Tokyo!!!! (Parallel Universe)
We just got back from a short trip to Tokyo and I want to tell you a little bit of how it all went down.
Ok you already know I'm an old fella and this City (Tokyo) has been on our radar for ages but because of family and DJ commitments our normal travel itinerary includes lots of trips to the U.S.A and Europe which we LOVE!!
So when my wife Sally who normally organises trips "hither thither and yon" said to me "Hey Jonno why don't we just go to Tokyo for a giggle" it was a Sunday afternoon and before 30 minutes had past we were definitely going to Tokyo....sorted!
Well,both of us expected it to be a total culture shock freak out and long story short it didn't disappoint lol.
What was a surprise however was just how easily the pair of us fitted into Tokyo life from the get go.
The second day we were there we went out at night to the awesome "Tokyo Tower" and I tell you what it blew our minds.
Tokyo doesn't sprawl out like Los Angeles no it just goes on tall and majestic FOREVER it's just huge!!!
The people of Tokyo were so cool and kind to us we expected to feel like aliens in a parallel universe....well 1 out of 2 ain't bad.😉
People wanted to be in our photos and were so polite we couldn't resist their requests we loved them and hope the feeling was mutual.
Our apartment was amazing and very representative of its kind...tiny but somehow everything just fitted in,don't ask me how,it just did.....oh and it was in the heart of Downtown Tokyo.
Our daughter who lives in Berlin has a friend called Lei who she met in New York City earlier this year well Lei is currently living in Tokyo (speaks perfect Japanese too) so we had a ready made tour guide such a cool kid too,our daughter and her are collaborating on a film project together.
We both really wanted to see Harajuku which is the epicentre of Japanese street culture and it was everything we expected it to be just times about 100!!
There's a park nearby to Harajuku train station where the different factions of fashion genres meet to promenade like wonderful peacocks.
We found Rockabillies jiving to Boom Boxes as night fell it just came to life,so cool and just so exciting.
Now,the girls who dress in the "Harajuku Girls" style we're everywhere.....there are about 30 different sub genres of this style,so unique....like living breathing Anime dolls.
Everything from "Princess Lolita" to "Gothic Lolita" and then there was what the girls call "Boy Style" (men's suits short hair real tailored look)and "Twin Style"(totally bonkers)you just have to SEE it to BELIEVE it.
There was flat out crazy stuff like a cafe solely devoted to Tove Jansson story book "Moomins" it's called the "The Moomin Cafe" where they put a huge almost human size Moomin at your table if you are alone so you don't get lonely,this story went viral you can see why too...only in Japan😂
The thing that really struck me about the culture in Tokyo was how the elderly are revered not reviled like back at home...weird and wonderful.
In the early morning you'd see elderly citizens outside their homes with dustpan and brushes sweeping up leaves in ones and twos it was other worldly....so dignified.
The TV was nuts too and we just couldn't figure it out but thought it was probably as crazy as it looked!!!😂
Neither Sally or I can figure out why it took 6 decades to get there....we're going again that's for damn sure!!!
