Date

2022-11-26 to 28, Saturday to Monday

Distance

3.67 km biked (2776.48 km in total)

After 45 days of cycling, we finally arrived in the mega-city where we dropped by briefly in October: Tokyo! We scheduled 3 rest days to experience all the sights and sounds of this metropolis. It is generally advised for foreigners to avoid biking in the busy streets of Tokyo, so we decided to go around the capital by public transit.

Our Tokyo excursion started with navigating the complex subway system which was run by multiple companies operating different lines and selling different passes. To purchase our all-around 3-day pass, we were stuck for 2 hours underground, waiting in lines and walking between different counters to finally get to the right one.

Once this challenge surmounted, we were facing the intricacy of the planning of the subway lines, which although extensive, were designed in a not so convenient manner in my humblest opinion. To go south-west one often needs to go east a few stations, then transfer to the south line and then west line. I suppose this has something to do with Tokyo's unique geography and topography, as the city is built on a network of rivers and canals, and is surrounded by mountains. Still, it would be easier to navigate if the lines basically follow a rectilinear pattern around the natural obstacles, but in reality they often zig-zag through different neighbourhoods, requiring passengers to make multiple transfers to reach their destination.

On the ground level, streets in Tokyo are clearly designed for motorised vehicles with limited pedestrian-friendly infrastructure, despite the huge pedestrian population in the capital. There are so many intersections that prioritise motorised vehicles and that pedestrians are not allowed to cross, so we often have to make a long detour to the next block, or climb over a pedestrian bridge or descend into a pedestrian tunnel to cross the streets. All of these stairs climbing posed a particular challenge for pedestrians with knee problems and mobility issues. I think walking in Tokyo strains my knees more than cycling across Japan.

Overall, the transportation system in Tokyo is tricky. It takes a lot of time for foreign nationals to navigate through the complex system with many opportunities to get lost or take the wrong train. If you have an appointment, I would recommend adding extra 30 minutes or even an hour to your commute to avoid getting late. After all, you never get bored in Tokyo even if you arrive early. I was told that cycling in the centre of Tokyo is possible — though due to parking issues, still not as convenient as in Montreal — if one gets the hang of it, yet for foreigners who need to constantly consult the map or look for directions, it's not really recommended, as dodging cars and navigating through crowded intersections are no easy feat.

That being said, I was immensely impressed by how disciplined Japanese passengers were. While waiting for the bus / train in such a densely populated urban centre, everyone lines up neatly in silence, minding their own business.

As the 'easiest' Japanese city to travel to, Tokyo holds no particular attraction for me with its iconic landmarks and never-sleeping neighbourhoods that will not disappear within decades. What I long for experiencing are rare opportunities that last only a limited span of time, such as exhibitions.

Speaking of exhibitions, I as a foreign visitor need to complain about the immense frustration caused by Japan's ticket-selling system. There is a myriad of excellent exhibitions in Tokyo year-round, but the system makes it an quasi-impenetrable barrier for foreigners to purchase the tickets at popular venues, be it for Studio Ghibli's permanent exhibition at Studio Ghibli Museum, the Togashi Yoshihiro (冨樫義博) Solo Exhibition at Mori Art Museum, or whatnot. Often than not, tickets are not sold on the spot at the museum entrance, but need to be purchased ahead of the scheduled time of visit. To book a ticket, one may need to go to a local convenience store by physically setting foot on Japanese ground, or if online sale is made possible, one would need to register an account with whatever platform the company chooses to use, which often requires having a Japanese phone number and a Japanese address — but how many foreign nationals would have this information to become qualified buyers? We are lucky in that my friend has a family living in Japan and thus can provide a postal address and a valid phone number. But even so, we still needed to spend an hour or so battling with all the questions posed by the system to finally get our tickets booked. Then the final step is to go to a convenience store to print them. I was told that other foreigners have to rely on proxy service providers to purchase tickets for them (no guarantee that the ticket wouldn't sell out before they booked their spots), often a month in advance, before booking their flight to Japan. What a pain!

After paying Mori Art Museum which is located on the soaring 53th floor two visits — the first time to find out tickets on that day were sold out, the second time to find out tickets need to be purchased online — we finally got to attend the Togashi Yoshihiro Exhibition 'Puzzle' showcasing retrospectively 4 of his major works on the last day of our stay in Tokyo.

For anyone of my generation who grew up with Japanese manga and anime, YuYu Hakusho (1990 – 1994) is a common memory. The more recent Hunter × Hunter (1998 – present) has gained immense popularity amongst the younger generation since the release of the animated adaptation in 2011. Due to Togashi's illness, the manga has been on persistent hiatus on and off for years, so this exhibition provides fans who are eager to read new chapters an unique opportunity to immerse themselves in the creative world of his, thanks to all the original manuscripts, sketches and character designs in display.

Without a surprise, there were a myriad of visitors attending this highly anticipated event. Not only was everyone's entrance time scheduled, going backward against the flow of the visit was prohibited. The number of people looking at a manuscript often extended to two rows. I have never been to an exhibition in the presence of so many enthusiasts that sometimes, I had to pour forth my strength with the wrestling intensity to get out of the vast crowd!

Even though I cannot say to be an ardent fan of Togashi's often violent narrative, I nevertheless see value in his mastery of the art of manga drawing. So I spent a lot of time and energy examining each manuscript attentively, observing with my friend the evolution of his drawing techniques and styles over the years, while others discussed the plot and characters with a particular focus on the story-telling.

We also went to see the last of the series of 3 exhibitions devoted to Sailor Moon (1991 – 1997) franchise, another sensation that had immense impact on the manga and animation industry while I was growing up and that was created by Togashi's wife, Naoko Takeuchi (武内直子). There is a whole Sailor Moon Museum established in 2017 to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the franchise. The museum feels more spacious, as visitors are less dense. It was agreeable to walk around the installations, costumes, life-size figures and memorabilia related to the franchise, although I felt a little crestfallen that most of the illustrations, anime cels, concept arts, were printed reproductions and not original manuscripts, but it was nice to see pre-production materials such as storyboards once in a lifetime, as they were rarely — if ever — made available to the general public.

I have always disliked Sailor Moon's narrative but this doesn't deter me from appreciating its being an anime/manga classic. Also, I came to buy souvenirs for a couple of ardent fans I knew. One type of anime/manga-related merchandise that I really enjoy buying is the 'blind box/bag': says, the product line consists of 10 varieties, each of which is randomly put into a non-transparent box/bag that no one can see through. You randomly pick up a box/bag without knowing what you will get. In Montreal, this type of blind box/bag is often rendered 'not so blind' by importers who purchase a large quantity of such products and sort them by variety after having opened them. This takes away all the fun of randomly drawing a blind box/bag which you need to come to Japan to experience!

We also went to see the exhibition of Noble Farmer (2006 – present) at Tokyo University of Agriculture. This is the second Hiromu Arakawa (荒川弘) exhibition after the one on Silver Spoon (2011 – 2019) in Obihiro we attended. This exhibition is considerably smaller in scope than the Obihiro one, displaying not original drawings but reproductions, which is understandable as this is a lesser known manga series of hers.

While it's true that I am a huge fan of modern-day manga/anime — I do see values in this form of art and think it no less 'noblely' than the tradition — I too am capable of appreciating the more traditional forms of art. One of the memorable visits we had in Tokyo is the Sumida Hokusai Museum dedicated to the ukiyo-e artist Katsushika Hokusai (1760 – 1849). Beside his woodblock print series Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji, I was pleasantly surprised to find out his lesser known artworks of various media, such as silk painting, and of different styles that incorporate bold use of colour and unconventional perspective.

As for Tokyo's religious sites, we visited Senso-ji (浅草寺), the oldest Buddhist temple in Tokyo. It didn't disappoint; any casual glance of the site is of great interest. Senso-ji is particularly beautiful during the blue hours when the sun sets and the lights are just up. However, I find Senso-ji heavily tourist-orientated, always crowded and bustling with commercial activities in the adjacent alleys,

We also went to St. Ignatius Catholic Church not for visiting the church but for paying tribute to my favourite Japanese writer Shusaku Endo (遠藤周作, 1923 – 1996). Since 2015, his family tomb has been moved to the vault of this church. I had imagined his final resting place to be easily findable and decorated with flowers and commemorative plaques, but no, there was absolutely nothing special about his family niche that was placed among arrays of columbarium with 3 small plaques showing his, his mother's, and his wife's names. Without the church staff's indication, we wouldn't be able to find it. His resting place is just as humble as the impression he gives me through his writing.

The most unexpected visit we had in Tokyo was an one-hour guided tour inside the National Diet Building (国会議事堂) Originally, we would be pleased with a simple walk around the exterior plaza area, just like what we did for the royal residence, but when we learned that foreign nationals were also permitted to join the guided tour, we immediately booked two spots for ourselves. I was surprised to see that there were quite a few dozen Japanese citizens who came to visit the political centre of the country. Surprised, because in post-modern Japan, the turnout rate is getting lower and lower election by election (it is the case because Japanese politicians tend to originate from a few political clans that intermarry themselves — there is so little diversity among the possible candidates), so I have always considered Japanese citizens somewhat apolitical. Maybe lack of political engagement doesn't deter them from enjoying a visit to a landmark of historical significance?

The building is said to have incorporated Western and Japanese architectural elements, but I saw it as being designed in the Neoclassical style without a hint of Japaneseness. Unlike the European palais of the most sumptuous sort that are often rich in frescoed walls and gilded arches, the interior of the National Diet is sometimes plain, and the spacious hallway and high ceiling hardly ever luxuriously decorated. It is nevertheless graced with variegated marble throughout and occasional carving on the stone and the wood that help to convey a sense of prestige and solemnity. We had a long pause at the House of Representatives Chamber to listen to a presentation which I understood little (at the same time my friend was falling asleep). The seating arrangement for the representatives was marked in bold characters, obviously for visitors to get an easy glimpse of the structure of the legislative chamber.

My friend and I arranged meetups with our respective friends living in Tokyo area during our 3-day stay. My friend reunited with her university classmate whom she hasn't seen in the past 15 years. Now fully integrated into Japanese society, she particularly noted Japanese people's 'shyness' — communication is never direct, but often carried out in a roundabout way through various hints and suggestions, which force her to guess what they mean. She mockingly calls this style of indirect communication 'mediumship'. We also talked about Japanese people's excessive observance of all sorts of rules, which even a new learner of Japanese culture such as I can easily remark on.

My meetup was with 2 of the conversation buddies I met online through my university Japanese courses. It was a joy to see Mina and Kosei in flesh and blood for the first time. Both of them had moved to the Tokyo area for work after graduation from university, embarking on their new lives as full-time employees. Living in a mega-city comes with many challenges, but they also enjoy the vibrant energy and endless variety this metropolis offers. Life has become busier, yet at the same time more exciting too; they have no plan to return to their relatively small hometowns at least for a good stretch of their adult life.

On the last night of our stay in Tokyo, we bid farewell to our generous Chofu hosts and said hello to our Mitaka hosts, who live barely 4 km away down the road. I decided to make this switch because I want to meet as many people as possible during this tour (while my poor companion follows along patiently). Russian nationals by birth, Diana and her partner Sasha have lived in Japan for about a decade. Despite being fluent in speaking Japanese, they still haven't gotten to know their Japanese neighbours who would shun running into them even sporadically. The distinction between insiders and outsiders remains deeply felt in Japanese society, yet they remain positive still in believing that one day they would be allowed to fit in.

While Diana is studying at graduate school, Sasha currently works in downtown Tokyo to where he commutes back and forth by bike. According to him, for one who knows the metropolitan area well enough, biking in Tokyo is feasible though still not a wonderful experience. They are both cyclists who want to start doing longer bike tours, first around Japan, and eventually abroad. Diana signed up for Warmshowers out of curiosity, assuming that no one would come to this quiet outskirt of Tokyo over flashier tourist hubs to stay in the metropolis. To her surprise, my message arrived one day after she had posted her availability: 'I literally woke up to your hosting request!' she laughed. It never ceases to amaze me how a shared passion can help to connect individuals from seemingly unrelated spheres of endeavour in a globe filled with 8 billion people. Of course, our new hosts also lavished upon us all their hospitality by sharing many life stories and observations on Japanese culture from a foreigner's point of view with us. It was an enlightening late night chat with them.

The full take — photographs 1–130 of 259 from these days

The full take — photographs 131–259 of 259 from these days