日本. Using every hour of the rising sun in Tokyo, Japan
Tokyo is truly a city that never sleeps. It rises early with business suits and stays open as long as a 7/11 mini market in the form of flashing lights on the Shibuya crossing, crowded 4x4 metre sake bars or the countless yakitori restaurants in every alleyway. There are certain things people told me were crucial to the Tokyo experience before I arrived. Others that they neglected to say and ended up being my fondest memories of Japan. A city will show its character to you in different ways and at different times. This is just a starting point for a place I cannot get enough of.
Select a love hotel, capsule, hostel or ryokan and prepare yourself for life in a matchbox. Say 'sumimasen' with a slight bow to all the people you accidentally knock out of the way as you attempt to get your awkwardly large frame out of any door. Check out the tops of people's heads on every subway ride and attempt to decipher the plot line of their comic books. Find a 7-storey toy store in Ueno. Browse the array of animal and Pokémon suits on offer in Don Quixote. Taste free samples of red bean desserts on the walkways to Sensō-ji temple and buy a single 'omikuji', a small strip of paper detailing your fortune. If the fortune is bad, tie it to the tree and cup smoke in your hands to cleanse yourself. Eat ramen. Lots of ramen. And yakitori. Restaurants under the Yamanote rail tracks in Shinjuku not only provide a cheap street-style dining experience, but rattle like an earthquake when a train goes by. Wander the main street of Kōenji, a hub for university students and young professionals, where vintage clothing shops provide sizes larger than 'Small'. Eat daifuku, a pounded rice dessert in between every break. Take photos with the promotion girls dressed in Cosplay on the streets of Akihabara. Enter a shop that sells only fake food. Purchase a 1L Asahi beer from a vending machine. Drink in combination with a 1L sake from the supermarket before catching the last 11PM train to expat clubs and local bars in Roppongi. Pretend to drink from an empty bottle when the club tries making you buy another drink for ¥1000. Don't pass out or get in a cab. Stay out until the 5AM train, head straight to Tsukiji fish market and act sober for the tuna auction. Eat sashimi at 6AM. Say an endless stream of 'Arigato Gozaimasu' to the train inspectors that wake you up after missing your stop and arriving at the end of the line. Undress. Sleep. Repeat. Be open. Be warm. Say yes. Let the city take you.
