I haven’t sat on a cold toilet in 8 days because they simply don’t exist in Tokyo, Japan. In fact, the toilets here are smarter than all of my appliances back home combined. Forget just doing your business and being on your way. Going to the bathroom here is an experience complete with warm seats and control panels on the wall. Also when you exit, you’re instructed to not only wash your hands but gargle with warm water. The Japanese take their bathrooms very seriously – all are spotlessly clean.
The bathrooms are just one small example of how Tokyo as a city surprised me. When traveling, I rarely give thought to a toilet, but in Tokyo the bathrooms were an escape from the madness of this city. It’s almost as if they planned their bathrooms for this exact purpose — an escape.
You can’t prepare for a city like Tokyo, it sweeps you away as soon as you arrive.
Sure you can arrive with your lists of food destinations, must-see sights, and shopping lists, but as soon as you step off the train in the heart of the city, the whole world of Tokyo engulfs you. Life is lived at a different pace here.
For starters, the metropolitan area of Tokyo is one of the most populated places in the world, and immediately you will notice the vast number of people on the trains, in the stations, on the streets, at the restaurants, in the shopping malls. Everywhere buzzes with the energy of the people…but it’s a different type of energy that you may be used to.
The people here move at an incredible speed…they walk fast. Very fast. Everyone is on a mission to be somewhere, do something, yet they quietly make their way there. While Tokyo may be the busiest city I’ve ever experienced, it’s one of the quietest where the people are concerned. You may wait in line for a restaurant for 2 hours or more, but the people do so quietly and orderly. You may crush your way into a train, but people all crush together quietly. Banal chit chat about the situation is no where to be heard. Where a joke might be passed on an American train, there is no joke about being packed liked sardines on a Japanese one. While on Italian trains, Italians may throw their hands up and laugh about the situation, there is no laughter about the lack of room here. On a British train, I’ve heard people complain about the incompetence of the system; there are no such complaints heard. Instead the Japanese simply push their way in, hang on for their life and move on with the movements of the train. They’re a stoic and reserved bunch.
In a restaurant the loudest thing you may hear is the American pop music in the background, the slurping of noodles, or the snapping of a picture. They don’t really chat when they eat, and if they do, it’s in whispers to one another. But they like to take pictures of their food. Snapping and sharing your food experience is very, very important.
The food culture in Japan is without a doubt phenomenal. The people here take their food seriously. And with good reason. The scale and availability of amazing food here is unlike any major city I’ve ever been in. Every city block has a variety of fantastic food options with lines out of the door. It’s not uncommon to wait 2+ hours for a great meal if you don’t arrive at the restaurant right when it opens. I waited in numerous lines throughout my time there until I took the opening times seriously. By the end of the trip, I knew if I wanted to save time, I needed to be at the restaurant before it opened with my name on the waiting list. But that’s another thing about Japan that impressed me: locals were willing to wait hours for a good meal, on a weekday, during lunch. They value the quality as well as the experience of their meals, and they are going to share it and spread the word, so restaurants don’t want to disappoint.
The depth of flavor impressed as well as the presentation. Food is presented as an art form. It’s an expression of the people here, their past, their present, their future.
Another thing I wasn’t prepared for was the coffee culture. I expected a society of tea drinkers, both traditional and modern. I thought tea ceremonies would be “the thing to do,” and I expected tea shops on every corner. And yes, there were opportunities for both, but the biggest draw in the caffeinated world was my first love, coffee. Just like their food scene, coffee is a respectable giant here. I flew from the Seattle area, so I’m acquainted with coffee snobs…no shocker, I am a coffee snob. I’m married to someone who can taste every note in a bean, who pours out espresso shots if they’re not properly extracted, and who owns nearly every device known to man to make a cup, a shot, or a gallon of coffee if one so requires it. You can say coffee is a thing in our household. And the coffee of Japan seriously impressed both of us, both their hot espresso extractions as well as their cold brew versions. There were several occasions when I texted my husband at work saying how shocked I was at the quality of coffee I just consumed, and he replying with the fact that he thought he just tasted the best cold brew he had ever had. Both of us were almost in denial…surely a country known for tea couldn’t have this good of a coffee scene…but, yes, it could, and it 100 percent did.
Tokyo, for its speed and energy, still had moments of unexpected peace all around it. Hidden within the miles and miles of modern concrete blocks were gardens and hidden spaces to reflect and catch your breath. Beautiful attention to detail in every aspect of the layout, architecture, plants, herbs, flowers, and walkways. These hidden places became favorite finds of mine after the crowds of the city became overwhelming after a day of exploring.
The size of Tokyo is mind blowing. You can read about it, and you can study maps, but until you walk the streets of the city, you can’t fully grasp the size and sprawl of this place. It goes on and on and on, as well as up. Nearly every block is a little city on its own filled with stores, restaurants, arcades, hotels, and food halls. You could spend one day exploring one block and not try everything that’s available. I’ve walked all over big cities around the world, but this city kicked my walking shoes. One day we walked 17 miles, and didn’t even cover half of the distance I thought we would. Another day we walked 15, another 12, and still we didn’t cover this massive city. The train system is another behemoth you can attempt to conquer but only fail. It’s intense…you have to study the lines intently, the colors of the lines may not be the color of the line at that particular station, and you shouldn’t be surprised if you have to walk half a mile within the station or even outside the station to change trains because the stations are that big and the lines that extensive.
You can’t prepare for Tokyo, but knowing that going in should allow you to simply enjoy it. Because that’s what you really need to do when you arrive in Tokyo, Japan, you need to simply enjoy every racing moment, the smells, the sounds, the people, the food. You need to walk in ready to let the experience happen instead of trying to force something you think you needs to happen. Trying to time manage every little moment in this city is pointless because it runs on its own speed. What you think will take an hour may take three, so sit back relax and take it all in. Enjoy every thing, especially the food and coffee, that comes your way because it’s going to be something extra special.
More to come…
Wandering Wallace 