Off to Shinjuku!

Our first destination for touring was the Shinjuku District. It’s about 1.8 miles northwest of where we are staying (Akasaka). We took the Marunouchi Line subway train to get to Shinjuku Station. It was about a 12 minute ride on a train that was extremely packed, hot and humid! From businessmen, to school children, to the casual rider, all were crammed into the train. In a society where the average height of men is about 5’-7”, my friend Len definitely stood out in the crowd, towering at a mesmerizing 6’-4”! HAH! There was a situation that one of the young girls book bag was actually stuck between the doors and Len assisted in pulling it out of the doors. He was not only the tallest dude on the train, but the Marunouchi Line “Super Hero of the Day”!

When we arrived at the Shinjuku Train Station, what we experienced was nothing short of utter chaos. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many people in one place at the same time. I’m talking about waves, and waves, and waves of people… going in about 8 different directions at the same time! Madness! I had read earlier in the morning that Shinjuku Station has approximately 2 million people passing through it everyday. I must say, we did have a bit of trouble finding the actual gate that we needed to exit through to get to our first destination. One thing that is extremely confusing is the fact that there are multiple train lines that are owned by different companies. There’s no monopoly on the subway system.

But we eventually weaved our way out to street level and just began to walk. I had printed a sheet out earlier in the morning with a few destinations, along with directions, but somehow the sheet was misplaced, so we were literally trying to “feel our way around.”

What we found was Tokyo is no different than any major city in the U.S., in regards to the "hustle and bustle" of the city life. From the honky horns of taxi, to the people walking at warp speed at times, I could literally close my eyes and feel as if I was on Michigan Avenue in Chicago.

A very interesting tid-bit that I had noted earlier in the morning through some research that I had done was the fact that the Island of Japan was the "meeting place" of four major tectonic plates, or fault lines. Hence, the earthquake activity in Japan is pretty high. Fortunately, we haven't felt any tremors as of yet. But it is not uncommon for the richter scale to have some modest activity about once a month. That being said, in terms of the architecture, we found that the skyscrapers were not very tall at all. The major reason for that is in fact being located in an earthquake active zone. But apparently, buildings are beginning to be designed taller since engineering and technology are making it more acceptable to go higher.

Anyways, after about 15 minutes of walking in the wrong direction, we found out that our first destination, the City Government Building, was actually to the east. It was about 7 blocks away.

On our way, one thing that really stands out is the amount of signage and billboards that are on buildings... physical signage and electronic.

Another thing that was kind of odd and took some getting use to was walking on the left side of the sidewalk. In Japan, traffic flows on the left side of the street, and likewise, pedestrian traffic stays to the left also. So it made me wonder once again, is the entire world driving and walking on the wrong side of the road, or is it America that has it twisted? Something to take a selah on... basically think about it for a second.

So we finally made it to the Government building. We then ascended to the 45th floor to the Observatory, which was free. Free is always a good thing. We were able to get a good panoramic view of the entire city for the most part. The one thing that we were anticipating seeing while up there was Mt. Fugi. But unfortunately, due to it being a partly cloudy/overcast day. We weren't able to see it. But we were able to see a mountain range in the distance that would be in front of Mt. Fugi. If you take a look at the photo, you can see the mountains. One thing to note is the height of the tallest peak in this mountain range, which is almost 1600 meters high. If we take in consideration the height of Mt. Fugi, which is a bit more than 3700 meters high, you can kind of get a feel for how high the mountain peak would be in this photo. That's roughly more than double the height of the mountains that you see in the photo.

After leaving the observatory, we then got something to eat. And besides, my feet could use the break. The highlight of the meal was an older lady being tickled by my struggles using chop sticks! Fortunately, I was bailed out of prolonged embarrasement by one of the waiters with fork and spoon in hand. But I didn't appreciate him going back in the kitchen and talking about my inability to work with the sticks... I heard a cluster of laughter shortly after he returned to the kitchen. I didn't care though... I was eating my rice with pride... much faster than the old lady could ever eat!

We then headed to an area in Shinjuku called the Kabukicho Entertainment Area. It was definitely sensory overload with tons of signage. But now we add to the madness the notorious ringing of slot machines and game rooms, as well as the "adult entertainment spots." What was so crazy to me was how this area, which attracts a lot of kids to the game rooms, arcades, bowling alleys and cinemas, could be so inundated with pornography, peep shows and prostitutes. We have to pray for Kabukicho. It definitely was an experience.

After walking through the Kabukicho area, we then entered an area of that seemed older. The street was very narrow and it still seemed to be busy, but different. I was telling Len about how there's a difference between the "alley" of the Tokyo, and the typical "alley" in the U.S. In Tokyo, the "alley" still functions, with small shops and booths open for retail. In the U.S., alleys are filled with garbage, debris, rats and squirrels. My point is, it is very evident, in a city with a lot of people, that every square inch of real estate is used to its maximum.

We then stumble upon my first Christian church siting. We really didn't know the exact location of the church building itself, because the signage was on the side of a building with a business in the front. But it was an interestingly good site to see. I then saw about 3 more churches while were were making our way back to the congested area of town.

On our way back, we encountered our first Shrine. I did take some video footage throughout the site of the shrine, but I can't upload it due to the size of the file.

But that was our day for the most part, it was fun, but tiring at the same time. I'll write more later on about what we did that night. Which was another interesting time. But until then, peace, and God Bless.