Hostile Traveler

As I work through putting a proper links page together, I’m running across some interesting stuff. One forum site that I visited is called Japan Forum which has some great user-contributed photo galleries in addition to their forum sections. I know I’ve said this before, but forums like this are a superb way to get to know a place you’ll be visiting without resorting to the sterilized travel guides.

One of their galleries is dedicated to the teenage girls (and guys) that dress up in fashions that range from odd to truly bizarre (though, I have to admit, quite interesting). They tend to hang out in an area of Tokyo between Shibuya and Shinjuku called Harajuku, hence the name Harajuku Girls.

I know I’ve made some references to some of this in past blog entries, but a picture is worth a thousand words and all that. The fascinating thing for me is that even within this subculture exists further subdivisions - specialty groups that tend to cluster together. For example, there are groups of girls that get these super-dark fake tans and dyed blonde hair called Ganguro:

Yeah, I know - WTF? comes to mind. You also get gothic lolitas (kind of like the first picture) and all sorts of other variants. Really, check out the gallery I mentioned to see things that range the gamut, including a Marx brothers thing. Yeah, I shit you not.

There’s another group of people that dress up like their favorite anime or manga characters, which is called Cosplay. Some of these costumes are amazingly elaborate, and there are professional cosplayers that make a living doing it.

Once again, there’s a cosplay gallery at JapanForum, but be a bit careful in that some of the shots may not be stuff you want to look at work. It’s not tentacle porn (which, really, demands its own post), but it’ll likely generate some questionable looks.

Well, just a little subculture post. Next time: North Korea.

* Images provided by Wikipedia under Creative Commons licensing. Basically, I feel like too much of a perv taking photos of teenage girls so I’ll leave that to others.

When I travel to another country, I’m always fascinated with what the local culture is like, from art to food to social interactions to how people view the rest of the world. I have a particular interest in Asian countries because they are so diverse, and in some ways, so alien to what I know. I don’t mean that in a bad way - for some reason I love to be in a situation where I don’t speak the language, can’t read a thing, and don’t identify culturally with most of what is around me. It’s a learning experience, and a bit of an adventure I guess.

Japan is one of those places that I find so interesting, yet so alien at the same time. While the youth seemingly embrace all things Western, much of the culture is still closed off to gaijin - foreigners. It’s not as common as it once was, but you will still see ‘No gaijin’ signs posted in front of bars, restaurants…and, more importantly, places that cater to more illicit activities. I think I mentioned in an old entry a section of Tokyo’s Shinjuku district called Kabukicho, which is perhaps the largest red light district in the world. As a foreigner, however, you’re not likely to gain entry into any of the various hostess bars, clubs, and so on….that is, unless you’re a Western woman working at one. The other thing is that while Kabukicho is fascinating in a lot of ways, it’s also a place where you don’t want to be carrying around a camera snapping photos. Most of the businesses there are run by Yakuza (aka The Japanese Mafia), who are not the sort of people you want to be messing with.

That leads me to what inspired this posting. I ran across an article in the Washington Post written by an American that worked as a crime reporter for Japan’s largest newspaper. From the article:

I came to Japan in 1988 at age 19, spent most of college living in a Zen Buddhist temple, and then became the first U.S. citizen hired as a regular staff writer for a Japanese newspaper in Japanese. If you know anything about Japan, you’ll realize how bizarre this is — a gaijin, or foreigner, covering Japanese cops. When I started the beat in the early 1990s, I knew nothing about the yakuza, a.k.a. the Japanese mafia. But following their prostitution rings and extortion rackets became my life.

He goes on to talk about how large the Yakuza is (80,000+ members) and some of the ways they make money, from the illicit (child pornography, prostitution) to investing in banks and financial institutions. The problem came when the writer got too close to the topic he was covering:

Three years ago, Goto got word that I was reporting an article about his liver transplant. A few days later, his underlings obliquely threatened me. Then came a formal meeting. The offer was straightforward. “Erase the story or be erased,” one of them said. “Your family too.”

The article itself is a short but very interesting read (you can find it here) and the author, Jake Adelstein, is coming out with a book on the topic called “Tokyo Vice: An American Reporter on Japan’s Police Beat”. Now, how much is factual versus hype I can’t say, but it should be an interesting read nonetheless.

So, the moral of the story is: Dangerous things can be fascinating, but it’s wise to keep your distance.

I returned home Saturday night after a remarkably uneventful trip (for once). No engine explosions, vomit, or crazy naked Asian chicks. Just a nice easy 13 hour flight and 13 hour time difference, so I basically landed at the same time I took off. Now if that doesn’t cause your system to freak out, I don’t know what will. As a result, I’ve spent the time since sleeping at random, including a 15+ hour stretch when I got home. Hopefully I normalize by tomorrow.

Waking up yesterday (admittedly at 4pm) to an inch of sleet and torrential rain alternating was a treat. After experiencing the cherry blossoms and the beginnings of Spring in Japan coming home to a wintry mix was not a pleasant experience. Isn’t it supposed to be spring? WTF?

Well, let’s get caught up on the events since I last wrote. Thursday night was pretty much covered, so lets start with Friday, where I decided that I needed to get my culture on and go to see something old. In a city so obsessed with the new, this is sometimes not an easy task. Not to mention the whole bombing thing in WWII, but we’ll leave that alone. I’m all culturally sensitive and stuff. Yeah.

So, first order of business - lunch. Should have been breakfast, but Thursday was a late night and I’m not much of a morning person. The nice thing about eating in restaurants in Japan is that most of them have a display case outside that contains plastic versions of their dishes. They’re amazingly lifelike, and all you need to do is drag the waiter outside and point to get something similar on your table. So far, I’ve been lucky to not find any hidden tentacles - they usually put those in plain view.

Couple of other random pics from my wanderings. The maid cafe thing has generated some comments and emails, so I wanted to put up this giant store dedicated to uniforms called M’s, found in Akihabara. I wasn’t kidding when I said that the Japanese take their fetishes very seriously. Oh, and beware if you decide to visit the website on the sign.

One final bit of Engrish that may or may not be intentional - some shirts being sold at a vendor in Asakusa.

My wanderings on Friday took me to what is one of the oldest parts of Tokyo, called Asakusa. Here, you don’t find any glass skyscrapers or neon overload, but instead, mostly older buildings and temples. It’s a less hectic area to walk around in, which was a nice break from the downtown areas of the city.

The main reason I came to this section was to see the Sensoji Temple and its surroundings. To get there, look for Kaminarimon Gate, under which hangs a giant red lantern.

I didn’t realize this at the time, but under the lantern is the Japanese version of Kenny Rogers.

After passing through the gate, you wind up on Namsite street, which is lined on both sides by vendors selling traditional tourist crap - kimonos, cheap swords, masks, and so on. There are, however, some nice things amongst all the crap, but you have to look a little bit harder while fighting through the crowds. There are also a lot of food vendors selling freshly-cooked pastries, rice cakes, and so on. The smell is heavenly, which I suppose, is fitting for a temple area. This time of year is when the cherry blossoms are in bloom, so everything is done up with a cherry blossom motif. And, if you look closely, Kenny Rogers-san is following me…

In light of my recent uneventful flight and my desire to change my travel karma, here are a couple of Buddha from 1687. That’s all. No wise-assed comments. Really.

Paper lanterns hung outside of the temple. If anyone can translate, feel free. I just thought they looked nice.

There’s a five-story pagoda outside of the main temple building that was built much later, but still impressive.

This is Sensoji Temple itself, which is (I believe) the oldest temple in Tokyo, built in the seventh century, though I’m not sure to what degree the building is original. It’s really quite nice, and is still in use judging by the monks wandering around.

I finally got to see a Rickshaw after all of these trips to Asia. Okay, it’s not that impressive. I dunno…I just would feel bad having a guy haul my big foreign ass around town.

….and that’s it for the pics. Friday night I spent a bit of time in Shibuya doing the Times Square-on-steroids thing, then went out for dinner at a yakitori place for some grilled meat. Early night in general because I was flying the next day.

Incidentally, if you’re ever visiting Tokyo, be sure to give yourself plenty of time to get to the airport - about 2 hours should be fine. Basically, there are three ways - a $200 taxi ride, a $40 bus ride that stops at every freaking hotel in the city, or a $35, 1 hour Narita Express train trip, but you have to get to Tokyo Station first. Oh, and because it’s the JR (Japan Rail) line, good luck figuring it out - English is sorta optional for most of the signage.

And now I’m back. I’ll work on getting the galleries updated soon. Kinda like the ones from Australia and Hong Kong that I haven’t put up yet. Someday…

I’m headed back home today. Let’s hope that my flight back is a little less interesting than the way over. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy the entertainment factor, but I don’t want to to go Alaska again.

Wen I get some time/bandwidth I’ll update with some pics of Asakusa taken yesterday.

The title will make sense in a bit. In the meantime, let’s get caught up. Last night the regional sales manager type wanted Ken (Korean colleage for those not following the plot) to go out with himself and a candidate for sales weasel in Japan. Okay, fine. So we meet him at Hotel Okura, which is a well-known oldschool hotel here in Tokyo. It’s nice, but there are aspects of it that make it look its age, such as the seemingly endless stream of aging salarymen wandering around. Ken and I had to wait for a bit, so we spent a bit of time in the hotel bar, which may be rated as the place most likely to inspire suicide in all of Tokyo. Dark, smoky, depressing 70s decor, startlingly overpriced drinks - it had it all. Thankfully we didn’t have to spend much time there before moving on.

Dinner was teppanyaki, which is the typical Japanese style place in the states where the chef cooks on a grill in front of you. The thing is, this place was kind of posh, so there were no theatrics involved like the chef flicking shrimp tails into his hat and such. Instead, it was like watching a curiously obsessive chef make dinner while avoiding any sort of eye contact. Very odd. Now, I figured I’d be in good shape food-wise, but the problem is that I’m not much of a seafood fan…but this is Japan, so it’s almost unavoidable. So, I wasn’t too thrilled that the appetizer was tuna sashimi, followed by watching the chef throw still-twitching halved lobsters on the grill. The steaks were admittedly amazing, and I thought that the fried rice might save me as well, but it turned out to be full of tiny fish. Dammit. the other guys seemed to enjoy it though, so I’m sure it was good…just not my thing. I feel like I have something wrong with me when I see how much other people enjoy lobster, but for me, they’re just cockroaches of the sea.

Today was the last day of class, and we ended at around 1:30pm. It’s normally an hour earlier, but this being Japan, there were some overachievers in the class that wanted to redo some things. I told them there were no gold stars, but that didn’t seem to matter. Still, I guess it’s better than the slackjawed disinterest that I get during classes back home.

After class, I made a pilgrimage to geek Mecca - Akihabara. I tend to go here every time I come to Tokyo to see what the latest electronic toys are, plus there are some really interesting collectibles shops around. I know I’m an otaku (geek) but at least I admit it.

While walking around, I came across a bookstore that had the different types of books it sold on various floors listed in the window. It’s hard to not notice a magazine called FUCK with an anime character on the front of it.

The otaku seem to have a major fetish for girls dressed in maid outfits. There are cafes dedicated to this fetish where guys can go and get coffee or whatever while the waitresses, dressed as maids, serve them and flirt a bit. That’s as far as it goes, though I’m sure the nerds go home and beat off like a crazed chimpanzee afterwards.

One of the stores I went into sells figurines, and it seems like 90% of them are of anime women in various states of undress or revealing outfits. And they go for big money, so apparently the otaku are well-funded. Oh, and at the same store they have a cafe on the second floor that I glanced into where the women are dressed in cat outfits - little ears and a tail. Though I guess that isn’t that far from the old Playboy clubs from the…well, from before my time. Guys are just creepy as fuck sometimes, aren’t they? Oh wait, I’m a guy. Damn.

The sign below is an example of one of these cafes. The term ‘moe’ is a bit hard to explain, but I think it means ‘contentment’ - in other words, being happy in the environment you’re in, even if it’s just a fantasy.

And so the maid fetish theme continues. Walking down the street, there’s a vendor selling everything maid-related. Maid cookies, maid cake, and even the elusive Maid pudding. I kinda don’t wanna know…

After a bit it was time to head out of Akihabara before I either spent lots of money on electronics or developed a maid fetish myself. But, before going, I ran into an incredible crepe stand. Nice selection of flavors, though I personally settled for something simple - a #2 (caramel and whipped cream).

Had some time to burn before dinner, so checked out a new complex in the area I’m staying called ‘Midtown Tokyo’. Very very nice place, including a mall with lots of boutique stores that I can’t afford anything in. This is perhaps the nicest mall I’ve ever seen, and I’m sure the picture below doesn’t do it any justice.

Ken and I grabbed dinner at a Brazilian restaurant called Acaraje Tropicana , where I had hoped to introduce Ken to the wonderful gluttonous world of Rodizio. That’s where guys carrying skewers of meat keep coming to your table until your belly tears open from the strain. It’s carnivore heaven. Unfortunately, this place requires reservations for that a day in advance (wtf?) so we had to settle on dishes. Still, not bad, and the capirinhas were good.

Afterwards, I tried to find a tequila bar I had heard about called Agave, which is rumoured to have 400+ types of tequila. Alas, it wasn’t to be because I can’t find the freaking place to save my life. Granted, addresses around here are something I’m still trying to figure out, and this place is in a basement somewhere, but still…

So, we decided to hit a Roppongi mainstay - Bauhaus. Bauhaus has been open for something like 25 years, and the owner has a band that plays every night. They do covers of old American and British rock (Deep Purple, Queen, Led Zeppelin, etc) and they are amazing at it. They’re all tremendous musicians, and they put on a hell of a show. The only kind of funny part is that they speak very little english, so some of the lyrcs are obviously being done phonetically, but it’s easy to overlook something so minor in the face of such talent. Good stuff.

The outside doesn’t look like much….the blown ‘B’ doesn’t help I guess.

…and here’s the band. The singer looks a bit like a Japanese Ozzy Osbourne

And finally, a shot of Roppongi’s main drag on my walk back to the hotel.

Oh - about the topic. Everyone here smokes it seems, and Bauhaus is a pretty small place. So now I feel like beef jerky I have so much smoke permeating my skin and clothes. Time for a shower, methinks.

Tomorrow I’m off to be all cultural and shit and visit a temple area. Well, if they let me in. I wouldn’t.