Tokyo – Part 1

Day 01 –

Today, we’re leaving very early in the morning. We’re going to Japan! Côme has been looking forward to this moment ever since Doo told him there were entire buildings with video game arcades there. Still, we’re all sad to leave António. At the airport, going through customs is a breeze this time around and once we get our bags from security check, a robot strolling around offers to carry our luggage to the gate. “Like, for real ?!” So obviously, we accept. 😁 We scan our boarding pass, “he” kindly tells us to give him our luggage and tells us the time it is going to take (about 8 minutes, the gate is a bit far). He even shows us a map. That’s just awesome! Côme is delighted and travelers are flabbergasted to cross path with our zigzaging companion. As for us, we can enjoy a stroll in this beautiful airport. Once we get to our gate (like right there), the little robot wishes us a pleasant flight, says goodbye and sets out to get other luggage to carry. Côme is super happy he was able to give “him” a job to do. Sigh… We’re going to miss Korea…

Once in Japan, it feels like we’ve traveled back a good 40 years in the past (and yet it’s Japan…). The airport is far less modern but still, Mario, Todd, Luigi and princess Peach are welcoming us. We’re in Japan alright! We have our first glimpse at Japanese culture from the train taking us to Tokyo (the airport is located 60 km away). We have plenty of time to take a good look at the landscape and discover the “already” typical houses because the journey to the city takes 2h30 (we took the train twice as cheap, but half as fast to save a bit of money). Once in Nippori (the sound of which makes Côme burst out laughing because it’s almost pronounced “rotten nest” in French) we take another train towards Akihabara. Before taking one last metro to our new apartment, we stay in this neighborhood for a while and finally eat a little snack (it’s already 4 p.m.). It will be Pikachu donuts (what else!).

We are able to navigate Tokyo metro fairly easily despite the complexity of its subway system. It is a real maze and some maps are only in Japanese. In addition, there are three different companies and tickets bought for a specific company are not valid in others. So most of the times you have to get out of the station, buy a new ticket and re-enter the same station to take another line. Thankfully, Doo was trained in 2015.

So we finally reach our apartment, a Japanese-style duplex. It is very small but everything is well organized, there are futons and most importantly: Japanese toilets. The most sophisticated toilets in the world! Heated seat, water fountain for your butt, and other unknown functions… So we settle in and about 10 minutes in, we feel the appartment shaking. Is our neighbor a sumo training? No, no! It’s just our first earthquake: 6 on the Richter scale. Wow! That felt weird… Before we head to the grocery store, Julia takes a little nap while Côme and Doo watch their first sumo match on tv.

Once at the supermarket, we try to figure out what we’re going to eat or more exactly what is it that we’re trying to buy. A very nice lady helps us choose Yakisobas (Japanese noodles). This will be our meal tonight (and many other nights). It’s very good and very quick to make. Well, actually it takes Doo about 2 minutes to cook but 10 minutes to figure out how to use the hot plate. Everything is written in Japanese (once again, thanks Google translate). Tonight we eat like real Japanese. On the floor with chopsticks. Côme uses the ones we bought a few days earlier in Korea: Chip ‘n’ Dale chopsticks for children with rings to hold the fingers. He is doing very well. We’re happy to be here but tio and tia (Doo’s uncle and aunt) are very much on our minds. They should have shared this adventure in Japan with us if it wasn’t for freaking Covid.

Day 02 –

Today, we have two missions: play video games (Côme has been waiting for so long) and buy tickets to go to Disneyland. Doo has been trying to buy them for months on the Internet but it was impossible with a foreign credit card. But first, let’s explore our neighborhood! It is charming. There are many alleys and (half) pedestrian streets and a very lively main street with lots of pretty storefronts (bakeries, arts and crafts, restaurants, etc.). We decide to eat in a noodle restaurant (yes, it’s already time for lunch… we slept-in today). Once seated, the waitress gives us a very nice hand-written menu. So yes, it is very very pretty, but everything is written in Japanese (obviously right?! We’re in Japan afterall…) so it’s hard to choose what to eat. Fortunately, we’ll be given a menu with pictures. It feels like we’re all in kindergarten here. We all need illustrations to understand the story…

After this meal, Doo tries all the convenience stores in the area to buy the coveted tickets. Here, there are machines at the stores selling tickets for shows and theme parks. But once again, everything is in Japanese only… So Doo gets help from the clerk. They go through a long purchasing procedure, but right at the end, the machine indicates that there is an error. It is impossible to buy the tickets… After trying about 10 more machines in 10 different stores, Doo finally gives up. We will find another solution.

So finally, we head to Akihabara, the anime and video game neighborhood (aka “the geek district” according to Julia). We stop at a figurine building (like an entire 7 storey building) but Côme is not too interested. He’s only thinking about one thing: video games. There are huge buildings of them in this area. Each floor with its own category of games: the first two floors are generally dedicated to “scams”. That’s what we call these claw machines in which you put a coin to win a stuffed animal or something else (figurines, blankets, electronic devices or even food). It’s a scam because the claw always lets go of the object before bringing it to the hatch where you’re supposed to win it. Côme is fascinated and we stop to watch other “players” (read: victims) who are trying to win something. And of course, they almost never win. Then there are two floors of arcade games. Nowadays, it’s almost only rhythm games (we’re impressed by the incredible speed of the players). And finally, a slot machines floor and a selfie booths floor. So it’s difficult to find suitable games for Côme. After going through several buildings (like 6 or 7), Côme’s patience is wearing thin and we end up playing “retro” games. Côme ends up hunting sharks, knocking out crocodiles and driving cars. When we go back home, we eventually find a video game arcade right in our neighborhood with games Côme likes to play: a drumming rhythm game and a nice car game.

Day 03 –

Today, we’re heading to Harajuku and Shibuya. Harajuku is the artsy and trendy neighborhood while Shibuya is the fashion and financial district famous for its gigantic intersection. In Harajuku there are all sorts of quirky shops and wacky clothes. Basically in a single street you can: dress up as a shark, eat an omelette with rice shaped like a cute dog in its niche and pet otters in a bar. We haven’t tested this combo but we won’t hide from you that the shark sweater was winking at us. We have a really fun time there. There are funny things to see everywhere. So we just stroll around, we window shop. Like quite literally. Côme and Julia are caught up for almost an hour watching two ladies making sweets in a small shop. The ladies are just amazing! They are working on the glucose and doing everything themselves, right down to the design inside the candies and there are plenty of choices!! One of them shows us through the window the different steps she’s going through and she even comes to bring us a candy each to try it out (Doo who’s fearing an instantaneous cavitie will save it for later). We end up going into the shop and buying a bag of Christmas candy.

We then head to Shibuya, to the intersection. It is crazy! As soon as the lights turn red, huge crowds cross the streets in every directions. Here, pedestrians from all the streets cross at once. You can even cross diagonally. So it’s a mess for about a minute and then the intersection empties itself again to make way for cars. It’s awesome! So obviously we cross the intersection 3 times. 😁

After a super nice meal in a basement restaurant, we spend some time in a somewhat special café, a hedgehog café. The concept is simple: “spend half an hour cuddling cute little hedgehogs”. Côme is super excited, especially when the lady offers him to give worms to the hedgehogs (it’s their delicacy). The hedgehogs are hilarious. We will meet three different ones: an existed one who just wants to hide under his bed (yes, they do have beds), a plump one Côme has trouble carrying and a very small, very cute one who would like to sleep in our hands.

After this cute stopover, we go back to Harajuky to eat crepes, we stop by a video game arcade for a few games and return home.

Those first days in Tokyo, Côme:
Did not understand: that in Tokyo, there are small houses and tall buildings.
Learnt: that subways could overtake themselves.
Loved: watching candies being made and walking through lit scyscrapers at night.

Julia:
Did not understand: why there are so many floors of scam games.
Learnt: that Japanese people are really very very very respectful.
Loved: watching candies being made with her son.

Doo:
Did not understand: why it’s so complicated to buy tickets to go to Disneyland in Japan.
Learnt: to write his name in Japanese while trying about forty times to book tickets for Disney at the machines.
Liked: tonkatsu (pieces of fried chicken with rice, scrambled eggs and a sauce).