11 Oct 2008 - Things I Love About Tokyo

This is Tokyo's English entertainment magazine--it's a free weekly zine, just like Vue in Edmonton, although it's in a high-gloss, magazine format. It's spectacular. There's a bit of travel info, a bit of trashy gossip, some horoscopes (love that), as well as extensive reviews and listings of restaurants, theatre shows, and live music.....I can see this being a lifeline of sorts here in Tokyo. It provides endless ideas for what to do, and provides many free options, which is always nice in a city where live music can run you $40-75 per person for a small show.




















Community Celebration: On the way home from work, I stopped by the community celebration that I wasn’t able to volunteer for because of work….there were several food stalls and throngs of people milling about the huge bike parking lot by our train station. The food looked very tasty, especially on an empty stomach! Just as I entered the ‘food court,’ the clock struck 5 o’clock. What happens at 5 o’clock, you ask? Well, at that hour every day, the national anthem plays over loud speakers—it’s really quite beautiful. When I crossed the street to Sun Plaza, there was a taiko drummer and a person ringing a chime, to provide rhythm for the circles of men, women, and youth to dance to. The sizable group of dancers were in concentric circles, centred around the taiko drum.

It was a wonderful sensory experience—people were wearing kimonos, yukatas, street clothes, and some people were carrying a peaked, straw hat with a bright red pom on it. The drumming was great. What really touched my heart was the great mix of people in the circle—ranging from a gawky young man to an elderly woman with a stiffened back, from a man who looked like he lived on the streets to a stunningly poised middle-aged woman, from a man with a developmental delay to a little boy running randomly through the group. All of this, set against the backdrop of the peaches and purples of a stunning sunset sky. It was so noticeable that people were taking pictures with their cell phones and cameras from across the street….it was such a treat to be able to witness all of this.

Other things I love about Tokyo: The service is phenomenal, design is both minutely functional and delightfully compact, Ker's cooking is to die for (and he cooks 90% of the meals), the train system is mind-bogglingly intricate and efficient, there are many wonders to 7-Eleven’s here (you can pay bills, mail packages, buy boxed lunches of pretty good quality, purchase liquor, access Canadian bank accounts, and photocopy), fashion is wild and endlessly fascinating, and while fruit is sooooo expensive, it is perfect and is a flavour explosion in your mouth ;). Oh, and walking around by myself at 10 PM feels incredibly safe. That's one thing I will miss about this place--the sense that I can wander on my own at night without having to be super nervous about who is around me.