Evening in Shibuya - Lit By People Power

17th August, 2010 - whilst the focus of Shibuya may well be Hachikō and the nearby massive intersection, you should be prepared to take a little bit of a stroll around (even if you've just got a short time in Tokyo), and enjoy the multitude of shops that surround the district. Now, I can't honestly say that I'm an expert at what to do in Shibuya... we spent only a few hours walking in and out of shops and grabbing a bite to eat. However here are a few of the things that you might want to try:

1. Visit Hachikō / The Shibuya Crossing
2. Centre Gai (see below)
3. Shopping, shopping, shopping (credit cards may need resuscitation after visiting here)
4. Music shopping at Tower Records and HMV are both great shops
5. The TEPCO Museum used to be here - yes that TEPCO - but all of the museums have been closed since the March 11 earthquake.  They used to contain large models of nuclear power plants, and video docos about how safe they were. Closing them down was perhaps a wise move.
6. Walk-through (or other) Dogenzaka... Love Hotel Hill... interesting adult-oriented entertainment just looking at the photos of the rooms. 
7. The night-life... it's always moving here, and there's plenty of clubs and bars here
8. And of course, Shibuya is a natural launch pad into Yoyogi Kouen and Harajuku!

Right across from Shibuya's famous crossing you'll find Center Gai, a great little street with an explosion of interesting little shops. And it's somewhat admiral to see the Japanese  having exactly that - fun - despite the incredibly stifling conditions... Though as the afternoon wore on, and the sun began to sink, there was at least some relief (small as it was) from the heat. But Tokyo is a city full of the heat of life, whatever the season.

Center Gai Entrance

Speaking of heat.... now a quick word on Love Hotels...  these establishments are found all over Japan, but the Dogenzaka (or Love Hotel Hill as it's otherwise known) is famous for them. The name Love Hotel was (according to Wikipedia at least) originated in 1962 in Osaka... from an establishment strangely enough named, "Hotel Love". However the concept has been in Japan for many centuries prior. For a generally conservative culture (no, Japan is not the sex-capital of the world that the internet makes out), Love Hotels form an important aspect of society where relationships are often hidden away (e.g. through lack of privacy or company rules), time-poor... or just, well, seedy. Generally the word Hotel on a gaudy street sign can be read 'Love Hotel'; especially if it resembles a renaissance villa - or a windowless bunker - more than it does a normal hotel).

Hotel Moti sits comfortably alongside Chiyoda Inari Shrine Image from Google StreetView

I'd definitely recommend a walk around Dogenzaka for the experience - or you could always try out some rooms... you'll find a short-term 'rest' (4 - 7,000 yen for 2-3 hours) about half the price of an all-night 'stay' (8 - 12,000 yen). Not that I'm an expert... at all! For the adventurous, these also make for very reasonable accommodation options for couples (obviously not families), being relatively cheap, well "featured" and often in convenient areas. Indeed the rooms are generally much more comfortable than their business hotel counterparts for the same price... and the in-room entertainment options tend to be a little more varied shall we say. The only problem is that they are not bookable, and you can only order a stay after say 10 - 11pm. Best suited if you're travelling light, or if you've stowed suitcases/bags in a locker... or if you just want a very different sort of accommodation story.


And, no, we did not visit any Love Hotels on this trip to Shibuya, but there was still plenty of other things to do.  Healthy activities... like walking...

The lonely salaryman, finished office-work for the day then has to start his other work... drinking and socialising in bars and clubs. Whether it's with the office workers (building team spirit) or it's entertaining clients. It's not all fun and games by any means (even when it appears to be fun and games), but instead can be just as demanding as their day jobs. However, this is a trend that is perhaps on the decline... with life outside work being considered less and less company time. At least that's the ideal.

Salarymen and visitors alike take temporary refuge in the many food establishments that you find in any busy district. As night approaches the sights, sounds and smells of Shibuya change to reflect a different Japan yet again. These are not normal places for a tourist to seek nourishment, though I'm sure if you're game you will find a rewarding experience.

As the sun goes down, the city slowly transitions to the more social hub that Shibuya also is. Even with Dogenzaka a drunken stroll away, it doesn't feel at all sleezy... not compared to say Kabukichō just off Shinjuku. Instead it feels like a comfortable place for young people to go out and have some fun.

There are times when you come across something that makes you do a double take... for example an "Outback Steakhouse" - playing on the Australian outback of course - right in the middle of Shibuya. I'm not entirely sure, but looking at the menu doesn't really lead me to believe that there's a whole heap of anything Australian about the restaurant other than some of the names of foods (such as Alice Springs Quesadilla's... huh? Since when were Mexican's in the outback???)

And speaking of Aussie influences, the photo below shows another characteristic influence of Australia that you see regularly. Of course, what I am talking about is the use of the kangaroo symbol on the Seino Unyu (forwarder) trucks. Not sure what kangaroos have to do with freight transport, but I'd kinda think anything that bounces around - or for that matter sleeps - as much as kangaroos wouldn't be the best symbol for a freight company. In Japan, these symbols make sense however. 

 Now I have to admit that Shibuya's not the place I'd ideally choose to explore with our 4 yo son in tow... there's a lot to do here, but not much which is designed for children that young. And during this trip, shopping was about as fun for him as a massive case of diarrhoea. T-chan did very well, especially in the Tokyo heat.... which I have to say only becomes marginally more bearable when the sun has set (during the height of summer). In fact, of all the places you might want to avoid in such weather, a busy shopping district overflowing with body-heat might be one such place.

Indeed, the people swarm into the district, like moths to the campfire. And I've always wondered how many of these people are Tokyoites as compared to visitors from elsewhere (including abroad). It is a nano-cosm within a microcosm within a sea of humanity. It may not be as bustling now as it once was, but it still remains a centre-piece in Tokyo's crown. 

Shibuya is a hub of modern Tokyo - it represents the excitement, the commercialism, and the youth of the modern megatropolis. In the Tokyo's stifling summer heat, it also represents the Japanese willingness to persist: to work and play.... and in some cases, to do both at the same time.  It's also a symbol of something very Japanese too... the attraction of the crowd... when many places across the world have sought to provide an open ambiance, Shibuya has become famous for just how crowded it can become.

It may not be the ideal place for a temporary stopover (with a 4 yo), but it's not that bad either. And yes, It is a typical neon paradise, like much of Tokyo. But it's powered by people - who give it energy, creativity, and passion. It's just a great place to get into the vibe of one of the worlds truly BIG cities.

Sweaty Summer Shopping in Shibuya

17th August, 2010 - After a sweltering welcome to Tokyo, and an even hotter search for a spare locker at Meguro station, we finally found ourselves a great deal less encumbered, but nonetheless unsure of what to do. We knew we had to wait for H-kun, T-chan's brother to get away from work. But we also knew that in Tokyo, that could be just about any time. We had decided to head to Shibuya, just a couple of stops onwards from Meguro station on the famous Yamanote Line that is the main heart-beat of Tokyo's complex and yet highly efficient transport network. By the way, I've thrown together a bit of a graphic which shows the Yamanote Line with approximate timings... something that's difficult to find on the net... So the good news was that Shibuya was only 5 mins from Meguro station.... so it wasn't too far to go in the hot afternoon.

Yamanote Line Map - Numbers are mins between stations

Shibuya is one of the main districts in Tokyo, and definitely one of the major centres on the Yamanote Line. Anyhow, Shibuya's a bit of a strange amalgam of experiences... firstly, it's still a major business district, and that means salarymen. Lots of them. After about 2005, the government started promoting a energy-efficiency campaign known as "Cool Biz", which in part advocated workers to start to wear short-sleeved shirts so that the air-con could be set to a rather warmish 28 degrees. Hmm - nothing like working in a high-rise building with 1000's of hot, sweaty bodies and no opening windows.

[Note: Post 11-3-11, they introduced "Super Cool Biz" which sought to introduce even more energy conscious casual wear into corporate Japan]

Now way back in our first trip (in 2003) I wrote about the story of Hachikō, the famous story of the Akita dog that was so devoted to his master (whom he awaited everyday to return from work at Shibuya Station) that on his master death, he remained patiently waiting for his master to return. Of course he never would, but night after night, he would return to the station by himself to wait expectantly. For nine years he waited, until his own death in 1935. His story of single-minded loyalty remains an inspiration to the Japanese people. Hachikō is the story of resolute determination in a time of great national change and turmoil... such was the state of Japan in the 1930s. It is, in typical Japanese style of tale of stoic tragedy.

Statue of Hachikō

The statue of Hachikō remains a well-known meeting place outside Shibuya Station, and there's always a crowd of people waiting nearby. And crowds are something that Shibuya is quite famous for.

Indeed, Shibuya is known perhaps most of all as a young person's shopping district.... and there's a lot of shopping centres to visit (if you're so inclined). Just outside of Shibuya Station is one of the busiest and best known pedestrian crossings in the world, just next to statue of Hachikō. It's always a good spectacle to see the multiple avalanches of humanity colliding mid-street. Just down the road (on the left had side of the image below) you see see one of Shibuya's famous shopping buildings, Shibuya 109 ("Shibuya ichi maru kyu"). This is a must visit place for young fashionable people... however, according to my wife, we weren't quite young... or fashionable... enough. So we set our sights on more "age appropriate" shops.

And there's no mistaking that this is a young person's paradise... And there's certainly a wide range of fashions (good and bad) on display. Of course, the real fashion-centre is Harajuku, just up the road (or 2 mins by the Yamanote Line). 

Everyone has somewhere to go in the heart of Shibuya - and they follow that path with incredible determination. Shopping in Japan is like that. Of course, not everyone is shopping, with Shibuya being a place to go (like us) when you've got a spare afternoon. It is a melting pot of lives, criss-crossing in frenetic profusion. Converging momentarily in a nexus of common humanity - but no sooner has that happened and the crowd has moved on to be replaced by a completely new set of actors in this street-theatre.

Shibuya station is fairly large, and because there's many major roads intersecting around there, it can be a little disconcerting at first while you get your bearings. Always advisable to take a map of the area, and Google's StreetView is always an excellent way of familiarising yourself to the surroundings if in doubt. Of course, these days of the smart phone and/or tablet, you have a ready map at hand. And it's a good time to mention one thing that I hadn't actually realised before (being a bit of a noob).... if you travel to many parts of Japan you'll see two major department stores... Tokyu and Seibu (or stores owned by these companies). Both of these chains actually spawned from their respective private railway companies, and Shibuya was Ground Zero for their railway and shopping wars. It's interesting to see just how interconnected the Japanese economy is.

View Tokyo Map in a larger map

Now this was our first day in Tokyo (again) so we were only "window shopping"... plus we were already tired from the high humidity. However, T-chan shows great strength and determination when it comes to shopping. The only problem is that she's out-of-practice. L-kun is there to offer moral support (by which I mean, to be as generally distracting as possible). Some good stores include Gap, Forever 21 and H&M which have a great range at good prices, and aren't geared around annoyingly annoying Japanese kogals.

Whilst in Shibuya, you can also check out other famous Japanese stores like Tokyu (and of course Tokyu Hands), Seibu, Loft, Parco, Tower Records, Marui, or one of my favourites, Don Quijote. It may not be class, but it's always good to get a snapshot of what's happening in Japan... and another great place to pick-up some quintessential Japanese knick-knacks. And of course, you can always find a 100yen shop nearby, if you haven't experienced one before.

Of course, L-kun was also keen to have a look around... though I think he thought his rather wet hair was the result of rain. Hence the umbrella. No L-kun... that's the Sweaty Summer Shopping in Shibuya for you... it may not always be comfortable, but it's always an experience. The crowd just can't be wrong.

Stay tuned for the second Shibuya instalment... 

Arriving in Tokyo With A Seven Years Sweaty Itch

17th August, 2010 - Well after a heart-felt departure from Sapporo (as all departures are), we headed off to Tokyo.With the flights using Qantas and JAL, we tended to avoid stopping over in Tokyo in previous trips, which in hindsight was a bit silly (as they charged approx $100 per person for the stop-over). Still, for that price, it was getting questionable as to whether or not to just fly to Tokyo and buy separate flights to Sapporo. In recent years there's been the arrival of Hokkaido specific cheap flights too. 

Cheaper flights from Tokyo to Sapporo include Air Do from about 9,800 yen and of course don't forget you can fly JAL for 10,000 yen  anywhere within Japan (if you purchase the Yokoso Oneworld Japan Pass ticket, which needs to be purchased from outside of Japan). Also Jetstar Asia will be starting up a discount service shortly. But if you're looking for cheap flights out of Osaka / Fukuoka airport, then you really can't go past Peach Aviation  from 3,400yen one way out of Osaka!

 We arrived in Tokyo at Haneda Airport - which unlike Narita, is actually in Tokyo itself, and is relatively easy to get to and from. You can check out info on Haneda Airport... or more correctly Tokyo International Airport... here. It's primarily a domestic airport, however they opened a new International Terminal in 2010 making it a very attractive entry point into Japan. There are three terminals: Terminal 1 - JAL and associated airlines (including discount Hokkaido flights); and Terminal  2 - ANA and associated airlines; and a third International Terminal. It amazes me that in this day and age that Japan still uses Narita - possibly one of the worst airports in world (location-wise).

View Tokyo Map in a larger map

So the purpose of this trip was to visit T-chan's brother in Tokyo - and of course, have a look around Tokyo at the same time. What we didn't know at the time was that 2010 was an EXTREMELY hot year in Tokyo... in fact, so much so that people were advising us not to go there with L-kun given how hot it was. I mean, it was already hot in Sapporo (which was a very rare thing indeed)... I have to admit that I was a bit worried as to how hot it could possibly be in Tokyo. In fact, we were sort of freaked out by the stories of people dying of heat-exhaustion... No sooner had we arrived at the airport and we were looking for vending machines for sports drinks.

Now because H-kun (T-chan's brother) was still at work, we'd have to kill about 5-6 hours at least. In Tokyo... in the middle of one of the hottest summers. Carrying our suitcases (though we had forwarded several already). Our plan, was essentially to make our way to Meguro Station on the Yamanote Line, find somewhere to store our bags and then go shopping for the afternoon. H-kun lived next to the Musashi Koyama station which is just accessed from Meguro... so our plan was making some sense.

Source: Official Haneda Airport Website

From Terminal 2 there are a number of options for transiting into Tokyo proper. The Keikyū Airport Line, which conveniently hooks into the Shinagawa Station (on the famous Yamanote circle route in Tokyo), and the Monorail... which although much less handy, is an experience. The Keikyū Airport Line takes about 15 mins to get into Shinagawa, and costs only 400yen. Via the Monorail it takes about the same time (or just a bit longer) and just a little bit more expensive. For some strange reason, we chose the Monorail option... which even pre-11-03-11 was an interesting ride (suspended as it is over Tokyo Bay). I can vividly recall thinking then, what would happen if.... Still, it turned out to be a good choice, as L-kun loved it. Completely loved it. Even though we did end up having to back-track from Hamamatsuchō Station.

Now - the plan (if you remember) was to off-load our suitcases at the lockers at Meguro. We got to Meguro station and quickly found the lockers. Only one problem. All the lockers were full. Not good. Not good at all.

Time for Plan B. What was Plan B again?

So we grabbed our suitcases and headed across the road to grab a bite to eat in McDonald's... yes, I admit it. Still, when you're walking around in 35+ degrees in about 300% humidity, you'll go anywhere that's close. And air-conditioned.

From Google StreetView

A quick phone call to obaachan and ojiichan later..."Obaachan, atsui!!!!!" And it was hot too. In fact it was a stinker.

Though we eventually found the silver lining in the somewhat sticky predicament that we found ourselves in... and it's amazing where you can spot an inspirational heavenly beam of hope. Even in McDonald's!

In the time taken to eat lunch was just the right amount of time to get back and find (miraculously) a spare large locker (which costs about 500yen for the whole day). It was a challenge to fit all our bags in there, but we managed somehow. These are good options as the lockers are yours for the whole day - which overall, I think is good value. It's just hard to judge if you'll get one or not.

Well - at least we had arrived. Mission half complete. Now all we needed to do was survive the afternoon and somehow meet up with T-chan's brother... we hoped. We were already starting to get sweaty - but there was one thing that was also true. After 7 years of travelling to Japan together, we had finally returned to Tokyo. We let out a collective HUGE SIGH OF RELIEF. The temperature however showed no sign of providing any relief whatsoever.

It may have been only seven years since last we had been to Tokyo, but so much had changed since then. It would be interesting to see how much the city had changed with time too.