See the world through Von and Jordan's eyes - through pictures of food, transport, tall buildings, good friends, unique experiences, and iconic or rare views of skylines.
Long exalted as the "busiest pedestrian intersection in the world," Shibuya crossing is actually worthy of the title. Its swarms come from the crazy busy train station at Shibuya and the dense shopping, eating and living district across the street. You could compare it to NYC's Times Square, but it wouldn't be a fair comparison. In Times Square, cars almost equal people in numbers. Not so here. The swarms of people dwarf car population, leaving me wondering why they allow people through the area in the first place.
What is most impressive about Shibuya crossing is that the number of people doesn't change much from light cycle to light cycle. The crowds are constant and committed. The favorite place to observe the phenomenon is the Starbucks on the corner, which, most likely positioned itself here intentionally as a commercial grandstand to the ped show.
On the ground it is just as busy, but probably slightly less impressive.
I have lived in New York, Hong Kong, and now Singapore, and have visited just about every major city in the western world with a respectable rush hour. Ladies and gentlemen, Tokyo takes the cake in just about every category. Here are the categories:
Sheer crowdedness
Expanse
Concentration of rush
Orderliness
Ubiquity of dress
Peacefulness
The Yamanote Line (explanation to follow)
Ok so these categories may have been created specially for Tokyo, but it deserves the special attention and accolades.
Let's start with Sheer Crowdedness. The crowds are massive, ever flowing, and they mean business. At times you cannot see the floor. This is Shinagawa. The crowds never stopped.
Here is the Shinagawa outpouring of people from the station to the street:
Expanse
Then there's the number of stations. Spiderweb, or 1/2 of the Tokyo metro?:
I say one half because that's exactly what it is. There is an entirely separate system (these were built as separate concessions) that is of similar size and serves different parts of Tokyo.
Concentration of Rush
When you talk about rush hour in New York, you could in theory say that rush lasts all day. Sure, there are lulls in ridership, but generally the subways are packed from 7:30-10:30 and 3-7. Tokyo's rush certainly has a beginning and end. Like New York, it is crowded nearly always, but their rush is basically 200% crowded, whereas the rest of the time is 70% crowded. I blame the Japanese culture of timeliness. Apparently Tokyo had to run public service ads encouraging people to not kill themselves trying to get to work. It's not the end of the world to be 2 minutes late, it says.
Observe the proverbial river of workers heading to the same place at the same time. It's basically a one way bridge at this point.
Orderliness
Everyone queues up to get on the train, but before they do, they patiently wait for the current riders to detrain. It's a common spectacle in Asia, particularly Hong Kong, but Japan just does it best. Everything they do is orderly, from swiping in and out of the metro system to the lines they make as they rush like cattle toward their office buildings. Here is the boarding/alighting anomaly I referred to:
Here they are lined up in the train itself waiting to alight in an orderly manner:
Ubiquity of Dress
I have never seen a more monochromatic society of people. Everyone, and I mean everyone, was wearing a black, dark grey, or dark blue suit. And nearly everyone was wearing a suit in the first pace. I don't think they have casual Fridays.
Observe:
Comb the photos I have uploaded. You can count the number of bright colored outfits on two fingers.
Peacefulness
This is me enjoying one of the rush hour cars. Me taking this picture was the loudest sound on the entire train.
Seriously, you can hear a pin drop. It's almost uncomfortable.
The Yamanote Line
The "circle line," as we referred to it before we knew its proper name, serves every neighborhood that a visitor to Tokyo would want to see. Ginza, Shibuya, Shinjuku, Rippongi, Harajuku, Akihabara, etc. Apparently, it also serves every neighborhood the residents of Tokyo live in as well. This line single-handedly moves more people than the London Underground in a day. Let me put that in perspective - the London Underground moves approximately 1.4 million people per day, or the population of Estonia. The Yamanote Line moves 3.7 million people, or the population of Bosnia and Herzogovena. The best part of the line, besides the alluring destinations, is the frequency of trains - they come literally every 2-3 minutes, and each is packed. Evidence:
Here is the entrance to one of them. We were fighting the tide at this particular station. They adjust the direction of their fare gates based on time of day to enable the flow.
Round and round it goes, constantly serving the people of Tokyo. What a mensch.
The Yamanote line is the feather in the cap of the most expansive, convenient, and busiest metro in the world. Kudos to you, Tokyo for your fantastic trains!
I will do a "weird Tokyo" post eventually, but if I put every weird Japanese thing in that post, it would be a novel. This one in particular deserves its own post.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Robot Cabaret:
Yes, I said robot cabaret. For those unique-seekers out there, this show is old news - having been around for years and even showcased on my favorite show (Anthony Bourdain - Parts Unknown), which visited the "restaurant" two years ago. It's not a restaurant by any stretch - it's as close to a full blown spectacle as you can get, and I think that's the goal. It's also a glimpse into those nightmares that you wake up from thanking baby jesus it was just a figment of your sub-conscience.
"What is robot cabaret?" you ask. To be honest, I'm not sure either! All I can tell you is that large mechanical creatures battle each other, and people bang on drums lined entirely in neon as they are driven around by remote control. It's quite an experience. What impresses me most is how effectively they use the space. The robots come right up to the line of seats and never mess up, although they do spill the occasional cup of popcorn or beer.
Rather than try to explain it as a concept, I will present you with the evidence. Dinosaurs battle:
(here's a glimpse into the battle)
Ladies drum:
Giant Pandas ride cows:
And ladies celebrate beside robots:
While this show is kept alive by tourists at this point, it has Japanese origins. Kinky, weird, fascinating, pure fun, and a little uncomfortable. That's Japan! We thoroughly enjoyed this and it is a must-do for anyone visiting Tokyo, no matter how jaded. If nothing else, the for-sale popcorn is delicious, and their waiting room before the performance is a site to behold.
When we arrived, a robot was singing karaoke. All I could think was, yeah, that's about right.
So as you know, I would be remiss in a vacation if I did not ride every train type available at that location. Tokyo had no shortage of fun train things to do - we didn't even finish! (we still have to ride the one remaining streetcar). My favorite, however, was the "monorail" that crossed the rainbow bridge and went over to the Tokyo Bay islands. This thing was like riding a roller coaster.
Whenever I take a new train, I try to perch myself in the front to look out the front-facing window, if there is one. Well, my typical spot was taken by this young trainspotter, who more eagerly bolted to the front than I did (quick little bugger!). Not only was he enthralled by the journey to the point that his mother needed to basically drag him off, he is wearing a train backpack to advertise the Shinkansen high speed trains of Japan. I believe the backpack says "Shinkansen is the only way to go...and I'm ready to ROLL."
Hence, my kindred child soul. If you're gonna be on the spectrum, let it be an obsession with trains, that's what I say.
Little me was right to be enthusiastic about this train. It goes above ground, crosses a suspension bridge, and gives you sweeping views of the harbour and Tokyo. The "Rainbow Bridge" it crosses is a ridiculous suspension bridge that has a loop-the-loop on the landside approach. Here is a good shot from the Tokyo side. You can't see the loop, but it's a cool bridge.
The entire ride is tons of fun, filled with vistas and weird stuff, like this Statue of Liberty:
And this eerily large ferris wheel.
I love an industrial wasteland vista!
I'm telling you, it's like a roller coaster.
I couldn't resist taking a video.
I know this post isn't thrilling unless you're me, but that's the point of blogs, is it not?
