Leaving for Kumamoto now, back in 2005…
電武士
news and views from michael rollins in tokyo
Category: Life in Japan (page 4 of 8)
You see plenty of freaky things in Shinjuku’s 2-chome, but this is by far the most messed up I’ve ever seen an early-morning host. They said he stayed like that for maybe an hour.
These days it’s fairly common to see young girls preening themselves on the train on their way to センター街 or wherever, but today was the first time I actually saw someone curl their hair on a crowded train. These two girls shared a portable roller, took phone calls, and applied six or seven coats of makeup, all between Gotanda and Shinjuku and much to the unspoken derision of their elders seated nearby. I got the impression they actually had plenty of time to get ready *before* leaving the house, but saved it all for the train just for the shock value. You go, girls.
Work takes me to Akasaka (Tameike-Sanno) about once a week, and on those days I hop on my bike, ride over to 武蔵小山 and jump on the Namboku Line for a one-shot, no transfer ride across town.
Unfortunately, I share this habit with about 1,756 other people, and the only place for all these bikes is a narrow little spit of land along the tracks that would normally accommodate somewhere in the vicinity of, what, 200 bicycles?
And how does the local municipality respond to this dilemma? Why they hire three オヤジ to cram the bicycles as tightly as possible into the available space, all day every day, creating a hellish scene that looks like this:
That’s right. And that’s right where my bike was two days after I left it there. It took me twenty minutes to clear away enough bikes to get to my own, and then 10 more to extricate mine from the bikes directly atop or beside it.
And this not 300 meters from the local municipal office, which sports a large sign out front saying, “この社会、あなたの税がいきています” (This society, your taxes at work [alive]) Shyeah right. They should change it to read, “This society, dismal urban planning our specialty!”
Hmph.
I made my first trip to the Pacific Coast in Chiba Prefecture just east of Tokyo. The chosen destination was the semi-remote town of Onjuku, home to Onjuku Beach. (Listed here in group 3, or you can click on the approrpiate block in this map for a close-up of the beach area..)
I had been jonesing to get out of the city and into some roiling surf for months, but invariably ended up either disappointed with muddy Kanagawa beaches or cancelling altogether at the last minute due to poor weather or oversleeping. I wanted to get onto a real beach without having to go all the way down to Izu, so I thought, “Hey, why not Chiba?”
The main why-not was not ever having been there, and not knowing if it was actually worth the trip. As it turns out, it most certainly is, and thanks for Brent and Andrew for giving me the basic knowledge to get me moving in the right direction.
To get to Onjuku I bought an express ticket for the Wakashio (特急わかしお) train out of Tokyo station. It leaves from the Keiyo (京葉線) tracks at the far end of the station, and gets you all the way out to and down the coast in a whopping 79 minutes. An open seat ticket (自由席, jiyuu-seki) will set you back 3,192 yen, and you may have to stand the whole way. Alternatively, you can pay an additional 700 yen for a reserved seat (指定席, shitei-seki) which–as the name implies–guarantees you your very own seat all the way.
Once arriving in Onjuku City it was a short 7-10 minute walk to the beach. I was immediately struck by how perfectly beach-like it was. コレこそまさにビーチだぞ！ (Now this is what I call a beach!) was the first thing out of my mouth on seeing the long expanse of white sand and frothy, crashing surf. Blue skies over a forest of colorful parasols, and thousands of mostly-yound Japanese out in their darkly-tanned best.
I grabbed a boogie board from local surf shop and spent the afternoon riding some respectable waves and working on my first good sunburn of the Summer. The waves aren’t quite as big as those in Shimoda, perhaps, but they were more than adequate for me on this uncrowded strecth of rock-free sand a mere hour-and-a-half from home.
Very good to see Alberto (also from those heady Cafe Ole days) back in Tokyo on a brief visit. We met up (yet again) at the beer garden on top of Keio department store in Shinjuku before moving (and sweating profusely!) over to Frigo nearby for more fun and games. Staring out as two and eventually becoming ten we enjoyed a great evening catching up with old friends and meeting new ones as well.
Alberto goes on from here to pursue a doctorate in Anthropology at ASU, focusing on the background and lives of Cambodian immigrants in Vietnam. The only person I know fluent in two South-east Asian languages and four European ones, Aberto remains an enigma to me (and many others as well, to be sure). I mean, a hard-core scholar with that ponytail and beard…?
Enjoy your studies in Arizona, mate. We’ll see you again in about three years…
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