Tokyo, Spring 2k18
"Yōkoso ni Tokyo", or "Welcome to Tokyo". A city, unlike anything you've ever seen before. A city that seamlessly blends it's a rich history with the most advanced echelon of high-technology. Tokyo has food as you've never seen before. To start, I suggest waking up at dawn and venturing out to the city's fish market for some of the freshest sushi in the world. The fillets of certain toro or tuna from this market can sell for as high as $40,000 per 100 grams. I happened to be in the city during the cherry blossom season, so it was perhaps one of the most amazing sights I have ever seen.
As a result of Japan's rich history and strong traditions, Shrines are still very prevalent. Perchance maybe the most famous shrine of all is the Meiji Shrine. This shrine dedicated to the late great emperor who first brought wine to the country is housed in a vast and beautiful park-like area with a high density of trees as you walk toward the shrine you can see barrels or wine put in memory of the former Japanese emperor. People may go up to the shrine and pay their respects as well as pray for good fortune and fulfilment of their desires.
As is with many other cities, Tokyo is divided into districts. Some of them are Shibuya, Shinjuku, Ginza, Odaiba, Akihabara and Harajuku. I was staying in the upmarket Ginza district where like any other upmarket area you will find every designer store imaginable. Still, the Tokyo Natives take designer shopping to a whole different level. Streets were filled with rows and rows of triplex Céline stores and entire buildings for Hèrmes.
But along with all of that were some other interesting stores, such as the 12 storey Itoya where you can get any kind of stationary imaginable. From multicoloured Paper to Mont Blanc pens. The Shinjuku district is a slightly more tourist-heavy area as it is precisely what you think of when you think of Tokyo. Bright billboards with all sorts of exciting contraptions being advertised, From vacuum cleaners that talk to you to toilets with disco lights and massagers. Colourful people dressed in cosplay costumes roam the alleys of this busy area. But none of this compares to the busiest train station in the whole world housed right in this area. If you're into the history of ancient Japanese warriors, there's a samurai museum here as well. In the Shibuya district, You can sit at a cafe looking upon the busiest crosswalk in the world; jaw dropped wide open staring at the thousands walk by in an assembly or businesspeople to busboys. Let's not forget perhaps the best thing in the entire city, the store that is Cookie Time. A place for cookie lovers with chocolate and flour and the building blocks of diabetes galore. Get a Nutella milkshake with three cookies stacked on top, or maybe you fancy a couple of packets of mini chocolate chip cookies, they've got you covered. Now bounce on over to the Harajuku area to see the most tremendous explosion of colour that your eyes will barely be able to notice, and your brain register. This buzzing district is known for its array of colourful people and street style. Quirky vintage and cosplay stores dot the streets. On Omotesando avenue are the more well known and upmarket boutiques.
Tokyo undoubtedly has the best examples of cherry blossom trees, and the natives know it. Entire Parks were dedicated just for people to gaze upon these rare beauties and wonder " I bet I could grow them too " when the reality is that they can't. So instead of thinking of where to plant your fictitious cherry blossom, enjoy the beautiful scenery and try not to think of the fact that you grossly overpaid to look at some pink trees and the fact that people are capitalising off of nature, something that technically belongs to everybody. You could even bring a nice lunch and sit in the park and enjoy it.
