My first impression of Tokyo is of a city straight out of a child’s toy box – block upon block of glass and concrete, packed together, competing with each other to touch the skies. After the charming houses and vibrant hues of Bangalore, the surfeit of identical skyscrapers and complete absence of greenery comes as a shock – the first stretch of trees I saw was in front of the Imperial Palace on my third day in the city!
But walk the streets and you realize that there is more to Edo than simply the race to the top. The restaurants with their brightly colored signs, the pretty lamps, and the quaint door and window curtains are a complete delight. The famous Japanese efficiency and perfection leaves you spellbound when you encounter if firsthand. But like a mature woman resplendent in her red lipstick and bright rouge, Tokyo is best encountered in the evening - with its makeup of bright lights full on to dazzle and captivate the visitor.
So here are five things about Tokyo that I liked:
1. The food, definitely. The Japanese are known for their innovation in technology, but their food is equally, if not more, creative! Most of us know Japanese cuisine by our sushi & sashimi and teppanyaki, but there is so much more the country has to offer – I sampled Hitsumabushi, an eel meal with special eel from Nagoya ; Shabu-shabu, the Japanese hot-pot; Izakaya – casual Japanese dishes, which include hand made udon (thin, grey-brown noodles) and soba (thick wheat noodles) ; Kushiyaki – meat, fish or veggies on skewers; raw chicken sashimi (I was feeling adventurous, and it turned out to be quite nice! ), Okonomiyaki (pancake stuffed with cabbage, seafood and/or meat) and its variant Hiroshimayaki; Monja – veggies in soup cooked on a hotplate at the table; Yakitori – baked chicken; and finally, Ramen – Chinese style wheat noodles in a thick broth with veggies/seafood/meat. And of course, the crowning glory – the best sushi in the world at Tsukiji fish market.
2. The technology, obviously. Simple things that amaze you – like how the radio would magically turn on the moment I’d turn on my bathroom lights. The cute little mini-projector. The little hand-held devices on which the waiter takes the order which automatically gets transmitted to the kitchen – one of the restaurants we visited had a little machine on our table through which we could directly place our request! I was also told by my Japanese colleague that technology is intensively used in agriculture – which explains how the country continues to produce amazingly fresh fruits & vegetables. Is our agriculture minister listening?
3. The efficiency and abundant display of common sense. The best example is the cafeteria at office – a lady with her small battalion of helpers would so efficiently allot tables to a patiently waiting queue of 50-100 people at peak hunger hour! For a land prone to typhoons and storms, rains are common, but that doesn’t interrupt life in any way. Each office and restaurant has a little machine into which you stab your dripping umbrella – and voila, it emerges packed in plastic so you don’t bring the rains indoors. Such simple stuff that you wonder why no one’s thought of it before.
4. The quaint little customs. It is considered rude to leave the restaurant door open after you have entered. But please don’t be a stupid foreigner as you try to open or shut your taxi door – it is remote controlled, silly! The immaculately well turned out taxi drivers in their gray coats and white shirts. The extreme politeness in official and social interactions – the most commonly heard phrases in Japan are hai (Ok/I agree) and ‘arigato gozaymasu’ (Thank you for your support) – even business leaders will start their meetings with you with the latter phrase! And it’s still fairly common to see people in offices bowing deeply and not showing their backs to people considered more senior.
5. The different faces of the city by day and by night. Tokyo early morning is best witnessed at the Tsukiji fish market – as locals and tourists head to their favorite sushi place for breakfast, then stop by at a tea shop to sip their favorite brew in pretty little saucers, stopping by on the way to pick up some colorful plates and essential herbs for the house. During the day, the city is a hub of activity as suit-clad men and women go about their business And in the evening, the bright lights and skyscrapers of Ginza, Shibuya and Roppongi dazzle and beckon the onlooker into their embrace.
Talk to a local and you will notice many similarities with India – the craving for a son in the family, the tendency to continue living and caring for your parents, the glass ceiling for women in the workplace ... In many ways, the Japanese are much more rooted in custom than the average city-bred Indian is.
The notorious quirkiness and loneliness of the average Japanese is not hard to miss as you walk the streets. Most people walk alone, with their heads bowed or buried in a newspaper – the younger set is lost in their PSP’s or music players. 15-20 hour days are common at work, which undoubtedly would take a toll on family life, especially over an extended period of stay. While I was in Tokyo, the Democratic Party ended the historic 50 year old rule of the Liberal Democrats – but my colleagues did not expect any real change and said the results just showed that the people were fed up and wanted some change – which in itself is extremely uncharacteristic of the stoic and patient Japanese. The IHT proclaimed that no government could bring about a real change till the Japanese opened their doors to foreign immigrants and allowed major reforms in their all-power bureaucracy.
Japan to my mind is at a unique crossroad– the stagnation in the economy has also raised questions about the adequacy of the traditional Japanese values of consensus, hard work, quality and team work. The political change is the first indication that their legendary patience is running out, but are they ready for the big change?
