AsiaTalk: A night on the town in Tokyo

In this month's AsiaTalk I wanted to try something different. On December 29th, a friend of mine, Mitsunori "Mitch" Ishizaka, and I went on a two hour tour in one of Tokyo's hotspots, a place called 'Ikebukoro'. We took with us a Polaroid "Joycam" instant camera. The pictures for the evening have been posted on my homepage on the World Wide Web. Look for the 99.01 AsiaTalk article under the AsiaTalk Index. If your home is not internet-enabled, stop by the town library where there is free computer access.

We began the night in front of one of Tokyo's biggest electronics and home appliance stores "Bic Camera". Our first shot, posing in front of the big iMac display, unfortunately didn't come out as we failed to activate the camera's flash. Undaunted however, we pressed on.

As we were off in search of some eats, we came across two high school students wearing "loose soxs". (For those readers with a good memory, I wrote about "loose sox" in the January 1997 Citizen. The socks are similar to leg warmers, except that loose sox are often even baggier and are worn all-year round by fashion-minded High School girls.) After receiving permission from the two ladies, we asked a passerby to take a picture of the four of us. Foolishly, we forgot to ask the photographer specifically to get the socks in the picture. As a result, although the picture came out fine, the reason for taking it was missing. (#1) [The number in parenthesis indicates which picture fits with this text.]

Next stop, 'Makudonarudo'. (This is the Japanese pronunciation of McDonald's. People say 'Maku', for short.) McD's in Japan is virtually the same as in the U.S. Our friendly counter attendant was delighted to pose for our picture giving us a great smile while making the peace sign with his fingers. (#2) We ordered the only two menu items which were different from the States. I got a Tatsuda McChicken and Mitch got a Teriyaki McBurger. (#3) After eating it was time to wash the grease off our hands. Rent is high, and space is tight in Tokyo. The sink was therefore conveniently located right in the middle of the hallway on the way to the bathroom. (#4) Don't worry though there was another small sink in the bathroom too.

We left Maku in search of our next adventure. On our way, we stopped by to say hello to two friendly rabbits wearing suits. (#5) By the ancient Chinese zodiac, 1999 falls on the year of the rabbit. The department stores are pulling out all the stops to try for some sales in the moribund economy over here. It was my first time seeing rabbit mannequins. Pet stores around the city are also hoping for a sales boost this year. The last couple of years accoring to the Chinese zodiac, wild boar and tiger, apparently didn't do much for their bottom line.

McDonald's big local competition is a fast food joint called, I kid you not, "Mos Burger". (#6) Inside you can order burgers which use pressed rice buns in place of bread. To wash it all down, reach for your "Calpis Water" or "Pocari Sweat" instead of a Coke or Sprite. (I don't think I could make up better names if I tried!)

Our final stop was Rikkyo University (#7) (a.k.a. St. Paul's University) which incidentally is a school where my uncle studied for a brief period some thirty years ago. In those days, he had to come by boat to get here! I wonder how we'll be travelling to Japan in 2030?

Hope you enjoyed this month's mini-odyssey. I'm looking forward to talking with you here again next month. Keep the mail coming. I love hearing from you.

Until next month, may peace be with you, Daniel

Electronic mail: hidanielh@aol.com

Homepage: https://members.tripod.com/~DHeller

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1-20-6 Mukogaoka

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