July 7th, Tokyo

The first stop was the Akihabara Electronics neighborhood. We were there too early so all the stores were still closed. We passed a giant crowd of males in line for a game store – potentially waiting for a new game to drop. They were deeply immersed in their phones and did not lift their eyes as our group passed by. I doubt they would respond if we were passing by in bathing suits or less 😊 

We passed many signs for Maid cafes. The only form of entertainment the local crowd resonates to? 😊

We kept going toward the Senso Ji shrine and stopped at Chigaya Kuramae bakery for the a/c break. The same 70th vibe. Some clients were all dressed up in the traditional girly fashions and taking pictures of each other and baked goods. 

The area around the shrine was very busy. Similar stores as near Kawagoe, crowds of school kids, tourists, and revelers. We stopped to pick out our fortunes from the box. Dan got a “regular” fortune which stated that1000 soldiers would obey him and such. That was pleasant. He was excited, although more specifics would be helpful. 

Girls pulled out “bad” fortunes and, as instructed, left them at the temple. Then we weaved through the street with little restaurants behind the temple, sampling takoyaki, and crepe stuffed with matcha crème and crème bruléd top covered in gold specks. 

We passed by a local kabuki theater and waved to the fully made-up actor who looked like a Russian pop singer Kirkorov who was greeting people and inviting them into the theater.

By the early afternoon, we came back to Akihabara, which got much livelier. Anya started to overheat and, while trying to find a place to crash for a bit we looked inside one of the Maid cafes. 

A young girl in a maid outfit was dancing to some pop song, while a few others similarly dressed were cheering her on. A bunch of tourists were watching. 

On one hand, it did not seem inappropriate. On the other, to a Westerner, there seems to be something pedophilic about girls dressing up like little dolls and acting like kids in a crowd of mostly male adults.

The almost final stop was Uenokoen park. We stopped at the Tokyo National Museum. Treasury collection showing a bunch of artifacts from the 7th century, which looked more complex and sophisticated than what was produced in Europe centuries later, was mind-blowing. 

It was interesting to contemplate how little that fine craft had evolved over the years due to self-imposed isolation. 

That said, when the first European visitors visited the islands, they likely did not leave a great impression on the locals who were so far ahead. Globalization leveled things up between (some of) our worlds.

Homeless. There are some in Tokyo as well. We saw them, mostly older men, under the bridge near the Shinjuku station. Over the days that we passed them on the way to and from the station, we were struck at how clean they and the surrounding area was – the blankets they were sleeping on on the ground looked, the clothing and hair and bodies looked freshly washed, there was no smell. Some were reading, others were solving puzzles, and some just slept. 

I don’t know what got them to this condition and what it takes to keep up in this shape. Maybe it is a mental health situation or they got to the point that they could not afford a place to live but it is unusual that Japan has no safety net to take care of them.

Or maybe that safety net is so prescriptive and dehumanizing (going off of some of the homeless treatment places documented in the US) that they choose to live on the streets instead. 

Reading up about it, it seems that Japan is one of the few countries that figured it out, with extensive support and housing programs. According to official figures, there are 661 homeless in Tokyo, or some 7000 in its slums, but it is still a staggeringly small number for the city of 34mln. Maybe some could not be helped by the system.