Only in Tokyo
The weird and wonderful in Japan’s capital city
If you think you have seen it all, then come to Tokyo. Tokyo appears to have no rival for the bizarre, the eccentric or the simply surprising.
Everywhere I turn in Tokyo there seems to be something I have never seen before. A woman stands on a sidewalk with an owl on her arm, beckoning customers into a cafe filled with – you guessed it – owls. The stars of one of the city’s most popular stage shows are giant dancing robots, not people. Every few minutes in Shibuya district, red lights stop traffic from 10 directions, allowing up to 2500 people to create the spectacle renowned as the world’s busiest pedestrian crossing.
After a while, I notice that not only the streets but also tiny alleys are devoid of rubbish despite a giddying 13 million-plus population. Smokers gather obediently in specially designated booths on footpaths rather than puff over passers by. Order and the unusual exist side by side.
If you think you have seen it all, then come to Tokyo. Tokyo appears to have no rival for the bizarre, the eccentric or the simply surprising.
Here I find busyness balanced with calm, yin perfectly weighted against yang. I can dive into the theatrical madness found in Tokyo’s 200-plus maid cafes, where waitresses in frilly
dresses treat customers like masters and mistresses, as easily as I can find peace at a shrine or temple. Tokyo is one of the most fascinating places I’ve visited.
When I first arrive, I find the scale of Tokyo overwhelming. This is the world’s second-largest city, after Mexico City, with a greater metropolitan area of almost 34 million people sprawling over 13,600 square kilometres.
The subway maps (at first) resemble spaghetti and make me think I could be lost here forever. I’m daunted.
Visual perspective seems the best way to quell this mild anxiety over being in such an enormous metropolis. I make a beeline for Tokyo Skytree – the world’s tallest freestanding tower. The 643-metre structure attracts more than 30 million visitors a year to its two observation decks, one at 350 metres, the other at 450 metres, for 360-degree views of Tokyo and beyond.
Even Mount Fuji is visible from here first thing in the morning, although when I arrive later in the day Japan’s most recognisable peak is obscured by haze. All else, however, is now at my feet. I do the full circle, orientating myself with the city.
I spot Shinjuku’s skyscrapers, the Meiji Shrine, and the waterways around Odaiba, the artifical island in Tokyo Bay once full of industry and now home to some of the city’s most upmarket shopping and apartment blocks.
Buildings march into the distance everywhere I look. It is an incredible sight and good preparation for taking the city on at eye level.
Tokyo is home to the world’s largest wholesale fish and seafood market and is one of the city’s most visited places. I’ve never seen such an enormous array of produce from the sea, much of which I don’t recognise at all.
Tours start at 5am, allowing visitors to watch the tuna auctions. Later, people form long queues outside Tsukiji’s restaurants, famous for their sushi breakfasts.
I take the experience a step further – by learning how to make sushi and sashimi before I eat. I head for leading Tokyo restaurant Tsukiji Tamasushi, where a chef demonstrates the fine art of making a completely perfect ball of rice, before trying to do so myself.
The simple sushi shape is far harder to create than it looks. Rice goes everywhere and fish won’t stay where it’s put. The experience is hugely enjoyable and gives me a whole new respect for even a humble tray of sushi.
Later I take a break at Hoot Hoot, one of dozens of owl cafes that have popped up across the city in recent years. The rising popularity of cat cafes, in which customers sip coffee while playing with cats, has driven the craze with not only owl – but goat and hedgehog cafes are now in the mix.
At Hoot Hoot, owls fly around me as I drink coffee. The waitress hands me a brochure with their names and photographs, and little descriptions of their personalities.
In Harajuku, Meow Meow Cat Cafe attracts customers from young Japanese to curious tourists and male office workers seeking a break and a relax with a cat.
Just around the corner from Meow Meow is the Tokyo landmark Harajuku Street, the pedestrian mall where the city’s young flock on weekends dressed in their most outrageous and colourful gear. Tokyo’s fashion crazes are displayed in all their glory.
Surprisingly close to the festive atmosphere of Harajuku Street is Meiji Shrine, the most sacred in Tokyo. Millions come here to pay respects and partake in family rituals, or even hold weddings.