Large cities, especially the capital, are rarely cozy. They are supposed to be in a hurry somewhere, do not have time to live anywhere and live tomorrow, or better already the day after tomorrow. The capital of Japan, Tokyo, at first glance is no exception. Here it is noisy, crowded, difficult and incomprehensible. Tokyo can both be mesmerizing and bewildering. It's easy to fall in love with, but it's just as easy to be disappointed. This is a whole planet. The planet Tokyo is a city of constant changes. A city in which time never stands still, and it seems that there is not a single minute of peace in the inhabitants ...
There is not a single minute of rest and tourists, the first time discovering Japan. So much you have to see and do! Visit the numerous temples, admire the Imperial Palace, climb to the very top of the Tokyo TV Tower, take a walk through the areas of Shibuya, Haradziuk and Shinjuku ... See your own eyes the luxury and shopping section of Ginza and the famous Tsukiji market. Enjoy the performance at the Kabuki Theater and take a monorail train without a machinist to the "garbage" wonder island of Odaiba. Get acquainted with the night life at Roppongi and explore the huge complex of Roppongi Hills, where from the 58th floor of the Mori Tower you can see the whole city on your palm, and in clear weather you can even try to see Fuji ... But most importantly, in the Japanese capital, from the usual tourist routes, forgetting about the guide to find in the intricacies of streets and alleys of his Tokyo. After all, Tokyo is a city of smells, symbols, associations and moments. At different times of the year it looks, feels and smells differently. In the spring it is a delicate aroma of cherry blossoms and mouth-watering smells of bento, a traditional Japanese dinner in a box, which employees in warm weather are tasting directly on the street, admiring the nature or watching what is happening around. In the summer - intoxicating aromas of fried Japanese noodle event, sweet cotton wool and biscuit buns, which are traded on the streets during numerous festivals. Autumn smells like tangerines and smoke of aromatic sticks burning in temples, and in the damp winter air there is the smell of sea, fried shish kebabs in soy sauce and baked sweet potato on trays of street vendors.
Own way.
In Tokyo, you need to walk a lot to just sit on a bench in some completely unknown park, admiring the carp in the lake. Or drink coffee and cakes in a fancy café where the waiters greet guests with friendly "irisian mass" and will constantly pour you a glass of ice water, even if your order is a modest cup of coffee that you will sip for hours ... Also, in the dry - "turntable", where the chef-virtuoso in a few seconds will fulfill your order. "Two with salmon, one with cucumber?" - and throwing plates on the moving tape, while maintaining a friendly conversation with regular visitors and looking with one eye at the TV, where the live broadcast from the racetrack is just starting. For some reason, all the middlers are the hardy fans of horse racing. To wash down everything follows, of course, scalding green tea, which in all dried ones you can drink as much as you want for free, most pouring yourself boiling water from the specially supplied tap. Charter to walk the Tokyo streets on foot, you can change cabs, at least just to marvel at the sterile cleanliness of plastic-covered seats and headrests and snow-white gloves of the driver. However, no less pleasure can be delivered by public transport. Even at rush hour, when whole lines of passengers are lining up at bus stops, one does not have to worry that somebody does not have enough space - somehow all are placed wonderfully. Maybe because no one rushes to jump into the bus first and everyone is patiently waiting for those who are ahead to pass? The metro is especially curious to look at the plastic doors separating the platform from the rails, which open only when the train arrives. The Tokyo Metro is perhaps the only one in the world where air conditioners work in the winter and in summer, so much so that you can catch cold in the summer!
Live cartoons.
On public transport, it is very convenient to get to Mecca of Japanese japanese youth - the Shibuya district, which is also remarkable because there are literally every two meters huge advertising plasma panels installed. As befits a youth district, Shibu is noisy and fun. Therefore, in order not to get lost and not to lose each other in a dense stream of people, it is better to arrange in advance to meet near a monument erected in honor of the devoted dog Hachiko, who every day went to meet her beloved host at the station and even after his death, not accepting the loss, refused to leave her usual post. To turn up on Shibuya and just to gawk at the local youth is entertainment in itself, because there is something to see - on Shibuya, the "orange girls" traditionally gather, a special category among the young fashionistas of the Japanese capital. In Japanese, the adherents of this peculiar fashion are called "ganguro" (in the literal translation - black faces). As and when this fashion movement, which has no analogues in the world, arose, the fans of this amazing fashion themselves find it difficult to answer. It is possible that the roots of this popular fashion trend originate from Japanese cartoons anime, the heroines of which differ in their fragile physique and half-face eyes, like Bambi. "Orange girls" actively use self-tanning, achieving the desired skin tone, walking on mind-blowing platforms, wearing false eyelashes and adoring bright make-up and colorful clothes. From Shibuya, you can easily reach Omotesando, the street of expensive boutiques, often called the Tokyo "Champs Elysees", and another fashion district, Harajuku. There, by the way, on Sunday there is a chance besides "orange girls" to meet "gothic Lolit". The second ones differ from the first ones in that they whiten their faces and thicken their eyes, but they dress somewhat theatrically and pretentiously, mostly in white and black colors, especially preferring the uniform dressed in maid dresses with lace aprons. The most popular symbolism in accessories is "Lolit" - crosses, coffins and bats, and your favorite toy is a teddy bear, also dressed in black. "Lolita" and "orange girls" coquettingly tiredly pose admiring tourists and, in general, do nothing more, just by their presence create a semi-bohemian atmosphere in the area.
City of brides.
It is curious that the rest of the young Tokyo residents are not to blame for excessive coquetry or posing. They are rather lovely, original and modest, but there is in them a certain zest, forcing many Europeans and Americans to persistently seek a Japanese bride. Popular among such potential grooms clothes - a shirt with an inscription in Japanese: "I'm looking for a Japanese girlfriend." Back examples, when European or American women marry Japanese, not so much, but such marriages are not uncommon. What attracts foreign suitors in Japanese girls? Appearance, oriental mentality or just like exotics? Most likely, all at once, although the legends about the complaisance of Japanese women, too, probably play a role. I remember accidentally peeped in the gym scene, when the fragile Japanese "gerlfrend" on the heels followed his foreign prince from the simulator to the simulator, touching his forehead after touching each exercise. "Athlete", apparently, was in seventh heaven with happiness and did not notice anyone around, except his caring girlfriend. Maybe this is the secret? However, a few years after the wedding, such an idyll could well give way to the prose of life. A familiar Australian was distressed that for two years after the wedding the wife of a speck of dust blew him off and did not let him go to work, without personally packing his lunch in a box. And as soon as she decided to build a career, daily dinners are a thing of the past, and now he has to get up early himself to cook his breakfast and his wife.
Well, getting acquainted with future spouses of different nationalities is easier, of course, in the relaxed atmosphere of night clubs and discos, the most famous of which are located on Roppongi, a street popular with both foreigners and Japanese. If someone does not believe that the Japanese know how to have fun literally before falling, welcome to Roppongi - this street never sleeps. It remains only to guess how and when in this mode it can be cleaned. About Roppongi usually written in guidebooks as one of the most insecure places of the Japanese capital, but, fortunately, all its danger boils down to drunken skirmishes and petty theft.
Friendship of Peoples.
With Roppongi at any time a beautiful view of the Tokyo TV Tower, which, however, can be seen from almost anywhere in the Japanese capital, which makes it a perfect guide in independent walks in Tokyo. And it's possible to get lost here, of course, but it's not terrible: even the Japanese, who are not quite fluent in English, will still try to turn the hapless tourist in the right direction. By the way, in order to communicate with local residents, it is not necessary for foreigners to get into extreme situations: many Japanese, especially schoolchildren, like to apply knowledge gained on language courses and boldly turn to any "gaijin", that is, a foreigner, in English, deliberately considering all "Americans". In this respect bookstores are especially dangerous. There amateur linguists lie in wait for an unsuspecting victim near a stand with foreign literature and on the run make a sacramental do you speak English. It is only necessary to give a positive answer, as follows the naive proposal right here and now start to communicate - for the purpose of the language practice of the "attacker". Foreigners are saved in such a situation most often by flight - not everyone likes the compulsory methods of communication. However, these are not quite typical cases, because most of the Japanese are nice to foreigners, but unobtrusive. Same as Tokyo itself. After all, the city only offers to get to know yourself closer, but never imposed by force. Therefore, it contains a place for both the great originals and the hardened conservatives-neither one nor the other will stand out in the crowd, no one will point at them with a finger. There is an opportunity to feel yourself, whoever you are. And for some reason it is here that you feel completely "your own", even if you are a gaijin (a foreigner) and just left the plane yesterday. Yes, it's noisy, cramped and sometimes incomprehensible, but if you're ready to make contact with this city, you will certainly be warm and cozy. After all, in Tokyo, everyone can find something "native" and their own, most importantly - to be able to listen, look and wait ...