The Consortium of Greater Minds » tokyo

“our park” documentary on tokyo’s nike myashita park

A Allen — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 15:22:27 +0000

have fun in tokyo, cole

A Allen — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 21:58:48 +0000

my friend cole will be in japan next month and he recently asked for a few suggestions on what to do there – if you think this is overboard i should let you know i could go on. i always love the opportunity to impart my knowledge of places and experiences – it makes me excited thinking of the amazing time i had in tokyo and the opportunity to help friends and family have a similarly great adventure is always a joy – plus i get to reminisce a bit…bon voyage, cole!

Cole,

I love the opportunity to pass on the knowledge of places I’ve come to love – I know how much fun and excitement I experienced in Tokyo over my 27 months in the area and I hope I can guide you to experience the city in a similar manner! Here’s a version of my Tokyo Tour Guide – not at all comprehensive…I could type for days, but will definitely set you on the right path. But first a disclaimer: one of the features that makes Tokyo so amazing are its maze like streets and alleyways – you will quickly find it apparent that street signs are useless here and any sort of urban planning has been an afterthought for many years – but this is what makes every hour in the city such an adventure. Searching down narrow streets for a shop or restaurant, wandering through quiet neighborhoods to find cool boutiques or hidden bars is something I always loved about the city. So, the disclaimer – I’m not going to give any directions, you’ll have to do a little searching on the internet for maps, and you’ll inevitably get lost trying to find some of the more tucked away spots, but, hey, that’s half the fun. Enjoy!

name location description
dining
Gonpachi Nishi-azabu (easy walk from roppongi crossing) The restaurant that supposedly inspired the decor of the dining room in the lucy-lui massacre scene in kill bill. Japanese fare of all sorts. A tourist mecha, yes, but a guaranteed great vibe for a larger group. You must call ahead for a fri/sat meal.
The Pink Cow Shibuya Have fun finding this ex-pat hangout. Great California inspired organic grub.
Yoshinoya Everywhere Ubiquitous Japanese fast food. You purchase a ticket from a machine corresponding to what you want. Hand the ticket to the staff and five minutes later you have a steaming bowl of rice, shredded beef and a raw egg cracked on top – mix it all up with your chop sticks – delicious!
Michelangelos Daikanyama Awesome authentic Italian café on one of my favourite neighborhoods. After you finish your cappuccino continue your walk down the street and stop by the park for a nice view of the city.
Andy’s Shin-hinomoto Yurakucho Awesome atmosphere, great for a smaller group. Run by a british ex-pat. Located underneath the train tracks in Yurakucho. Japanese styled bar food. Order the stuffed chicken wings! Call in advance!
bars/clubs/lounges
The Cavern Club Roppongi One of my all time favourite places in the city. Nestled just off the main drag of roppongi madness you’ll find the greatest japanese beatles cover band and quite possibly the best in the world! They even look like the beatles! They play requests and while there is a cover charge and bevs are pretty spendy you will not regret the experience of listening to great beatles tunes and living it up at a table next to a bunch of drunk Japanese businessmen!
Le baron Aoyama Ultra cool sister lounge of the paris original. Epitome of the “hidden” and hyped – have fun searching for this one! Can be a little stuffy and won’t get busy until around midnight or later.
Red bar aka chandelier bar Shibuya Another one of the “secret bars.” Very small, but very cool. A hit with the ex-pat hipster crowd.
Geronimos shot bar Roppongi The bar we all loved to hate. Every time we’d head out for a night in Tokyo we’d tell ourselves that this time we weren’t going to go to roppongi, we were going to branch out. 75% of the time we’d invariably be stumbling out of the roppongi train station somewhere around midnight. Geronimos is the bar in roppongi we’d then tell ourselves we wouldn’t end up in…and then we would. Don’t wear a tie unless you want to have it cut in half and tacked to the wall…look for a tie with the letters DRC on it.
Ferria Roppongi Dress to the nines and party with the glittering people.
the new lex Roppongi Dress like a hipster and party with underage Russian models…
Muse Nishi-azabu Where Lisa and I met. Kind of hidden but once you’re in very laid back vibe. Cool layout, with two subterranean floors, private karaoke rooms (book in advance), pool tables, etc. After a late dinner at gonpachi cross the street and party the night away here.
Library lounge THESE Nishi-azabu For a more relaxing, low key bookend to a racous dinner at gonpachi see if you can find this super cool, laid back bar in the back streets of nishi-azabu. One of my favourite bars in the city! Good luck searching!
Warehouse Nishi-azabu Ultra cool music venue. Hosts all the cool electro/disco euro acts like justice, dj mehdi, surkin, busy p, etc. visit their website for listings.
Blue note Tokyo Aoyama The only other legitimate blue note venue in the world (original in nyc). Hosts all the best jazz and funk acts. Book in advance for a great intimate diner/show event.
shops
Tower records Shibuya TR is dead in America but thriving in japan. Top floor hosts the English language book section. Pick up some cool Japanese magazines or rare art books.
Neighborhood Harajuku Harajuku is the mecca of Japanese youth culture and neighborhood is one of the grandfathers of the streetwear scene that is sweeping the world. Even if you don’t want to look like a Japanese hipster the décor (ceramic AK47s and Hitler bust plus amazing mckintosh stereo system) is worth a visit. While you’re in harajuku also check out Supreme (located one floor above neighborhood), BAPE, APC underground, VISVIM, Head Porter and Nike Sportswear.
Prada Aoyama Get off the train at harajuku station, walk down omotesando, through harajuku and into aoyama. This roughly two mile walk is home to some of the greatest retail architecture in the world and the prada building is just one of many.
Isetan Ginza or Shinjuku The barney’s of japan. Head to the Japanese crafts floor to check out 10000 dollar kimonos and 200 dollar ceramic tea cups…crazy!
Beams Shibuya, harajuku, daikanyama, etc. The urban outfitters of japan but so much cooler.
VISVIM Harajuku Hands down my brand/shop in the city.
parks
Yoyogi Harajuku Get off the train at harajuku station and instead of walking down omotesando turn 180 degrees and head into the park. You’ll be there in march so you might catch some sakura (cherry blossom) action! A must on a warm spring day. While you’re there visit the meiji shrine.
Shinjuku Shinjuku The well manicured version of yoyogi. A beautiful green oasis in the city.
kichijoji kichijoji A little further a field but a great spot for a picnic if you have an afternoon to kill.
Ueno Ueno Home to a zoo, museums, restaurants and more. One of my favourite spots. Once you’re done in the park nose through the den of shops in the area called Ameyoko and stop in for a real local bite to eat.
Bonjour records Daikanyama Hipster import music mecca. Go here.
Neighborhoods
Daikanyama On the south side of the city. Change in yokohama to the tokyu-toyoko line and get off in this quiet neighborhood in the worlds biggest city. Home to many cool shops, bars, restaurants and cafés.
Naka Meguro Make the same switch in yokohama but be careful, I don’t think the express stops here. Or better yet, walk here from daikanyama (remember the park I mentioned in the Michelangelo description – walk down the hill and continue going strait). Beautiful urban canal lined with cherry trees. Another quiet neighborhood full of interesting shops and restaurants.
Roppongi Go here at least once. Along with shibuya, roppongi is ground zero for the craziest night life experience you’ll ever have. Visit the observation deck on the 52nd floor of the mori building for an amazing view of the city (at night it will stun you – think blade runner).
Shibuya The busiest cross walk in the world. The times square of Tokyo. Simply awesome.
Ueno For a cultural day out, visit the park then the Tokyo National Art Gallery to check out hokusai’s great wave painting.
Harajuku My favourite neighborhood in the city…possibly the world.
Shimokitazawa Home of antique shops, vinyl stores and funky bars and restaurants. Another smaller, quiets neighborhood, great for a stroll. Get here quickly on the train from shibuya.

Alright, brother – that should be more than enough to start you off on your own personal Tokyo adventure. I want to hear all about it. You’re going to have a blast, guaranteed. Japan/Tokyo is such an amazing place.

Websites to visit before you arrive:

www.metropolis.co.jp

http://www.thenewsanno.com/

miscellaneous tips:

book rooms at the new sanno (military hotel in Tokyo 45.00 a night!) in ADVANCE – like NOW.
Call ahead to restaurants if you’re bringing a group – for a weekend, call the week prior
drinking in public is legal and accepted
always buy chu-his to drink on the train ride into toyko
cash is king in japan – always have plenty
purchase a suica card or pasmo to look like a real local ex-pat and make navigating the subways faster
natural lawsons is the coolest convenient store ever – buy your chu-his here or at any regular lawsons or circle k or 7 and holdings or…
clubs in Tokyo almost always have a hefty cover charge (~3000 yen) so this makes “bar hopping” a little uneconomical – something to keep in mind. A night out in the city can easily cost 200 dollars!
Cabs are really expensive (750 yenjust to get in)
Don’t go to gas panic in roppongi or shibuya!
Watch lost in translation before, during and after your visit
Find the best sushi in Yokosuka beneath Yokosuka chuo station
Visit the Ferry terminal in Yokohama
The only place you have to go to in the honch is the chu-hi stand…just ask for it – everyone knows.
Try coco’s curry at least once (outside base near shiori station) – if you’re man enough get a level 10!
Book a night or at least an afternoon at an onsen (hot spring). There are plenty in the local area – easily accessible by train.
Go to Kyoto for a couple of nights if you can swing it – breathtaking.

a rough draft

A Allen — Fri, 15 May 2009 11:23:20 +0000

It’s the height of winter in Tokyo. A Sunday night in the height of winter. Outside the air is bitter and clean, as clean as the air ever is in the city and the sky is so clear, clear and crisp and yet there are no stars. There are never any stars in Tokyo. Inside the apartment it’s warm, too warm and in the living room, sitting on the couch it’s difficult to keep from closing your eyes and succumbing to sleep; a sleep that if you’re not careful might grip you through to spring.

“Ready,” Lisa asks from the doorway to the living room.
“Are you going now,” Deepa asks before I have a chance to respond. She is jealous of me; the way girlfriends get jealous of each other’s boyfriends after about two months into a relationship. About the time when you start showing up at the apartment every weekend, sleeping over, occupying the time that was once spent talking about men, time one of them now spends talking to a man.
“Yeah, I think I’ve got everything. You want to come along?”
Deepa doesn’t know that I’m leaving Tuesday but I still can’t help being slightly annoyed and when she says no, I need to keep working, I’m relieved.
“You sure?”
Yes, she’s sure, I say to myself. Let’s go.
“Yeah, you guys go,” she says.
“Alright, we should be back around midnight.”
“Alright, stay warm.”
As we close the door, Deepa shouts at us to stay warm, once more.
Stepping out of the lobby and into the city the cold air feels refreshing after the embryonic warmth of the apartment. I feel revitalized and suddenly overcome with an adolescent giddiness. Taking Lisa’s hand in mine I swing our arms up above our heads and back down again like a pendulum.
“It’s fucking freezing,” she remarks.
We are on our way to the hospital so Lisa can have her cold checked out. She’s been feeling sick for a week now and needs something stronger than an over the counter medication. The hospital is in kichioji a neighborhood I’ve never been to. The name of the hospital is Saint Marks and I find this fact mildly interesting when I hear it, that even in Japan you can find a Saint Marks hospital. To get there we have to walk down meiji dori to the omotesando subway stop and take the oduara line to Hiro and from hiro take the Oedo line to kichioji. From the subway station it’s a ten-minute walk.
This quiet stretch of sidewalk along Meiji Dori, as it cuts through the center of Harajuku on the neighborhoods western border is deserted on a cold Sunday night. The traffic is minimal and except for the occasional murmur as one of the city’s iconic black cabs floats by the street, too, is quiet. Without talking we walk hand in hand past the Turkish embassy, past the small bicycle shop, a rainbow of frames hanging in the window. Once we are passed Beams and passed H&M, well into Harajuku proper we begin to pass a few smartly dressed couples on their way home from dinner, a team of girls with shopping bags, three guys that look as if they could work at any one of the shops in the back alleys and side streets of Harajuku, fitted hats and black rimmed eye glasses.
Soon we arrive at the intersection of Meiji Dori and Omotesando. The intersection is empty except for a handful of people waiting to cross the street by Condomania. The intersection is empty and all of a sudden the city feels empty, empty in a way that only cities can feel late at night in the middle of winter; a cross walk, teeming with people by day, quiet and deserted by night makes me feel so alone. The lights of storefronts, one after another, after another stretching in four directions as far as the eye can see and the humming of car engines idle at the intersection make me feel alone. With the cold, and the emptiness of the crosswalk and Lisa walking next to me and me, feeling alone, we turn left and stop in front of the elevator entrance to the subway station.
Once underground, in the warm artificial light and otherworldly warmth of the station the feeling of loneliness recedes. Lisa and I race down the stairs and onto the platform. I’m laughing and watching her as she runs ahead of me to the center of the platform and crashes to a halt against a large yellow mosaic tiled pillar.
“How do you feel,” I ask her.
“I feel sick, I think I’m going to die.”
“Don’t say that,” I say. I know it’s silly but when she says that I actually imagine her dead. Not so much what she’d look like dead but for an instant I see a flash of what my life would be like if she were dead. It depresses me, for an instant I am depressed.
“Don’t say that,” I say again, but with a wry grin on my face.
“It’s true, it’s true. I feel as if I might die.”
She emphasizes the “aye” sound in die, lets it drag on a little before it fades out. She sounds like I child when she says this.
“You’re not going to die.”
You’re not going to die. What an absurd thing to say. I mean honestly, what an absurd thing to say.
“Here’s the train.”
We flop down on the two seats closest to the door. The subway car is empty except for an old lady at the opposite end. I sprawl out, stretch my legs out as far as they can reach, slide my backside down to the very edge of the seat and lean my head back against the sill of the window. I must be a vision of exhaustion, although I’m not tired. And thinking to myself, Alex, you’re not tired and sitting like this is not good for your posture, I right myself and sit up tall. Lisa leans her head against my shoulder and I watch our reflection in the window across from us. I turn my face to the side and kiss her on the crown of her head and I watch myself in the mirror as I do this. She is watching me, watching myself in the mirror and she smiles. Her hair smells good, it’s wrapped in a bun at the back and she has a hair band on to keep her bangs from escaping. Her hair smells cold and clean like the night air and it is soft and warm against my cheek and her smile is warm and reassuring in the window across from us.
Suddenly sitting in the empty subway car (the old woman exits at Aoyama) I am again overcome with a feeling of aloneness. Yet this time it isn’t a feeling of being alone and by myself, it is a feeling of being alone, completely alone with Lisa. And even though we really are alone, at least in that subway car, it is a feeling different from the real and immediate sense of being alone on a subway. It is a feeling like we are the only two people awake in the city at this instant, the only two souls stirring in a city of thirty-six million. With each stop on the line, each opening of doors, each open door greeted by an empty platform, a ghostly, melancholy platform, a platform bathed in somber artificial light, warm and stuffy like an alien womb we move deeper underground, farther from civilization and the closest living thing. The underground veins of Tokyo like the entrails of some slumbering beast pulse with a heat unnatural. Lisa and I are so alone. At hiro we exit the train and as we do a young couple enter at the opposite end of the car.
We walk up two flights of stairs, take a left into a large cavernous main hall, along one side of the wall is a panel of coin operated lockers and then a row of turnstiles, across from these a giant map of the area and on either side of the map large yellow placards pointing to various numbered exits and listing several landmarks to be accessed from each exit. We walk past the maps, past the exit signs, following the signs for the oedo line. Down a flight of stairs and along a yawning corridor, all concrete and cold and empty and foreboding and down yet another flight of gray concrete steps that finally spit us out onto the platform. During our journey through the underground labyrinth of hiro station we pass not a single fellow traveler. The next train won’t arrive until 1035 as noted by the LED sign above our heads. We take a seat on an empty wooden bench halfway down the tracks.
“Eight minutes. Fuck,” I grumble under my breath.
“The world is so cold,” Lisa says.
The way she says it I know she isn’t speaking figuratively and I chuckle. She is always making simple and ostentatious statements like that.
“So fucking cold.”

peter bjorn and john – nothing to worry about

A Allen — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 09:50:03 +0000

check it out. the music video for this pb&j (remember young folks?) track features yoyogi park favourites, the rockabilly club. footage strait from yoyogi park.

winter morning madness

A Allen — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 09:34:39 +0000

He walks slowly, meandering down the street. His steps are even and certain. He’s been down this route many times before, the walk from shibuya to harajuku more pleasant than the three-minute train ride. The pavement is cold in the early winter morning, the sun low in the east. The early morning sun, rising, a swirling sunflower up from the east, a beautiful roaring orb casting beautiful warmth on his hands, face glowing in the radiant morning sun. He passes boutique after boutique, harajuku a warren of exclusivity coming to life at the start of a day, passes the Duffer of St. George, passes Nike Sportswear, Burton flagship, Beams, BOA design all hip and retro Eams lounger on display, all the illusion of hype, limited edition color way, air max 90s, Japanese exclusive, cats street is hip, cats street is boutique street, exclusive hip and harajuku is “the mecca.” On past the funky French café on his right, cats streets spits him out onto Omotesando, beamers, audis, Ferraris, Maseratis. Tokyo is madness in concrete and steal magnificent urban chaos, cosmopolitan and striking madness.
On Omotesando he picks up the pace, city beat, city bob and weave the sidewalk is coming to life and will soon be teaming with thousands of consumers, buying, buying, buying. He hops left to avoid a family of French tourists, weaves right and leans left to skirt a salary man, ipod, PSP, black trench, finds an opening between a young couple on his right and kicks it into high gear making his body thin he weaves and jukes his way to the meiji dori crossing, city beat. The Gap across from him, Condomania on his left, city landmarks the equivalent of ancient wizened oak trees or giant boulders in a far off and mythical land called: the country, the countryside, grass, nature, natural beauty, he strains his memory, casts his memory back, trys to picture “verdant rolling hills” the “big sky” and forests of pine. He draws a blank. The concrete consumes him the urban landscape overcomes him, who needs countryside when you have 100,000 restaurants, 1 million hair dressers, 36 million friends and comrades at your elbow, who needs countryside when you have “the urban park?”
Red light, green light, he’s worked his way to the front of the pack, and steps out when he sees the Omotosando street light turn amber. Only amateurs watch the pedestrian lights. He’s half way across Omotosando before the Italian hipster tourists behind him can say “buona mattina.” At the median he spots her, back to him sitting on the railing across from Wendy’s. Next to her a line of funky, ultra cool hype beasts, hipsters, weirdos all spiked out hair, amber hair, black hair, blonde highlights, crew cut, supreme box caps, skinny jeans, baggy jeans, black leather jackets, black rimmed glasses, bowler hats, fitteds, all over , Bape Exclusive, Nieghborhood. Dressed in streetwear that costs as much as a tailored suit from saville row. Harajuku is “the mecca” and there she is wedged between a box logo on the left and a boat shoe on the right, a diamond in the rough of the urban street scene. Her hair is in a crinkly, crunchy shock of a ponytail exploding from the crown of her head, exposing the beautiful coffee colored nape of her neck.
He picks up the pace, city beat has no time to wait, time is not on your side in the city, in the city the hands of the clock move faster, spin fast like propeller blades, like the heady blur of a jet engine intake. Across omotesando, stay on the street, cut the crap, only tourists stick to the sidewalk. He almost runs up behind her, hops to the curb, over some shin length bushes, comes to a joyous crashing halt at her back, arms around her shoulders.
“How’s my girl?” He steps over the railing brushing past the APC model on her right and comes to rest for the first time since hoping off the Shonan Shinjuku in Shibuya twenty minutes ago.
“Wouldn’t know, why don’t you ask her?”
He throws his head back and lets out a quick burst of rapid, growling laughter. A smirk creeps across her face.
“Apartment café?”
“Apartment café, I’m fucking starving.”
He’s on the move again, now with his partner in crime. The sun rising in the east, heat in the east, the city is alive, the city is teaming with life, we are the city and the city is alive within us, thirty-six million people and not a friend in the world but one. In the city all you have is yourself. The city will swallow your friends, will swallow your girl will swallow your dog. Omotosando is ten thousand people full, the clock strikes eleven and the day is begun, roaring in beautiful urban insanity. Beautiful urban insanity: Tokyo.

what happened last night?

A Allen — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 02:46:42 +0000

have you ever had a night out that just made you sick? i’m not talking about drinking too much; not that kind of sick. i’m refering to the feeling you get after you realize you’ve done something that just didn’t mesh with your philosophy; a feeling that you’ve wasted time, money, emotion and energy on the pursuit of something trivial and base. friday night turned out to be the most ridiculously wasteful and meaningless night i’ve spent in roppongi since arriving in japan. i despise roppongi. i will be completely content if i never spend another evening in roppongi as long as i live. i need a break from japan. my class in newport and the subsequent trip to visit friends could not possibly come at a better occasion. my creative reaction to friday night:

waste

Undeniably, I said
Softly, replied
The past
Dead
Dollar rise, dollar fall
The creation of man-made things
Changed us
God in a neon sign
A generation of degenerates
Subsiding on emptiness
Beckoned onward by a false justification
A tear
From her eye
She’s stopped eating now
She’s so thin
It’s beautiful

saturday in the park…ueno

A Allen — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 10:08:14 +0000

another weekend, another beautiful saturday…just can’t stay in doors when the world outside is coming out of it’s season long malaise. the vibrancy and life in the air is palpable. families, old couples, young couples, friends, solo travelers, school groups, visitors and locals alike all out in the sunshine…everybody loves the sunshine. the city alive and thriving, alive and well, and me alive within it. i love the city. some shots from a day in ueno

beware the ides of march, kid

A Allen — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 04:09:25 +0000

so spring is finally here. went into the city for a re-up on that good urban life. the life blood that keeps me going, keeps me inspired and keeps me creating. every time i walk the streets i see some little thing that gives me energy. whether it’s the first cherry blossom tree of the season in daikanyama park, or catching a truck full of construction workers following a beautiful girl with their eyes as she walks past on the street, the hustle and bustle of busy harajuku back streets teaming with young people or the quiet lanes of naka-meguro full of amazing street cafes and shops. the poetry of the city, the noises, smells, sites, action. there is a life running through the veins of tokyo like no other! some photos from a stroll through a favorite neighborhood: naka-meguro. peace

naka-meguro

cool japanese/english bookstore specializing in out of print books and magazines

spring in daikanyama – beautiful!

i love tokyo

A Allen — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 20:58:05 +0000

[kml_flashembed movie="http://fr.youtube.com/v/aql0wgpVXzQ" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]short tokyo montage by Dorothée Perkins via jean touitou and the honeyee blog

it’s christmas time in the city

A Allen — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 11:29:07 +0000

in tokyo on saturday to knock out the christmas shopping. stopped through ginza in the evening and had ‘silver bells’ stuck in my head all night. there really isn’t anything like christmas time in the city, wherever that city may be.

a little random, but i found this in some back street of aoyama – advertising one of the 100,000 salons in aoyama/harajuku – where are all the girls that look like this?

chillin on the street

z kicking it with the mamasans

apple!

when the bus moves…

go!

lights as far as the eye can see…

on the way home we stopped for ice cream…only in japan does ice cream come in an edible heart shaped wafer that’s packaged in a plastic bag

z seems to love it

coca cola with that over the top christmas marketing