80 Days

One of the difficulties in doing a blog is that if you don’t do it soon after it has happened, it’s often easy to overlook it. Having just read the entries for the last few days I realise there are a few things I have forgotten to mention, so I will stick them under Day 45.

I deliberately booked a hostel ( = cheaper hotel for backpackers where accommodation is often in shared rooms with shared bathroom facilities and in this case mixed ) so I could stay in true Japanese style. I envisaged a large room with matresses on the floor. I did not envisage a tiny room for 6 men/women/boys/girls in bunk beds coming in and going out and coming in, sleeping in the day, faffing about with bags, opening and closing and re-opening and re-closing doors, packs and zips. Why don’t people get themselves organised so they only have to go to the bathroom once, and don’t have to rustle around in umpteen plastic bags looking for god knows what that is so important it couldn’t possibly wait ? I’ll tell you why - because they’re kids, thats why. And I’m an old-age hippie.

On the first morning after I had arrived, I was strolling down the main street and looking in a cafe window、Ｉ saw a face I recognised and would you believe it - two of the Swedish lads. - All the bars in all the world and …. So I have a chat with them and say again that it’s a small world. I carry on wandering around and, I know, I know I promised I wouldn’t notice anything else, but I’ve got to mention the masks. About 2% of the people you see on the street are wearing dust masks - you know, the type you wear when sanding/spraying etc. I didn’t notice any pollution, but it’s a bit of a sad endightment if you have to wear a mask to walk round your capital city. Maybe it’s the latest fashion

For a complete change I decided to make full use of my rail pass and visit Kyoto which is the original capital ( crossword fans will observe that it is also an anagram of Tokyo ). It is minute compared to today’s capital and retains a charm which most cities lack. It has lots of small side streets with tiny little houses and gardens created on the pavement - people actually living day to day in the centre of a big city as if it were a village in the hills. Talking of hills, did you know that about three quarters of Japan’s surface area is mountainous or uninhabitable, and, as about half of what’s left appears to be devoted to growing rice, the whole population gets squeezed onto the remaining 10% ? - No, nor did I .

Monday morning and I am told there is a phone call for me. What ?! For me ? It is a friend of a friend, who lives in Tokyo and has offered to show me a bit of the city and tell me some places to go. So we arrange to meet at the Mori Tower in Roppongi Hills. While waiting I noticed that the Arts Museum had an exhibition of the history of the Turner Prize including many of the original works which I thought would be of interest and it was. But firstly up in the lift to the 51st floor and walking round the observation deck seeing 360 degrees of Tokyo. Incredible, as far as the eye could see, buildings, towers, appartment blocks. We then went to the open deck, where at 240m above the ground it was a bit breezy. My friend suggested a few places to see on my last two days and I thanked her for her time and hospitality

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 13th, 2008 at 10:52 pm and is filed under Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.