English speaking countries. Poor Jynx.

American hip hop culture, meet Japanese propriety

Yeah, you've seen the pants hanging off those rapper types, usually revealing a bit of bootay or at least a glimpse of those multi-colored boxers. You may know that Japan teenagers have a love affair with American hip hop and rap culture. But in some cases, like in this particular guy's case, we maybe have a bit too much Asian shyness. So we want the hanging off pants effect, but not the underwear bearing bum. The solution? Why of course! We can sew a pair of jeans to another pair of jeans, so when the jeans hang off, oba-chan's family honor won't be destroyed. Win-win!

Can't say the same for this Harajuku guy below though. I wonder if some of these Harajuku types change their Gothic Lolita ways when they hang out with their parents. What's important to note that while you might think that most of these teens are outgoing and outrageous, they're actually pretty quiet when you try to talk them up. I wonder if that's just because I'm a gaijin with a camera? Who knows?


























Harajuku girl photo found here.

Asakusa

The closest you're going to get to what first-timers think they'll find in Tokyo is Asakusa, the closest thing to old Edo, with its quaint shops and buildings, rickshaws, and shopping streets. I saved it for my last few days in Tokyo because I figured I might need a respite from the neon of Shibuya and Shinjuku or the wonderfully crisp pages of a book on international arbitration. Of course, when I finally did visit Asakusa, I was not disappointed. Along with visiting the temples, we feasted on one of my favorite Japanese foods, anmitsu, which is a delicious dessert of agar jelly, fruit, azuki beans, mochi, and sweet black syrup. Chocolate-loving Americans are often critical of Japanese desserts (though the puddings are wonderful), but anmitsu is a delight, trust me.

Asakusa's highlight is Sensoji (Asakusa Kannon), Tokyo's oldest and most famous temple. While it is packed with tourists, it is still quite a sight to behold, especially coupled with some browsing in the stationery and kimono shops and some tasty treats from the street vendors.

The Hozomon main gate to Asakusa Kannon

Old Tokyo buildings in Asakusa

Another view of Asakusa Kannon

Vendors in Asakusa sell candy apples, candy grapes, candy strawberries...
They tend to give you a perfectly pink smile, like so.

One of the packed shopping streets

A pagoda at the complex and the famous lantern at the Kaminarimon, the outer gate to Sensoji

Tiantan Park and the Temple of Heaven

A visit to Tiantan Park and the Temple of Heaven in Beijing brought tears to my eyes. It was amazing to see hundreds of people so happy, so active, so full of spirit in spite of decades of repression and oppression. Here, the rain was eminent, but still, both young and old folks took part in several activities despite the dreary weather. Most interesting was this man, who was practicing water calligraphy, writing poetry in the park with his large brush and a dab of water. Unfortunately, his verses would soon be washed away, as it did in fact begin to downpour about 15 minutes after I took his photograph. Along the long corridor to the Temple of Heaven, old men were busy playing card games and women sang karaoke and young men played odd-looking homemade instruments in the hopes of earning a few yuan for their efforts.

I could still smell the fresh paint at the Temple of Heaven, as the government is busy repainting and renovating all of Beijing's historical sites for the 2008 Olympics. As a result, all the stories that you hear about Beijing being unclean and disorderly are largely untrue today. Of course, I was still surprised to see so many people spitting (One sign read: "No spitting! We are an Olympic country now!") and nose picking, but it's nice to see that things are getting a lot better in terms of cleanliness.

This other man, dressed as an emperor (see the red and yellow?) was playing the Star Spangled Banner (albeit poorly) on the saxaphone, which was strangely funny (shows how things have changed since the demise of Mao?) but also eerie, especially since a few meters down, lots of people who probably aided Mao in his Cultural Revolution (largely due to fears of death or torture) were still singing revolutionary Communist songs. To see a random guy recalling China's imperial days while playing America's national anthem. Yeah, I needed a moment to take in the odd juxtaposition, that's for sure.

Below see some of the other activities in Tiantan Park, Beijing's answer to Central Park, along with some photos of the Temple of Heaven complex, where emperors fasted before offering ritual sacrifices to the gods.

Tai Chi

Ballroom dancing

Fan dancing

A funny game where you have to not drop the tennis ball
while swaying around a raquet to the music

Gathering around the Temple of Heaven

One of the Temple of Heaven halls

On the left is the Hall of Annual Prayer, the Temple of Heaven's main attraction and largest building. On the right is an example of some of the architecture around Tiantan Park.

More views of the Hall of Annual Prayer

Jeremy in a cool entranceway at the Hall of Abstinence, where the emperor rested and fasted before he made his sacrifices, and a view of the amazing architecture at the Temple of Heaven

Dude, I walked on the Great Wall

Touristy, sure. Crowded up the wazoo, of course. But c'mon, it's the Great Wall! It's visible from space! And all the pushy postcard vendors and annoying Europeans couldn't ruin this moment for me. Huzzah!

At one point, it was about a 75-degree incline to the fifth tower at the Badaling section of the Great Wall, but watching little old Chinese ladies make it up, we could not falter! And indeed, I have returned to the United States as a "real man," since the Chinese proverb goes 不到长城非好汉 bú dào Chángchéng fēi hǎo hàn, with the rough translation of "you're not a real man if you haven't climbed the Great Wall." I wonder how far you must climb to technically reach "real man" status? I mean, you could basically walk up a couple of steps, turn around and buy a commemorative t-shirt, but how "real man" is that, eh? Not very.

Forbidden City

Welcome to the Forbidden City, (紫禁城) just north of Tiananmen Square, which was the home of the emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties in China. The city is massive and boasts at least 9,999 rooms (9 is a number reserved for the Emperor), and is the largest such palace complex in the world. Most of the buildings here were the lucky color red with the imperial color yellow reserved for the rooftops. It took quite a while to traverse the Forbidden City and many of the exhibits housed inside.

The majority of these photos were taken by Jeremy, since it was raining that day and many of my photos came out very dark and foggy. As you can see, he did a fantastic job with taking photographs amidst sporadic torrential downpour.

One of the canals in the Forbidden City

I really loved the bas-relief sculptures in front of a lot of the palaces. They were quite gorgeous.

My favorite part of the Forbidden City was its garden, which was filled with a number of curious sites, including this temple atop a rock formation that is apparently habitable. Unfortunately, we could not go inside, but I was especially intrigued by the sign above, which explained that "A single act of carelessness leads to the eternal loss of beauty," an interesting, yet poignant, proverb to introduce the building for sure. If anyone can read the Chinese characters and could provide me with a better translation of that proverb, it would be much appreciated.

I could have stared at this building forever. I've seen far more beautiful temples during my travels, but I found it hard to peel myself away, and kept wondering what I would find inside if I was permitted to enter. Would it merely be a dank cave-like room or would it be all decked out in the fineries fit for an emperor? Whether it is a testament to my love of weirdness or my becoming tired of red and yellow buildings at this point, the world may never know.

One of the main Forbidden City imperial palaces

On the left, one of the massive doors of the palaces. The number of gold knobs signifies how important the building is; Chinese enjoy rubbing them for good luck. On the right, one of the pretty, pretty buildings in the Forbidden City gardens.

Really cool doorways within the Forbidden City, and oh yeah, I do love me some Forbidden City Starbucks. It was really strange to find a two-table Starbucks within the ancient walled-in city and apparently the Chinese don't want to advertise it (all signs point to "Coffee Shop") and the baristas will not allow you to take photos inside the shop, but whatever. I sipped my tall black coffee among the ruins, as I'm sure the emperors would have approved. Alas, if only it were a Dunkin' Donuts.

The well on the left is apparently where the concubine and Emperess Dowager Cixi drowned one of her concubine rivals, so it was appropriate that a 魔女 such as me should pose while cackling gleefully at the tragic drowning. Just kidding. I'm a good person, seriously. Just ask the lions.