This weekend we achieved exit velocity from Kansai and made our way to Tokyo for three days. Part of the purpose was a Fulbright meeting, so while Rachel socialized with other ambassador-scholars, I attempted to explore some of the neighborhoods I had missed when we were there in August. My first stop was Roppongi, which is known for rich people, shopping and nightlife. As I am wont to do, I largely missed out on all three. In fact, unless you end up exiting the subway into the Roppongi Hills shopping center, you come out on a busy street that is dirty and crowded and looks remarkably like any other dirty, crowded street in Tokyo. Walking down one of the many downhill streets (there are indeed hills in Roppongi), I eventually found myself in what appeared to be a fairly posh area with many severe black suits, of the sort intended to be worn anywhere but a workplace, and several large stone edifices. It was a pleasant enough walk, but after allowing myself to slow down at a bookstore, I decided I had experienced enough Roppongi for the day hopped back on the train.
From Roppongi I went to Ebisu. I wasn't drawn there by anything in particular except for the fact that it wasn't Shibuya, and therefore was likely to be far less crowded at 3pm on a Friday. We had a rather early morning getting to our train and trying to stay awake, so when disembarked I set my sights on the nearest Choco Cro and, after an awkward ordering experience, carved out a small space in which to drink some more coffee and try to do a little writing. Later on there was more socializing with the Fulbrighters at an expat bar of a generically UK feel, followed by deliciousness in yakitori form down in Kawasaki with Keiko.
Saturday we were up bright and early again to enjoy the dulcet tones of Kawasaki middle school students as they performed a series of choral arrangements of mostly pop ballads - followed by drama skits, k-pop style dancing and wind band. It was also a sort of open house at the middle school, so as we wound our way through the various classroom exhibits we play our parts as native English speakers, giving the kids some real life practice in light conversation (mainly introductions).
Later on we ended up hanging out with the middle school faculty for some old-fashioned karaoke time. By old-fashioned, I of course mean a random assortment of songs performed with equal parts abandon, gusto and nerves. My bravest moment came when I decided to belt out some 90s J-pop. Luckily it was well-received...
Sunday was fairly low key in terms of activities, most of which revolved around Yokohama Chinatown, which ranked well above mediocre as far as Chinatowns are concerned. In fact, I would probably say it was the most enjoyable Chinatown (or any other themed "town", ethnic or otherwise) I've ever seen because it was only 40% tourist traps and mostly seemed to be filled with good food and other assorted shops. As I said, it was relatively uneventful, which was good because we were faced with the prospect of a very late night indeed.
To return to Osaka we opted for the night bus from Yokohama, which left at 10pm Sunday and arrived here at 7am the following morning. While sleeping was not impossible, it was not an experience to be welcomed without trepidation. In any event, despite attempts to stay up and resume a normal sleep schedule, the need for a proper nap overrode the contents of my combini coffee can.
So that was the Tokyo/Kawasaki/Yokohama weekend.
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