The best way to start off a day is have a good breakfast. I bought this at the local Lawson convenience store for 390 yen, chopsticks included. They heat it up for you and everything, right there in the store. Orange juice sold separately.
It's not really all that good, but it beats the heck out of Lucky Charms. Wait, what am I talking about? Nothing beats Lucky Charms.
This is the train station near my house. It's called Azamino Eki (Azamino Station), on the Denen-Toshi subway line. You would not believe how packed these trains get, even during off-peak times.
The one thing I love about the trains here is that they are always on time. Always. And in the unlikely event that there is some freak accident which causes them to be late, they will give you a written apology on your way out! Wow.
I would imagine that if the TTC (Toronto Transit Commission) had to give an apology each time they were late, they'd go bankrupt on the cost of the paper alone.
Japan isn't exactly known for its racial diversity and sensitivity to different ethnic backgrounds. Hence the existence of store signs like this.
Well, at least they didn't call it Uncle Tom's Music Plantation.
Here is the first thing you will see when you step out of the subway station. This intersection is insane. Three streets intersect, and the light changes every 4 minutes or so. It's a little different than how the street lights work back home.
Because it is so damn busy here, cars and people do not occupy the street at the same time (no one jay walks either). So, each takes their turn with the green light, then the people get to cross the street. And once that "walk" symbol lights up, it's total chaos for 45 seconds.
It's funny, even if you stand stock still in the middle of the street, the sheer mass of people moving all at once will carry you forward. I suppose it's efficient that way, you don't even have to exert any effort while crossing the street.
What's more, you get entertained by the jumbo TV screen in front of you.
Crowds, crowds, crowds. What can I say? It's enough to drive a nice Canadian boy to a massive killing-spree, spanning over the whole of Tokyo...in due time, my Precious, all in due time...
Here is another shot of the streets of Shibuya. There are about a million bikes riding around at any given time. What's more, they ride on the sidewalk with all the pedestrians. It's incredibly annoying to have to dodge these bikes coming from every direction, but you get used to it.
Ah, and who is this fine, upstanding citizen? And why is he facing the opposite direction of the traffic flow? Doesn't make sense.
Well, it will when you realize just who he is and what he is doing. This young man is part of a little organization called the yakuza, the infamous Japanese crime syndicate (similar to the Mafia or Triads). His job is to stand here and harass young women. He aggressively tries to recruit pretty young girls into yuakuza-run brothels, porn movies and hostess bars/massage parlours.
You've always wondered where they get those chicks you see on the internet (yes you have, admit it). Now you know.
And here are a few of his colleagues. You can easily spot these guys, as they all dress in suits, and have these funky-ass hair dos. You'd be best advised to stay out of their way though. They tend to travel in packs and aren't afraid to stick you if you give them a look they don't like.
Anyways, it's fun to sit at the station and watch them do their work. They are ultra-aggressive, to the point of grabbing and holding on to women. They will follow you for an entire block, all the while, standing in your way, grabbing your arm and talking into your ear. Thank god I am not a woman.
But the women know how to play the game too. They will dodge, deke and sprint their way past these guys. And they do it like it's nothing. Apathy is rampant in Tokyo. I must bump into a hundred people a day, and have yet to apologize. By the time I turn around to do so, they have already walked away.
I am on a personal mission to collect as much crap as possible on the streets. Everywhere you go, there will be people like this guy, shoving things into your face. They are usually just slips of paper advertising something I cannot understand. But other times, they will hand out little packs of tissues, with an ad slipped into it. Those are the only ones I will take. Saves me from having to buy facial tissues from the supermarket.
Click here to see a sample.
This is perhaps the worst job in all of Japan. Or close to it. People here blow right past you, even if you are talking to them. Keep this up for 8 hours a day and eventually you snap. I stood on the corner of the street and watched this poor boy for a good 15 minutes before moving on.
You can't see it in the pictures, but he has an entire box to give away. I don't think that he's allowed to leave until he finishes the box. If you come here a little later at night (say 11pm or so), these guys will start trying to give you three packs at once, probably to get through the box quicker, so they can get off the damn street and go grab a drink already.
This is close to the end of my day in Shibuya. I was so enthralled by the city that I totally forgot to take pictures. Well, I suppose that just means that you will have to come see for yourself.
These guys I met as I was walking back to the subway station. They are the Tokyo Chapter of the Guardian Angels. Really, really cool guys. The leader (the guy with the leather gloves on the far right) told me that their job wasn't so much to scrap on the street like a bunch of crazy vigilantes, rather they are there to break up fights and help drunk people get off the street.
But since there isn't that much violence on the streets of Tokyo, they spend their time ripping down pornographic ads and talking to tourists.
It seems though, that our good friends the Guardian Angels over looked this place. It looks shady enough as it is, but you don't know the half of it. You can buy shrooms here. Right on the street. Shrooms, I have learned are legal in Japan (yet things like spitting and marijuana are illegal, explain this to me).
I first saw some guy selling them on the side of the street, just like you would see some guy selling fake watches and sunglasses back home. I couldn't believe my eyes! At first, I thought that they were just regular mushrooms, being sold as produce. But nope.
Well, Japan is a land of convenience...and what's more convenient than being able to get your hallucinogenics right beside the place you got your cell phone?