Catching up with Tokyo

After meeting up in Hong Kong on March 31st and spending a night in Chung King mansions, Hong Kong's sketchy, crowded, smelly, scammy Little India, Alex and I were headed to Japan. Japan! How awesome is that? Japan is too expensive and far away to make it on to most backpackers' itineraries, but for us this far-fetched archipelago was at the top of the list from the very beginning. It's hard to say exactly what drew us here, but it may be a combination of the following incredibly different factors:

• the space-agey computer game fantacism and robot toilets,
• the natural wonders of mountains, lakes, islands and cherry blossoms,
• the Medieval mystique of samurais, ninjas, castles and temples,
• the fantastic food, sushi being only the beginning,
• the meticulously perfectionist and polite people.

But all these were obviously just our preconceived notions, and we wanted to see how things really were.



A foreshadowing of things to come.

We arrived in Tokyo disastrously unprepared. It was at 10 o'clock in the evening of April 1st when we stood at Tokyo Haneda airport - with nowhere to stay for the night, not understanding any of the Japanese that was being spoken to us, without finding an ATM that would accept our credit cards, and learning that Japanese SIM-cards don't work in foreign telephones - that we were getting a bit worried. Even when we eventually found a cooperating ATM and a guy who helped us call some hotels, we learned that in order to get a bed in Tokyo the first week in April - cherry blossom prime time - we'd have had to book a month in advance. So we ended up going to a capseru hoteru - capsule hotel! It was a delight to join the Japanese in their evening shower-bordering-on-spa ritual, and we certainly felt regal as we dressed in our yakuta robes, but the capsule itself wasn't very good bang for the 4000 yen. So the next morning we put our backpacks in lockers at Tokyo Main Station, and set off with basically only toothbrushes and rain jackets in our bags to live as tramps, spending the next nights in manga kissas. These popular and peaceful 24-hour internet cafes cum comic book libraries have cubicles of several sizes, where it isn't uncommon for people to spend the whole night gaming, reading comics, or getting a cheap sleep. We're saved!



Outside of Tokyo Main Station are suit-clad salarymen,
sun, and a spotless sidewalk.

We can get used to this!

We spent five days this way, based in Tokyo. They were all incredibly different. The first was spectacularly sunny, so we headed straight to Ueno to join the hoards of Japanese at their favorite hanami (cherry blossom viewing) destination. And truly, the sight of the bright white sakura as we stepped in to Ueno park was breathtaking. It was a Taj Mahal-moment; you just have to compose yourself and let a sufficient number of "wow"s go through your brain before you're able to do anything else. We spent most of the day there, wandering from the park over to an older district of Tokyo, with lower skyscraper density and higher temple and bonsai gardens density. Very enjoyable.



Alex hanamiing in Ueno park. When in Japan...

What these guys were doing we have no idea.. but certainly not hanamiing!

Cherry blossoms fell on Gert Nygaardshaug's excellent Mengele Zoo.

This nice lady bought each of us a grilled fish! Arigato gozaimas!

The next day, however, was so relentlessly rainy and cold that we barred ourselves in the vast Tokyo National Museum, getting a thorough introduction to Japanese history and culture, while only dreading the dashes between the buildings and the moment the museum closed. Even the shortest moments in the ever-intensifying rain would re-soaked us, so even though we found our way to the very hip and cool Shimo-Kitazawa district in the evening, we could only really sprint from place to place and decide to come back some other evening.

Samurai armour definitely belongs in the "Highlights of Japanese art" exhibition.

Then came another sunny day. First we visited the very popular shintō temple Senso-ji, then we decided that we wanted to see some mountains, maybe even the famous one called Fuji, if weather permitted. With the brilliant Japan Rail Pass in our pockets we went out to Hakone, amountain area with little Alpy villages along narrow winding roads. We took a gondola up to Owakudani, which is perched on a geothermal mountain full of springs leaking sulphurous gases. The view from the gondola reminded us of Mordor, and we just had to take the hike going down to the lake on the other side, despite Lonely Planet saying the gases were poisonous and "don't linger". It was windy and cold up in the clouds, but for a brief moment they lifted and we saw the towering mountain above us. On the bus back we even got a glimpse of of the sunset-red Mt. Fuji in the distance! We took the shinkansen bullet train - also for free with our rail passes - back to Tokyo, but jumped off in Yokohama, famous for its craft beers and friendly izakaya - little pubs and tapas style restaurants. We stopped by two of them, both super charming.

Too many people, but what can you expect with blue skies and cherry blossoms.

I mean, I don't blame them!

So then we went to a poison mountain in stead.

And we had a blast Nintendo-skipping down stairs through the forest.

The water was bubbly and oddly coloured.

But this is the lake they have in the foreground on all the Fuji-postcards.

For yet another change of pace, the next day we went to Fuji-Q, an amusement park at the foot of Mt. Fuji. Maybe a crazy idea, but we feel it's worth making a point of seeing Japan through what the Japanese do best. And being tugged up world record-holding roller coasters with Fuji-san sparkling right above me, I just had to marvel at this unique country. Though I was fairly sure I was walking to my death at several points during queuing, freaking out a great deal more than a solely excited Alex, I must admit it was extremely fun. Both the loopy, surprise-starting Takabisha with the world's steepest plunge (121°), and the long and classic but ridiculously tall Fujiyama (79 meters - twice the height of the other "big four" coasters!), were unforgettable rides.

An incredibly fun and incredibly beautiful place! Yes, we were dropped down that thing.



I can't believe the amusement park had a Thomas Land!

Oh, the photo ops were endless.

I'm in Japan!

We've used our JR passes actively, visiting many of Tokyo's districts and getting a feel of its different neighborhoods. Shibuya is the epicenter of young Japanese popular culture, the place the dreaded J-pop arises from, and the site of the busiest road crossing in the world. Akihabara is the home of "electric town", full of electronics department stores and nerdy treats. This is where we first found the manga kissas, and we also visited an e-gaming bar one night and watched a League of Legends battle live with enthusiastic commentators as and stylish clientele. One morning we got up extra early (partly also because the manga kissas charge per hour) and went to the famous and fascinating Tsukiji fish market, where we could see the finest fish come straight in from the docks to the wholesalers who gutted and fileted them on the spot. It is an interesting area of chaos and tradition in the middle of super-orderly and modern Tokyo, and we had a sushi breakfast which was absolutely out of this world.

A normal evening on the famous Shibuya crossing.

A normal morning at the famous Tsukiji fish market.

A bit of live action... five minutes later he had fillets.

In fact, the food has been consistently terrific, and even on the tightest of budgets you're just not able to find un-delicious food. Quick and simple chain noodle stores serve warming, tasty and healthy sets in about 20 seconds, and bento boxes from any kiosk with pieces of omelet, sushi and other little nibbles make great lunches to bring on the train, in the park, or even dinner. Izakayas have already been mentioned, for when we want the Japanese social dining experience as well, and if you want that little extra, Tokyo has no shortage of themed "entertainment restaurants": one night we unknowingly wandered down a dark staircase to a haunted house, and ended up being put in handcuffs and taken to a spooky, prison-themed restaurant!

Bento box aboard a train - a few bites later and you're in Kyoto!

Graveyard meal at The Lockup, a prison-themed restaurant.

 

In an izakaya in Yokohama, exchanging Facebooks with a friendly guy!

On the last day we finally retrieved our backpacks, put on all our warmest clothes, and went skiing. Yup, Japan is a fantastic skiing sestinstion, and even in April there is 280 cm of snow just an hour north of Tokyo by shinkansen. The slopes of Gala-Yuzawa were drowned in fresh powder, most of it falling when we were trying to ski. So we could hardly see a thing, but the snow was so silky perfect that it didn't matter! For a blessed half an hour the blizzard gave way to sun and blue skies, giving us amazing mountain views and maybe the best half hour of downhill skiing I can remember, before chasing us back down by fog, wind and snow. Oh well, it was a very dear day of skiing, and now I have an extra taste of what awaits when we return to Norway!

But first, two more weeks remain of our travels, two weeks here on Japan to be stuffed full of as many experiences as possible.




Sirdal in March 2013? Nope, Japan this April!

For the record, this is the day after Fuji-Q.

I love it here! And I really want to come home soon!