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The old and the new

While I’ve been busy this last month with a change of jobs, impending flat move (the worst possible thing to do in this town at this time of the year) and other assorted pleasures, I’ve still managed to spend a few days around the city. In this case two days spent re-discovering two areas I’d already visited, but doing so in different conditions. The old and new together cliche of Tokyo is, well, a cliche but it’s also something that hasn’t bored me yet, and the two trips I made this month only made that clearer to me.

First up was Asakusa, home to the oldest temple in Tokyo and one of its most famous tourist spots. I’d been to Asakusa in the summer during rainy season, which gave the place a certain charm as people sheltered from the rain under the temple or in the shops. Going back on a crisp, sunny winter day totally changed the vibe and feel of the place, with bright colours grabbing your attention everywhere, and as was the case back in July, a throng of people to fight through.

The temple itself was even more amazing in the beautiful winter light, and I managed to get some wicked shots of it (see below). Whereas first time round we’d only really stuck around the Kannon area and not looked around much, this time we spent a good bit of time walking around the town, which as Ella remarked feels quite different to the rest of Tokyo. Kinda like Greenwhich does in London to an extent, it feels as if you’re not in Tokyo. Away from the shopping streets are ordinary side streets, full of small restaurants, flats and people going about their daily business. Amongst all this we managed to find two things which are well worth visiting, or going back to, Asakusa for (aside from the temple).

One is a drum museum, which you’d easily miss if it wasn’t for its inclusion in most tourist guides. Set up on the 4th floor of a building, above a shop that sells festival and temple memorabilia, as well as some drums, it’s basically half of a floor turned into a giant room and filled to the brim with drums from all around the world. The best part though is that it only costs 300 Yen to visit and you can actually play on some of the drums! Each drum is marked with a different coloured sticker – blue is ok, red is a no-no (if I remember well :???: ). One of the best things about this is that there are 4 or 5 different types of taiko drums which you can actually play, and as you may know from reading my previous post I luuuuurve the taiko drum. When we got there, some Japanese guys were going round banging on the drums and generally being loud, a weird sensation in a museum. Once they’d left we promptly followed suit, and spent a good 15 mins banging on drums and trying out all kinds of crazy shaped percussion instruments. It was one of the best museum experiences I’ve ever had, and reminded me a lot of the music museum in Brussels where you can listen to music made with each instrument on display (though the Brussels museum is huge compared to this one). Definitely worth the small detour and even smaller fee, especially if like me you’ve got a thing for percussion and drums.

The other one is a kebab shop. That’s right :lol: . Next to the drum museum Ella spotted a little kebab shop tucked in between two buildings on the main street. I was hungry and I wasn’t fancying something Japanese, so we hit it up and it turned out to be the best possible choice. Since being here I’ve not found anywhere that does a decent kebab yet (though I haven’t been to the more central spots in Roppongi which are apparently nice), but it looks like my quest may well be over. Cheap, tasty and welcoming, you can sit down and eat in there and choose from standard chicken and meat doners or combos and there’s also a nice selection of sauces. If like me you’re always craving a taste of home every once in a while, then I can only recommend that place. The name escapes me but it’s literally 2 minutes walk from the drum museum away from the station.

Overall Asakusa turned out to be a great spot to visit again, especially in more accommodating weather. The second trip we took this month was to Ikebukuro. We did pretty much the same thing as before, which is go shopping and spend some time in Sunshine City, a giant mall like complex built in the bottom floors of a skyscraper.

This time though we went much later than we did the first time and Ella came up with the genius idea of checking out the observatory on the 60th floor of the building once the night had set to see the city lights. Luckily this being winter we only had to wait till about 4pm for that. I still hadn’t seen the city lights since arriving here, and I must admit it was a spot on decision.

We got to the observatory at around 6, by which time it was really dark and the city was shining everywhere you looked. The ride up is actually as much of a part of the experience as the view itself. Turns out the elevator that takes you there is amongst the fastest in the world, whizzing you up 60 floors in something silly like 60 or 70 seconds. Not recommended if you can’t handle heights so well though.

It’s got to be said, even though I’ve seen night time pictures and scenes of Tokyo on film before, seeing it for real is an entirely different experience. The sprawling mass of the city really hits you as lights shine and blink as far as the eye can see in almost every direction. In daytime it’s already impressive, but with the night you can’t see the mountains or sea in the background and you’re just left with the massive neon light show. You inevitably end up thinking at some point that this is some serious energy consumption going on too.

The most impressive parts are the main roads, which deliver huge flows of traffic into and out of the city, flashing with constant streams of car lights, and the skyscraper districts of Shinjuku and Ginza/Shiodome. As soon as we turned the corner and faced Shinjuku I was just taken aback by the sight of all these lights shining upwards instead of away from me, with their red blinking aircraft warning lights undulating as if suspended above the ground. And when you face the various parts of Central Tokyo, with its myriad of lights the other thing that really jumps out are the patches of darkness provided by the parks, something you don’t pick up straight away but once you do it makes the whole thing even more impressive.

I’m not quite sure how many viewing spots like this there are in Tokyo, but I reckon Ikebukuro’s Sunshine 60 is likely to be the best, as it gives you views of pretty much the entirety of the greater Tokyo area as well as views of Shinjuku and other central areas which is where I think most of the other viewing points are located. Another sight that’s also worth beholding is the east side of Ikebukuro, which you can basically look directly down upon and in the right weather conditions looks like something out of a science fiction movie, with blinding white light emanating from around the buildings and streets and blending with neons, cars and more in a really weird but totally hypnotising way. It’s a lot.