Is Tokyo the greatest city?

Here's a recent article I found about why Tokyo could be the world's greatest city. I now have a weekend trip to Mount Takao (which I hadn't heard of before), checking out antique robots and fish nibbling on my feet added to my to-do list. But I recommend avoiding the crazily busy street crossing at Shibuya and I think I'll skip 'blowing a year's salary on a round of drinks.'

J-Pop and how to sell sexy kids

Japanese pop or 'J-Pop' has to be some of the world's worst music. It's hard to describe how awful it is. What is weirder, though, is how they market the acts. I was expecting this kind of thing when I moved over, but it's still odd to see.

The way they sexualise young boys and girls is more than a little strange. The boy band (emphasis on 'boy') 'Sexy Zone' featured above are one of the most prominent examples. The youngest members are 12 years old...and they are called 'Sexy Zone'!

Even more famous are AKB48, a girl group of over 50 members who are promoting 'cool Japan' in the U.S. this month. They perform every day in a special venue in one of the busiest areas of Tokyo and promote every kind of product imaginable from real estate to food to their own line of products.

When fans buy one of their CDs (which still sell here by the bucketload despite the global dominance of downloading/streaming), they can vote for which girl is their favourite. This determines who gets paid the most and features in the 'Team A'. It's one kind of democracy, I suppose.

The Buddha and me

The weekend just gone, I went to Kamakura to visit the Great Buddha, 11.4m of bronze statue, completed in 1252. It was originally house in a huge hall, but that was washed away by a tsunami in 1495 and it's been outside, battling the weather ever since.

Kamakura is a seaside town an hour or so from Tokyo and feels like a million miles away from the urban sprawl. There are plenty of temples and shrines to visit, but I opted to simply take the old coastal train up to Kita Kamakura, north of Kamakura itself, and walk the 2k woodland trail to the Great Buddha before heading back to Tokyo.

It was a little muddier than I had anticipated, but it was a great walk nonetheless. It was also really quiet, which was a relaxing escape from the noise of the city. Below are some pictures from the walk.

Yo yo - my new hood

After over a month of living in hotels, I moved into my own apartment last weekend. I'm living seven train stops west of where I work, in a suburb called 'Yoyogi-uehara'. I like the narrow, winding streets and relaxed vibe. Below is a shrine-style house near my place that would be tacky anywhere else in the world.

It's residential, but has enough restaurants, bars and shops that you don't have to leave the area on the weekends. It also has a strong French influence (minus the people). My building is the one below and my apartment is the one with the open window.

My apartment is pretty small at 31 square metres, although by Tokyo standards it's quite spacious for someone of my level at work. It has a bedroom/ living room/ dining room/ kitchen as well as a bathroom and toilet (no need for pictures of those). It does feel a little cramped, but it could be worse; I could be living in this wafer-thin building I spotted in the area:

I took a selection of photos around the neighbourhood on the weekend to give you a flavour for what it's like. Notice the small dog poking its head out of the book store in the second photo. They love their small dogs in Tokyo, especially in Yoyogi-uehara, where they all have knitted jumpers or tweed waistcoats.

What's the rush?

Trains in Tokyo leave every two minutes. Sometimes, there are trains literally straight after one another. In the last couple of months, I think the longest I've waited for a train is five minutes. So why do people, especially women in heels, run for the train?

I think it's a result of an overpopulated area; crowd psychology, accentuated by people being half-asleep on the commute. One person starts to slowly jog, the next person follows suit and before you know it, everyone is running full-tilt, sometimes for a train that hasn't even arrived yet.

Also, people tend to start work later in Japan, further negating the need to rush. The trains are, relatively speaking, dead between 6.30-7.30am. People get in later (around 9-9.30) and leave later to balance things out. I may yet succumb to the run, but for now I'll stick to a calm stroll.

Incidentally, the picture at the top is something I've yet to see in Tokyo. It might be that I'm not on the busiest train line, but thankfully I haven't seen anyone shoved onto the train by the conductors.