Bye, IMS

Today is the last day of the celebrated IMS, aka "The Golden Phallus". Lots of "memories" were started here, lots of money spent as well, but that's less important.

I'm going to miss Elizabeth Muffin, which is only one of two outlets in Japan. They will not be reopening again, so fans of the shop were lined up--I counted over 50 people winding out the building and up the stairs--hoping to get a taste of Elizabeth's dusty muffin one last time. The shop had a sign that I think said, "30 Years. Thanks fuh Nuthin', Losers!" and a balloon shaped like an outstretched middle finger. Coming soon: Crowe's Schweddy Balls.

The Mitsubishi Artium, a small gallery that had some pretty avant-garde exhibitions will also be missed. Not sure if it's going to relocate. Correct me if you know.

Tsukimiya, an import toy store will be moving, fortunately. I have dumped quite a few Marks on German holiday decorations there and picked up a Nutcracker for 70% off today.

The shop I visited the most was the former Sony Plaza that changed its name to Plaza a few years back. They have another shop in Solaria, so I'll still be able to find my overpriced Euro candy.

I always liked the upper floors with all the bars and restaurants. Can't say that I have been in years, though, so that big middle finger is pointing at me, too.

I still can't believe the building is going to be torn down. Yes, by all means get rid of the Aigan Building, but leave IMS. All it needs is for the interior to be upgraded.

Pounding the Tokyo Pavement

 Originally posted in May of 2012

Earlier last month I went to Tōkyō to get a feel for the city. I suspect I will be spending more time there in the coming months and years to promote my writing and explore opportunities. This time, however, I didn't have much of a plan or anyone in particular to meet so I wandered about the city for three days. 

The map above shows the course I walked on my first day. I arrived at Haneda in the morning, put my luggage in a coin locker at Shinagawa Station and then headed for Harajuku. After a visit to Meiji Jingū, my second time in about fifteen years, I made my way towards the English gardens. Unfortunately, it was at the peak of the cherry blossom-viewing season and the lines were unlike anything I had ever seen before. No thanks! I soldiered on towards Akasaka Palace, which I had no idea existed before, then on to the National Diet building and other governmental places of interest. 

It was in front of the Diet that I met a former student and friend of mine who had relocated to Tōkyō about six years earlier. We walked to the Imperial Palace, said "Hey" to the Emperor and then continued on towards Tōkyō Station, the Bank of Japan, the original Mitsukoshi, and Nihon Bashi.

It was late in the afternoon by the time we made our way back to the Maru Bldg so we popped into a wine bar and had a few drinks then parted ways.

After checking into my hotel, I went for another walk around Shinagawa, but didn't find much of interest. If I am not mistaken, my ex-wife now lives in a high-rise condo near the station. As fate would have it, we did not meet. We must not have had en after all.

I walked close to 30,000 steps that Sunday.

On the second day, I took the train to that Mecca of Geekism, Akihabara, but as it was still early on Monday morning nothing much was going on. Oh well.

From Akihabara, I took a meandering course through Taitō Ward and made my way to Asakusa. Whereas my first day's walk was a trip through the elegance of Meiji/Taishō Era Japan, this was my shita machi tour of no nonsense working class neighborhoods.

I visited Sensōji, the great temple in Asakusa, then went to the Sumida River to gawk at the Sky Tree that was scheduled to open on the 22nd of the month. From there, I doubled back, passing through the temple grounds again, and headed up the Kappa Bashi Dōri which took me to Ueno.

After wandering around Ueno Park and the neighboring buildings and universities, I made my way to Tōkyō University which was far better looking than I expected. Half of the students, of course, looked “retarded”, and the campus had that unmistakable sour smell of male virginity. 

From Tōdai, I hopped on a train and went to Shinjuku which promised a Lebanese restaurant called "Simbad" of all things. They had Almaza beer from Lebanon and Arak which was a treat after the distance I had trekked. The drinks put me in the mood for a smoke, so I googled shisha cafes and discovered two promising joints in Shimo-Kitazawa, a neighborhood I had never heard of before but would over the years become quite familiar with.

(Let me tell you, I would still be lost in Tōkyō today if I didn't have the GoogleMap app on my iPhone. In 2012, the app was still something of a novelty.)

I spent about three hours in Shimo-Kitazawa smoking a nargileh and chatting with people. It was the start of the highlight of my trip.

I returned to my hotel in the late afternoon, took a short nap, then headed back out and met that former student/friend of mine for dinner in Hirō.

Incidentally, when I first came to Japan I bought a phrase book which had the old rōmaji spellings. Hirō was spellt Hiroo, so I used to think that the neighborhood's name rhymed with "kangaroo" rather than "hero".

Live and learn.

Yūko and I had an excellent dinner at Cicada. A delicious mélange of Lebanese, Turkish, Greek dishes. And the service was impeccable. More on that in another post.

After Cicada, we walked to Ebisu where we had drinks at Bar Martha, easily in my all-time top five bars. On the way, I happened to pass by HachiHachi, one of the many yaki-niku restaurants owned by my next door neighbor in Fukuoka. The English menus at the restaurant are mine, by the way. It was odd being so far from home and coming across something I had written a few years ago.

By the time I got back to my hotel, my dogs were dead tired. I had walked almost 35,000 steps, a new record for me and the soles of my Tricker's had sprung a leak.

On the following Tuesday, I relied more on the public transportation, taking the train or subway whenever possible. 

In the morning I visited the Foreign Correspondents Club. Unfortunately, it was too early. I had intended on setting myself on fire to gain some publicity for my works. No luck. From there, I walked up to the old Court House which is almost as beautiful and grand as Tōkyō Station. I then took a train to Shinjuku where I had a drink at the Park Hyatt after which I headed out to Timbuku to the Museum of Modern Art. Both the Hyatt and the museum were something of let downs.

By now, I was ready to go home. Fetching my things from a locker in Shinagawa Station, I hopped on a train bound for Haneda where I was able to get onto an earlier flight. 

All in all, I walked over sixty kilometers during the course of those three days. And while I didn't get one step closer to promoting myself or my book, I was happy to have at least gotten to know Tōkyō somewhat better. 

I'll be back soon.

(And back I was very soon.)

Chiyoda Walkabout

One of the things that surprised me when I first wandered about Tōkyō a decade ago was how much open space there was. Walking from Meiji Jingū towards the Imperial Palace I passed several large parks and chanced upon the Akasaka Palace (pictured above and below). Many of the wide boulevards did not have the overhead cobweb of electric cables and telephone wires that Fukuoka had, so you had an unobstructed view of the sky above. How refreshing! I had expected to find a soulless concrete jungle. What I discovered, however, was quite the opposite. I liked it so much that I returned to Tokyo a few months later, then again and again—two, three, even four trips a year—over the next ten years.

This was my first of many walks in the capital.

Akasaka Palace (赤坂離宮, Akasaka rikyu), or the State Guest House (迎賓館, Geihinkan), is one of the two state dues houses of the Government of Japan, the other being the Kyōto State Guest House. The palace was originally built as the Imperial Palace for the Crown Prince (東宮御所, Togu gosho) in 1909. Not too shabby.

In 2012 when I first stubbled upon the palace, it was closed to the public. A few years later, they opened it up. One of these days, I’ll try to get a peak inside.

venue leading from Akasaka Palace towards Hibiya.

Den of Thieves, also known as the headquarters of the Liberal Democratic Party, which is neither very liberal or democratic. But they are the only game in town, I’m afraid, after the Democratic Party’s dismal response to the Tōhoku Earthquake and Tsunami of 2011.

This photo was taken in 2012 and boy, what a difference a decade makes. Regardless or your political leaning, you can’t help admitting that the LDP really pushed through a number of reforms that changed life in Japan. Whether those changes were for the better, I’ll leave that up to you. I will say this: where I was once skeptical of Abe’s second stint as PM, near the end I had to say he had been effective, transformational even. If the pandemic never happened, where would we be today?

As is often the case, the Japanese Diet was closed for business when I came a-knockin'. One day I would like to take a tour of the building if that is possible.

The Diet building has been destroyed by Godzilla in the past, but was spared the Allies’ bombs in WWII. There is an interesting interview of Faubion Bowers who was the assistant to the assistant of Douglas MacArthur during the Occupation. He mentions that all the good areas of Tokyo were not bombed because the Americans and Allies intended to use the buildings after the war.

Moat surrounding the Imperial Palace. It was tempting to strip down to my skivvies and jump in.

Western gate leading to the Imperial Palace

The Sakuradamon Gate, location of the Sakuradamon Incident of 1860 when Chief Minister Ii Naosuke was assassinated by rōnin of the Mito and Satsuma Domains after the Treaty of Amity and Commerce with the US was signed.

Cherry blossoms at the Cherry Blossom Field Gate (Sakuradamon).

View from Marunouchi Building of the park before the Imperial Palace. This wide open space was also rather unexpected. I really love the Marunouchi area, which I have written about elsewhere.

The 19th century building housing the Ministry of Justice is located across the street from the Imperial Palace.