A LOT of walking
Tokyo has been really awesome! After the first night I spent some time walking around Akihabara; Kind of just hung out and checked out some of the buildings and arcades. Sunday was more of the same. Monday I met up with a lot of my friends and we all had some great food. It’s amazing how fast the time goes by when you’re just trying to meet up with people.
I went down to Wakasu Park in Koto Ward to TeamLabs Planets (he has all the pics, my phone died lol) which was a ton of fun! There’s so much cool stuff in there. I will say that since becoming an おじさん (“ojisan” or middle aged man), which I’m pretty sure 40 is the cut off, I kinda forgot how to move my body, so it was refreshing. The tactile feel of the water, ground and bouncy balls is really nice I must say. Honestly, it was a lot of fun. After that, I walked around with my friend Bryton and we went to all 4 of the Shenju statues. The Shenju were Chinese gods said to protect the 4 cardinal directions. You can read more here (https://koto-guide.blogspot.com/2018/07/monuments-of-four-god-beasts-in-koto.html) if you’re interested, but the reason we went to go look at them (and ambitiously walked to each one, which was a massive error) is because in the card game Grand Archive, they made the cards with the gods on them and it was really cool to see the statues they were inspired by! My legs are destroyed though. I am gonna try to get a massage or onsen somewhere I think. I reallllly need it.
Ueno Park
I met up with someone I had been chatting with online and I was actually very surprised because they were pretty cute. We spoke at length about a lot of different subjects in America vs Japan and what the dating scene is like in general these days. It was refreshing to just have such a good chat with someone and be so straightforward. I am hoping we meet up again this Sunday for coffee or something. Sadly we did not. The park itself was really beautiful and taking in the sites with them and just feeling that general sense of peace was in and of itself one of the highlights of my trip so far. If you’re reading this, I appreciate you and thank you for showing me around. I ended up going to that figurine store you recommended and there was SO much stuff in there lol. I spent like $20 on keychains haha. I’m really excited to spend more time in the park when it’s daytime, but the night scenery was kind of romantic too. OH! The Christmas Market is opening soon too! We could have done that Sunday but I was too busy with many other things. Instead we ended up checking out Asakusa and they showed me around the area. I had to say goodbye and it was hard, and hopefully next year when I visit Japan again, I’ll be able to meet with them again. They meant a lot to me and I told them as much.
Mt. Takao
Mount Takao (Takaosan) was great. I’ve never been hiking in the Japanese forest and I enjoyed the karasu (Japanese crow). They are much larger than North American crows and have a deeper voice. I do love animals and think they should be respected. I wanted to see if what I learned as a kid held true, so I tried cawing a few times at them to say “warning” and off they flew lol. We ended up 599m above sea level on Mt. Takao and got some good pics of Fuji-san. There was kind of a line at the top, but it was to be expected. I saw so many old people on their way down afterwards, I need to pray to inoshishi (boar) for strength of foot. I’ll come back to this later.
Saintbreaker, Akasuka Death Fest and VERY expensive drinks
My friend Steve ended up chatting with these guys from a band called Saintbreaker, and I met them in Asakusa after my hangout with my new friend. We went to a “metal bar” and hung out for a little bit, where I had one 1,300 Yen drink (which is very expensive) and we then walked around Asakusa while there was no one there. They really wanted to see it and so they walked around while I looked at more of the same, but bonded with one of the other guys over some cool bands and old school hardcore music. It was a lot of fun but left me somewhat unfulfilled because they kinda dipped at the end of the night without offering any means of staying in touch. That’s a classic punk move, and they’re young. I did add Michael on Instagram, who was one of the dudes my age who is an old-head in the HxC scene.
That was all Friday night. I made it back to the room around 2AM via Uber and was glad to lay down for a few hours before my tournament Saturday.
Round 1 Game 1
I biffed it super hard (biffed means messed up) and lost round 1 due to a deck error. I called the judge on myself. After that I consigned myself to losing the tournament and went further by giving opponents the win when they wanted it more than I do. I’m happy to just enjoy the game and have fun. I met many cool people and gave them many good gifts during our games. A win is a win, and a loss is a win, as long as both people had a good time. I had 2 proxies, one I made and one I got as a gift and my opponent liked the one I drew so much he chose that one as a gift lol. He said it was super cute.
Karaoke in Tokyo
Karaoke is so fun, and Japan’s Karaoke culture has many extremes. Play hard, party harder. Some of us partied harder than others and that’s totally fine — so I was happy to cover the bill and not ask for anything in return because we had fun. I’ll post some videos on my instagram when we get the chance. Some of my best friends were there and I think we all became better acquainted, which is something you can’t buy. Karaoke is one of my favorite pastimes because you learn a lot about a person listening to their music tastes, their talents and their predispositions.
Last Thoughts Tokyo
Tokyo is very very wild, but it has a very strict business-like culture to so many things. I have not only had a short stint in Tokyo but one in Kyoto and I felt Kyoto/Osaka people are so much more friendly. We had a good talk with someone at the bar tonight and they said, “Tokyo de… *makes drinking motion*… gaijin to omou… Osaka de… MY FRIEND” lol then wrapped his hand around us. He was from Osaka. That said, I did meet someone really special to me in Tokyo and so I can’t discount everyone in the largest city.
Shinkansen
The bullet train ride was uneventful, other than me falling asleep. I might have ended up in Nagasaki if no one had woken me up lol (not that it’s a bad thing). I am traveling with my friend Steve and my friend Gina and it’s been an absolutely wonderful time. I didn’t feel great day 1. We found a place to crash in Kyoto and I fell asleep immediately. Karaoke might have been a bit too big of an ask prior to traveling. We were sent off by an amazing friend I had the pleasure of meeting for the first time so it was ultimately a positive experience. He is a wonderful person and I wish him the best during the holidays. The Shinkansen is very cool, and I always enjoy traveling on it. It’s a beautiful trip through the countryside and such a pleasure.
Kyoto Day 1
Getting to Kyoto was awesome. I remembered immediately where there was a large gathering of people and a massive hustle and bustle so we were able to dodge it pretty fairly and offer good recommendations to people outside. The biggest downside of Kyoto at this point is the waiting, but that’s all about to change when I wake up the next day and we hit up our first onsen at 9 AM.
Onsen Culture (First time)
The onsen — hot springs — were awesome. I got to experience a rich tradition of cleanliness in both body and mind. The Zen mastery that comes with taking the “polar plunge” and resetting ones overheated body is extremely difficult lol.
Parting words and I’ll see you next week
I wish I could elaborate further but my laundry is done and I”m on my way to many other temples tomorrow. I love you all and I hope you all get to experience the magic that is Japan. It’s a very wonderful country and so much of it is so nice to experience no only alone but with many other people. This post was extremely rushed so I’ll clean it up later and add photos when I get the chance.
Life is short. Enjoy it and live your best one. 🙂
