Upon arriving in Tokyo, I looked at my ticket and saw I had a 12 hour layover between Japan and Dallas. FOCK! If you are ever travelling, do not be as unprepared as me, because you will waste a lot of time!
Anyways, I bought a train ticket to downtown Tokyo and my god, was it fucking awesome!!! Perhaps I got dropped off at the super exclusive area of the city but there were immaculate sky high buildings, statuesque golden-leaved trees, crisp weather, and somehow..no one in sight. It was weird. Like I was in some eerie beautiful modern high rise.
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| Old meets new: Imperial Palace with skyscrapers in the background |
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| One of the few people I saw in downtown |
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| I eventually saw a few more couples and joggers, but seriously, where the hell is everyone? |
So then I took the train to the famous Shibuya district and Harajuku street. A local birdie told me that today was indeed the best day to visit this area of Tokyo and that I would get to see all the crazies in full form in their natural environment.
Nothing prepared me for what I saw. CRAZY AWESOME WICKED COOL GODDAMNNN. I never felt more far away from home. You could literally feel the electricity in the air and the adrenaline pumping in your blood. Everything whizzing by so quickly…TOO MUCH STIMULATION.
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| Just one street in Harajuku...fucking mob! |
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| Angsty teen and school children |
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| Just a normal day in Shibuya |
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| wtf? |
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| This. Times 9999. |
Christmas Eve in Japan is not a Christian family day, but rather a day where young people, especially couples, take to the streets to shop and fuck around. The 24th is much more important than actual Christmas day. This explains why no one was in the fancy shmancy part of town but rather in the super mega double extra extreme shopping district.
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| Famous shopping center. Everything was so biggg! :D |
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| MUST BUY ALL THE THINGS |
Seriously, the entire population of Tokyo in one place. It was a mob. Jesus Christ these people can shop!
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| Japanese restaurants usually have these little model dishes advertising outside their store....America needs to get on this! Also, Japanese food is FRIGGIN AMAZING! |
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| The best fucking pork bun I've ever had. I even shed a little tear. |
My god, the Japanese have a style all their own. Everyone was either dressed like billionaire Barbie or Marilyn Manson. Of course, as an Asian, I like browsing through the trends on the internet and seeing what the fashion Holy Grail of Asia is up to, but DAMN you’re not really prepared for seeing that much in real life.
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| Japanese Stitch |
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| So many cute girls! why cant I be Japanese T_T |
You know, nothing is quite like going into a traditional restaurant, opening up the elevator, and seeing two grown men in leopard costumes giggling past you on their way out, fluffing you with cat tails. Or visiting the supremely peaceful gardens of the Imperial Palace, walking past the Dojo and hearing blood curling screams from (what I presume) sumo wrestlers. Or taking a stroll through the lake in downtown behind a man jogging in bright pink tights, a business man in an Armani suit, and a woman in a gorgeous silk kimono scuttling behind in wooden clogs. Or how about the guy wearing nothing but black booty shorts with “Shhh” on the back standing half naked in the street trying on reindeer tiaras. Seriously, nowhere else.
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| There were so many cool things/people I was too intimidated to take pictures of. Most of the craziest stuff I saw will be missed digitally, but to sum up the kinds of people I saw hanging about...this is basically it. |
In summary, JAPAN IS FUCKING AWESOME YO. My spontaneously short lived 12 hour day was probably better than any planned trip I’ve done this year. Seriously, if you want to go, fucking go because it will blow your mind. It’s not a rarity for someone to visit for a few days and end up staying there for years :D
*sniff sniff* good bye Japan! I’ll see you in the spring for the cherry blossoms! <3
