July 28, 2005—Some Tokyo Observations and Events

1. The Homeless: There are homeless in Japan, no matter what may be the impression. But in contrast to many of the homeless in New York or San Francisco, many of the homeless that I saw in Tokyo were dressed fairly neatly and slept behind cardboard walls. Under the bridge in Shinjuku district, where the Keio Plaza Hotel is, cardboard partitions lined the wall. Inside the rectangle was a space big enough for sleeping and outside of many of these structured were a pair of sandals. One man was folding his clothes as I passed by. It is interesting how the manners and traditions of this culture transcend into a persons more separate situation.
2. Karaoke: I was in Tokyo for three nights and less than three full days, but in that time I managed to Karaoke twice. It is everywhere. Everywhere. And everyone does it. On the first night that I was at Tokyo orientation, my friend Megan and I went with her prefectural group to a Chinese restaurant that was underground. A gong outside of the restaurant had to be rung three times to be let in and after walking down a dark hallway, the restaurant opens up (somewhat) to a cavernous room with cage-like bars arching over a middle walkway and surrounding pods of tables. We met up with a guy that Melissa met on the plane, and his friends (one of whom was just finishing up JET) and their two Japanese friends. The group of us went to a Karaoke spot, after bargaining with a few different Karaoke promoters that walk the street and sang and drank away. Most places have some sort of a deal where every person pays a certain amount and you get a room for so many hours with free drinks. It’s pretty fun and very intoxicating. When our hour had run out, we crashed another karaoke room with some Japanese and danced and snag with them. I played one of the tambourines that they had. Apparently many karaoke rooms are now equipped with such instruments. Although a bit puzzled, they enjoyed dancing and singing with the gaijin it seemed. The next night entailed some singing as well, this time while eating and drinking all you could eat. MY prefecture went out for the night and took along with us one of the Wakayama prefecture government representatives. The title did nothing to hold him back, he sang and danced and stayed out until four in the morning with us. A trooper. How it should be.
3. Drinkers: I see where I may get it from. The drinking that is. The Japanese love to drink and based on what I saw in Tokyo, do it often. It is not rare to witness groups of business men after an evening of drinking, parting in a manner one does not see in the states often, but I wish we did. They will huddle together and sway side-to-side singing at the top of their lungs. When the singing has stopped, each man goes his own way. And I suppose this is an ideal ending to ones night, compared to two other examples I saw, both concerning men in suits and ties. The first occurred at the aforementioned Chinese restaurant, where a man ran into the bathroom, leaning over and puking the entire way, struggling to get his tie out of the path of the vomit. The next took place the last night that I was in Tokyo. Coming out of a hip-hop “club”, we were the only people there, we saw a man in a black suit and tie, completely passed out at the bottom of a small set of steps that led to a bar. Umbrella in one hand, briefcase in the other, he gave new meaning to the words “drink til you pass out.” Nobody around seemed to notice or care, except for us foreigners that is, and we of course did not miss the opportunity to take a picture with the sleeping man. I asked the government official whether the man would just get up and go to work in the morning, he seemed to think so. I guess he was ready to go.
4. Energy drinks and vending machines: First of all, there are vending machines everywhere, containing soft drinks, beer, cigarettes and ice cream. When in doubt at four in the morning, even the run down parts of town will probably have a vending machine. There is also a plethora of energy in nearly every convenient and grocery store that you walk in to. Many are packaged in small glass bottles, reminding one of medicine. And many of them are actually vitamin fortified, while other actually have nicotine in them, for those that can’t step out of the office for a smoke.
5. Games: The Japanese LOVE games and photo booths. Arcades are like Starbucks, one on every corner. My favorite game yet, the Taiko drumming game.