Tag Archives: Radiohead

Coincidences, Strangers, and Stranger Coincidences

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I wake myself up screaming in pain. I have cramp in my left leg and I’ve just woken everyone up. Not the best start to the day. I have a shower, get dressed, then stumble to the lift. Researching cramp, Yahoo Answers tells me that I need to drink more red wine, add more salt to my diet, and eat less bananas.

At the hostel I meet a freelance journalist from Canada. Her name is Aaliya. It is her first day in Japan, so I offer to give her the tour of the area. We walk to Senso-ji where we both receive an o-mikuji fortune. Aaliya gets The Good Fortune; it says that the ‘patient will not get well soon, but will escape death.’ I hate to think what the bad fortune is like. I receive The Best Fortune.

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After a stroll around Asakusa, we take the Tokyo Metro Ginza Line to Shibuya. A short walk from the station and we arrive at the famous Shibuya Crossing. There are three massive television screens mounted on buildings, they only show advertisements. We decide to go into the Starbucks Coffee shop for a better view of the crossing. I later find out that this is the busiest Starbucks Coffee shop in the world.

Overall, I find Shibuya Crossing to be quite underwhelming. It is literally people crossing a road. How this became a famous tourist attraction, I have no idea. After we take photographs of people crossing a road, we walk around Shibuya for a while. We notice a neon sign saying ‘CAT’ and decide to check it out. It is, of course, a cat cafe; a place where you have a cup of tea surrounded by cats. Unfortunately, they only allow two people in at once for thirty minutes at a time; there are two people already waiting, so we decide to leave.

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After a walk around Shibuya, we change to the Yamanote Line and head to Akihabara. Here we get some food. Tempura again today, two prawns, squid, sand borer, and scallop served on rice with seaweed. ¥1280 with a pint of beer. After a look around a few of the shops in Akihabara, we head back on the train and return to the hostel.

Radiohead are playing on the speakers in the hostel lounge. There is also a film crew here interviewing people for Japanese channel TV Tokyo. I hang out in the lounge with a couple of the hostel staff who have just finished their shift for the day. One of the staff members recommends that I check out the Robot Restaurant in Shinjuku, another recommends I eat at an Alcatraz themed restaurant. I note both down as options for another day.

I hang out for a while longer with one of the guys that works here; he is genuinely hilarious and I can see myself becoming good friends with him. We joke about forming a Japanese manzai act together; a style of traditional comedy here in Japan involving two performers. He says that if I want to I can work at the hostel for three hours a day, cleaning, in exchange for a free room. A lot of backpackers do this, apparently.

After a light snack of salmon teriyaki, I head out to an izakaya pub with Aaliya and two of her friends from the hostel, James and Matt. Here we drink for a while, sitting outside and enjoying the warm evening and a light breeze. Eventually the three of them head back to the hostel; they have to be up at 3 a.m. to catch a taxi to the Tsukiji fish market. I decline the invitation to join them; I will be not be getting up that early.

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I wander alone around Asakusa at night, taking my time, taking photographs and taking in the neon lights. When I get back to the hostel, I grab a beer in the lounge. I hear a man talking about Shane Carruth, director of Primer and Upstream Color. I am surprised to hear his name. I join the conversation and it transpires that we have both read Shane Carruth’s script for his abandoned project, A Topiary.

The man says that another director he really likes is Zal Batmanglij, I am also a huge fan. I find it very odd. The conversation naturally turns to Brit Marling and Mike Cahill, and the coincidences continue. This is probably only interesting to me, but it seems that all of my favourite people, artists, authors, and musicians keep being mentioned. I didn’t say so in my blog a few nights ago, but the Irish guy staying in my hostel room, his favourite author was the same as mine, Iain Banks. He was also reading a different book by the same author as me, Haruki Murakami. I find it all very strange.

I stay in the hostel lounge and spend the rest of the night drinking with some random people. Two of which are from England. There is talk of a group karaoke trip tomorrow, which I really hope goes ahead. The rest of the night becomes a bit of a blur, and I retire to my room just before 3 a.m. Meanwhile, the others wake up to visit the fish market.

One Zoo Over; the Panda Impressed

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Today I once again decide to stay within the boundary of Taito Ward. Taito is where I am technically living. It is one of the 23 municipalities in Tokyo. It is home to five districts, one being Asakusa and another being Ueno; where I will be heading to this morning. Since arriving in Asakusa I have only ventured out of Taito Ward once, which was yesterday’s trip to the other side of the Sumida River.

I set off from my hostel about 9 a.m. It is 33°C today in Asakusa, and I am incredibly thankful that every building in Japan is heavily air‐conditioned. I start walking, remaining on the same road for ten minutes, before arriving at Ueno. A short stroll later and I am near the entrance to Ueno Park.

The park is home to the Tokyo National Museum and the National Museum of Nature and Science, both closed at the moment; probably because it is Sunday morning. Ueno Park is also home to many temples, statues, art galleries, and a concert hall. I hear a crowd in the distance and decide to see what’s happening. Deeper into the park I walk, until I find the source of the noise, a baseball field. Baseball is a very popular sport in Japan, and a crowd of about forty people gather here to watch what is probably some amateurs practicing. After watching for about ten minutes, I decide to check out the Shinto shrine, Tosho-gu.

Another thing that Ueno Park is famous for is Ueno Zoo. I arrive at the entrance and am surprised to find it is open. I use the automatic ticket machine, with its English option, pay the bargain price of ¥600, and enter the zoo. The zoo is home to many animals, including the Asian elephant, the hippo, toucans, kangaroos, pelicans, puffins, flamingos, crocodiles, the reticulated giraffe, the red panda, and of course the two giant pandas, Siennyu and Shinshin. Unfortunately, the giant pandas are inside an annoyingly reflective glass enclosure making it very difficult to get a good photograph. This one was my favourite:

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After the zoo, I walk back to the hostel and rest for a while. I caught the sun quite badly and my face is a little red with sunburn. Eventually it is time to head out to get some food.

It’s lunch time in Japan, and most of the restaurants are very busy. I have a desire to eat fish today so take a while wandering around until I see a restaurant with plastic models of sushi and sashimi bowls outside.

The cool air conditioned restaurant is very busy and I am seated opposite a Japanese man. I order a big bottle (660ml) of Asahi, costing ¥550. It is served in the smallest glass I have ever seen; so small in fact, that I probably had to refill the glass no fewer than ten times during my meal. Browsing the menu I notice the restaurant also offers my favourite Japanese whisky, Hibiki. They offer both the 17 year old and the 21 year old for ¥700, much cheaper then back home. I order the tuna sashimi rice bowl set, served with a tofu based Miso soup, Daikon and seaweed. It is delicious. The tuna some of the freshest I have ever had. The food is ¥1550, making the total cost of the meal, a very good value for money ¥2100.

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On the way back from the restaurant I take a detour through the market streets of Asakusa and see yet more outdoor street performers. The first act features a man playing The Entertainer by Scott Joplin on a keyboard, as a male and female clown play musical chairs. There is no dialogue, just over exaggerated hand gestures and some convincing facial expressions. The duo of clowns eventually invite a woman from the audience to play musical chairs with them. The audience member wins the game, after a large amount of clowning about. The acts finish, pass around their hats, and move aside to let a second act set up.

The second act is a female balloon artist, tap dancer, and comedian. Again, much like the first act there is no dialogue. She is being filmed by two people with professional looking cameras. After making some balloon animals and flowers and doing pranks on the children of the audience, she randomly brings out some bright and colourful boards and starts to tap dance. She then starts doing tricks with her hat; she starts by rolling it down her back, then catching it. Tossing it over her body, catching it with her foot, before flipping it back up into the air, where she catches it in her hand. Next she rolls it up her arm and flips it back into the air before catching it on her head. It is actually very impressive.

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After she is finished, and her hat is passed around, the camera people leave, the performers leave and the crowd disperses. I decide to go for a few beers in the English bar next to the hostel. Here I end up talking to a Japanese man. He asks me where I am from, and I tell him England. “You know Oasis and The Beatles?” He asks. I tell him I don’t like Oasis. The very next thing he asks me is, “Do you know Radiohead?” After about an hour of talking about Radiohead, the Japanese man has to go.

Next an attractive Japanese lady comes into the bar and sits next to me. She is thirty years old and spent 7 years in England as a child. Her accent is incredible. She goes from sounding like a Japanese person speaking English, then her accent randomly changes into a posh sounding London accent, just for the odd sentence or word. After a few beers and a decent conversation, I decide it is time for me to sleep. I ask to pay my bill, which should have been ¥2320, but I am only asked to pay ¥1000. I have no idea who, if anyone has paid for any of my beer tonight. I don’t argue, pay my ¥1000, say goodbye to everyone, and leave.