...Makes Me, Phil-San, Proud (Not) To Be An American

Day off and it’s raining. Actually, I can’t complain; since I’ve been here this is the first day I’ve not been working where it’s rained. Two months of decent weather is pretty good going. Anyway, I might go see Sumo later but for now I’ll stay in and blog.

Only one day off for the week following Kamakura (shift swaps – so I get three off the week after). I went with Steve to Akihabara, the electronic capital of Tokyo. In this small neighbourhood, of about 10 dwindling streets, 10% of all televisions, computers, cameras in Japan are sold here. It actually wasn’t that fascinating and I wouldn’t suggest it as a place to go if you’re short on time. After all, it was just a shopping area. However, I did see a 65-inch TV which had the most amazing quality. Only £16,000 if anyone fancies giving me an early birthday present.

We walked down to the next district, Kanda. This was more like it. A type of University student hang-out, the main used-book store area of Tokyo. It was really lovely here, with little boulevards, patisseries and of course, people taking their time browsing old books. I was thinking that actually a lot of the really old books are probably sought after so sticking them on e-bay could be a money-maker. I’m not sure how feasible but it was just a thought.

Strangely, one of the travel agents had a huge poster of Mont St. Michel on their window. Small world.


Akihabara and Kanda are in the top right corner of Tokyo, just below Ueno and Asakusa. A fifteen minute walk south took us to the Gardens surrounding the Imperial Palace. Everything was closed (closed on Mondays and Fridays) so we couldn’t get in. But we walked around the outside. It was the closest you could get to a Central Park type locale. A moat separated the Imperial Gardens and museums from the super-expressways surrounding it; in a sort of Central Park style.



A little further down, was a small concrete park just off to the side. This had some cool water features, and seemed like a good chill-out place, especially in the heat of summer.



Further down still, we arrived at Hibya Park, one of the central locations of Tokyo. The park was beautiful, and very similar to Jardin du Luxembourg in Paris, in the sense that not many people have gardens, so this is a good public retreat from city life.





In the background, you can see the Imperial Hotel. This is mentioned in all of my guide books as a must-see. It was true that it was amazing inside; nice shopping boutiques and very posh. But I felt so out of place, compared to when I wore a suit in the Park Hyatt. I realised that although I had every right to be here it wasn’t fair that I was walking around in jeans on the people that had paid to stay here. I guess it’s the same as me not being happy about the kids being in the Roppongi club. It would’ve been hypocritical for me to think otherwise, so we left quickly.

But not before getting a photo of the view. The foreground is Hibya Park, behind it is the Imperial Gardens, and then some Shinjuku skyscrapers.


On the way home, we stopped at Hiro-o, as we were told the International Food Store was there. Mmmm, squash! Double-deckers! It was also the area where all the rich gaijin lived. The place was full of horrific screaming and shallow American mums and their kids. I hated it, and so did Steve. He was embarrassed by their behaviour and we realised how polite and reserved Japanese people are. The store itself was rubbish as well. No British food, all American imports. Oh, except for these crisps called ‘Britz’! Yeah, of course! Anyway, I’m in Japan. I’m doing just fine eating Japanese food. What a nasty area.

If I ever think of going back there, I’ll just remember – “Hiro-o, big no no”. Catchy, eh?