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The
world can be large and small, depending on how one looks at it. As for
Tokyo, it’s definitely true there’s a whole world out there and not
only sushi. I am a French /Italian who has been lucky enough to spend
some time there and loved it - a last detail but of some
importance, I am 2,1 metres tall and never felt so comfortable than in
Japan. I had just arrived on a scout job so I met with some
friends who are more like family to me: Yoshi-kun - kun often used for
young boys - even if he’s a big man weighing about 100 kilos. He draws
manga, for a living. I call him “mama” because of the way he always
takes care of me, while I’m in Japan. Married to Yoshi-kun, there is
Yoo-chan. 'Chan' stands for little one, but that only refers to her
physical appearance, in fact she can be tuff; she even worked as a
sushi cook, which in Japan is a career mostly reserved to man. That’s
how I begun to call her “papa”. I just love to be in the house, with
Yoko and Yoshi, because it’s a total mess everywhere, therefore we can
relax, there’s no need to be careful about anything. In the kitchen,
the sink is always full of unwashed, pots and pans enhancing a rich
mixture of soy sauce, sticky rice and sesame oil. Only people striving
for artificial things, would consider it a bad smell. Over, that
sink, a little window with a real view of Mount Fuji! not a feeling
that goes away, it stays right there in the middle of your heart, much
greater than any postcards. This little kitchen filled with
traces of food therefore humanity is a poetic view of reality, just as
it is, quite a new and yet reinsuring state of mind.
This experience particularly strikes me in some streets of Tokyo. In
the downtown districts in particular, in the long and narrow street
of Ameoko(Ueno); the fish merchants wearing white and blue scarves around
their heads, always scream “irrashai! ”, “yassui-yo!
” (“come here”, “it’s cheap”). Addressing
their words to everybody with a homey voice and that’s what makes
everybody feel home. Asakusa, although still the heart of the
down town area is definitely too touristy to me. The thing to
do anyway is to give a little wink to the big demons standing on the
side of the Shinto Shrine entering gate. That’s when you say to
yourself, now that we are friends, I can just go everywhere. Not that
You have ever felt any slightly different before, but still, it is fun
to do it. Then I leave those demons, behind, put myself back together,
pleasurably in touch with reality.
Trying the local food is always a delightful way to travel. A great
experience for those who are in a down town mood, is to go to a ramenya,
small restaurants often with greasy windows and a single bare light
bulb serving ramen (Chinese broth with noodle ), with me, it always
hit the top. How does any human being resist to enter a little Japanese
restaurant with beautiful, perfect wax reproductions of dishes on the
windows? Plus absolutely everything I could get from convenience stores
- small sparkling supermarkets open 24 hours a day with the brightest
neon signs on it. Oscar Wilde, once wrote “ I can resist to anything
but temptations”. I guess, I’ll just have to follow him.
As for shopping, don’t miss the select shops like Stitch. What
happens in a Japanese select shop is that they fit the tribes, so are
related to a particular taste and lifestyle, according to which, they
provide you with about everything you need, from clothing, to food,
furniture, hair dresser, office supplies, accessories, underwear, it’s
endless. The problem is that you might end up wishing to buy it all.
If you do your shopping in the trendiest district of Harajuku, where
if you’re not 17 years old you should fake it, you might buy at
least one little special item in Laforet, the funkiest department store
around. You will go nuts for all the young designers and get yourself
some wild accessories, such as a piece of fake rabbit fear which you
are planning to use as a little carpet, next to your bath tub
or wear it on your chest. In case you need a little help for the total
look, may I suggest a green and blue kilt over the black denim jeans,
a big Louis Vuitton bag, and a pair of Ghetta (Japanese, hard wood traditional
shoes, hard to walk with) Now I would say you are ready to go,
you belong to the Harajuku’s crowd and you can have fun! |
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