Tokyo - Part 2 - Is this cool or not cool?

Oh Tokyo, I love you. Osaka and Hiroshima have their charms. Okayama feels like home. Kyoto is patchily beautiful. But Tokyo…I want to live there so much. I want to live there to the extent that I would happily commute to Westminster each day if I had the money. I love big cities and I love the sense of overwhelming possibility and fun that you get from somewhere like Tokyo. It really feels like whatever you want and whatever your interests, you can pursue them there. It felt so good to be surrounded by a real mix of people without the homogeny of styles that you see in Okayama. I like the feel of it, the way people are more relaxed when you go out at night, the little communities, the patches of green space inbetween the ugly boxes and the feel of being in a real city with all its faults and problems.

By Saturday, I really needed some time to explore things at my own pace. I love my friends who I was with, but I was desperate to spend some time being selfish. In that vein, I split off from the group and headed to Shibuya to meet my Internet Friend. I’ve never met up with an Internet Friend in real life, but they quickly became a Real Friend and made me envious at their life working in Tokyo. I got introduced to a cool little café near Shibuya and we ended up heading to Shimokitazawa. It was a great little neighbourhood, which felt a bit East London. Lots of little independent shops, plenty of vintage clothes and records on sale. Also plenty of posers of course, but I was in a good mood and had actually missed posers slightly. Besides, I was wearing the scruffy tie look so I’m slightly culpable of posing a little too, albeit rather ineptly.

It was fun to hang out, drink coffee and talk about the perils of Tokyo nightlife. I was a little sad to leave but felt refreshed and more sociable by the time I caught up with everyone at the Design Festa Gallery in Harajuku. It’s a cool little place, full of oddness and pretty things with a shop that would have stolen all my money if I had had any.

The night started with conveyor belt sushi, progressed to a cheap but crappy gaijin bar, took in a posh high rise look-out spot and ended messily jumping around on the furniture in a karaoke box. We even did Anarchy in the UK for the first time since coming to Japan in a full on Lost In Translation homage. I sort of hate myself for that a bit but it was so much fun.