Arriving in Tokyo, one of the biggest and most populous cities in the world, the prospect of reuniting with my host family after 10 years was daunting to say the least. The excitement at showing Julia around my ‘old hood’ was mostly subdued by my nervousness at meeting up with my host family. My own feelings of inadequacy, especially my grasp (or lack thereof) of the language made for a myriad of emotions. Fortunately my ambivalence was soon quelled as I adopted my tour guide status; leading Julia around, communicating at every encounter and generally working hard to impress and impress upon my beloved the menagerie and sheer behemoth that is Tokyo.
Quite quickly we realised that despite our gallant optimism, general disregard for reality and the generous week we had afforded ourselves in Tokyo, we simply wouldn’t be able to fit in all that we had planned. It brings me great pain to inform you that at Julia’s behest, Tokyo Disneyland was the first to be removed from our ‘must see’ list.
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| Drowning our sorrows at the Asahi HQ after realising we couldn't fit Disneyland in :( |
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| The 'Golden Turd' - which is obviously supposed to be the froth of a beer! |
To capture Tokyo for those of you who haven’t visited I can only say that upon reflection it’s a places where 1000 people could visit and all have a different view of the city. That is to say, they could all happen upon or visit different areas, have varying experiences and potentially never visit the same place as the other 999 people. Unlike a city such asParis, or Melbourne for that matter, if one thousand people visited you could nearly stake your hat that most of those one thousand people would visit the Eiffel Tower or Federation Square.
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| The sprawling metropolis that is Tokyo |
We stayed in a funky little apartment not too far from Shibuya, home of the world famous ’scramble’ crossing, but far enough away from the heart so as not to feel like we were being carried along involuntarily by the blistering pace and verve which has long been part of the Tokyo DNA.
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| Shibuya's famous 'scramble' crossing |
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| Neons, advertising and consumerism - a quintessential Tokyo sight |
In essence, our Tokyo stay revolved around two things: sight seeing and reuniting with my host family. For me, meeting up with the Nagaiwa family
after 10 long years was quite incredible and very rewarding. Fortunately for all of us, it felt like we’d never left each other’s sides as the flow of conversation was only bettered by the flow of green tea. My host Mum had prepared us a feast and managed to remember my penchant for all things sweet. Sitting around our family dinner table again, where I’d been 10 years earlier - before school, after school, on weekends learning and absorbing as much about Japan as I could possibly fit in - for the first time in my life I had a sense that time itself is really quite arbitrary. A man-made notion of varying meaning and accord - dependent upon the beholder. For Julia, the witness to our reunion, it was an eye opening experience to see how a Japanese family lived, ate and slept. She did a great job of enduring the encounter, smile plastered to her face - face hurting.
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| What a feast! Thanks very much Okasan (Mum)! Delicious! |
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| We've all grown up! |
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| Okasan and Otosan both look so young and healthy! |
As far as sightseeing went, a few of the highlights included visiting a cat cafe. Before you ask, no we didn’t eat our feline friends, it’s simply a cafe where you can play with the in-house cats. An apt name, now that the explanation is out of the way. For Julia, it was some reward after much anticipation. For me it was two for the price of one. I was able to visit a cat cafe and also sit and observe my beautiful girlfriend, child-like, rid herself of social norms and frolic around the cafe forcing herself upon our feline friends.
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| Spot the cats. And Julia if you can find her? |
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| A cat! |
For me, another highlight was Tsukiji - the largest fish market in the world. Over 2000 tonnes of fish are auctioned off daily. With such raw numbers, and fish for that matter, comes a near overwhelming assault on your senses. Walking around Tsukiji at a saunter, in stark contrast to the brisk pace of the shop keepers around us, I couldn’t help but feel like a fly on the wall. For the most part I witnessed the whole thing through my camera lens, trying to capture the countless moments which left me awe stuck, it was a sight to behold and a smell to forget.
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| So much fish. Fish everywhere! |
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| Incredibly sharp knives! |
As a reward for the battering our senses endured we joined a long queue for one of the most famed and revered sushi restaurants at the market, ergo the world. The long wait and frosty conditions didn’t disappoint. We were squeezed in, elbow to elbow, careful not to dislodge the wall hangings. I managed to get my knees under the table exchanging polite glances with my neighbouring patrons. With the chef a short breath away, knife in hand, we began to order what would prove to be one of the best meals of the trip. Quite simply it was the best sushi I’ve ever eaten bar none. The speed at which the chefs cut down a piece of fish into something that, once rested on your plate looked like a piece of art, was truly astounding. Such skill no doubt acquired after much dedication and commitment. Although incredibly busy and working very hard, not to mention with a knife as sharp as a sword, the chef still managed to take our orders and partake in some good quality banter. Interested by our trip, what we had eaten in Hokkaido (a place revered for its seafood) and also curious as to why I was speaking Japanese to him. After the long queue to get into the place, we left feeling like we had been seated in the chefs own kitchen with all the time in the world.
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| Simply WOWZA! |
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| Food nay, art yes - actually both |
At my insistence we squeezed in one final temple stop at Asakusa temple. For me Asakusa is a place I have fond memories of. Fond memories of time spent alone, times of reflection and plenty of time exploring the labyrinthine area. With a plethora of small stalls and eateries, I figured at the very least Julia and I would enjoy one final adventure if not the imposing temple itself. After paying our respects and jostling through the crowd we were stopped by a very cute and eager to learn group of young Japanese students on an English language excursion. With excellent pronunciation and some courage they approached us and asked a variety of questions - all in English. Julia and I, quite impressed and taken aback by their sheer courage, happily obliged and were rewarded with a cute paper crane made by the them also. Buoyed by our experience we stridently advanced towards the exit. That is until we were stopped again by another cute group of school kids. Laughing at the coincidence we again played along and were again impressed by their courage and confidence. We left, another paper crane the richer, and strategically tried to duck and weave so we didn’t get caught again, three times would be pushing it. You guessed it, a third group of kids bailed us up, keen to go through the whole question and answer game again. After completing our third lot of interrogation and worried that we would never leave the temple grounds, we clandestinely snuck around the back of the stalls and managed to get ourselves to relative safety!
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| Asakusa temple |
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| We made it out alive and sane! |
It’s fair to say that the entire trip itself was as much a learning experience for Julia as it was for me. We experienced Japan in full winter flight. Ate some of the best food of our lives. Shared some of my favourite and most important company in the world and left with eyes and souls full of memories and new experiences. As I write this I can’t help but wonder when, not if, I will return to the country which I consider my second home.
