Thoughts on my first two weeks in Tokyo

My first 2 weeks of living in Tokyo are about to come to an end. In two days I fly back to Atlanta, and then drive to NC for Christmas. I’m excited to go home, and to see family and eat casseroles (which haven’t made their way to Japan yet, by the way), and to sell my car and cancel cable and further simplify my life back in the States so that I can complicate my life here. And I’m excited to see friends back home for New Years – but I’m a little bummed that I have to again put my life in Tokyo on hold. I’m already having a great time meeting people and making friends, so I guess I’m in a great position, excited about seeing family and friends and keenly aware that I’ll also be eager to come back to Japan and pick right back up making new friends and exploring this place.

I’ve been traveling by subway a lot lately, and it’s incredibly convenient and cheap. It will take you to within 500 feet of just about any place in the city, and all for no more than 190 yen ($2, assuming the freakin’ yen doesn’t keep getting stronger). I’d love for the yen to strengthen, except that I’m paid in US Dollars, so my money just buys less and less. You could get 120 yen for 1 dollar a year ago, 110 yen for 1 dollar back in June when I started traveling here, and now you get 87 yen per dollar. Ouch…

I had my picture taken with some real estate people and Japan’s ex-Prime Minister Koizumi my first week here. That's me, fourth from the left standing up, and Koizumi front and center in the gray suit with the long, flowing mane of gray hair. It looks like I was walking by in the hall and managed to stick my head in the shot, which is more or less what I did, but it’s my first picture with a head-of-state. I also had a picture taken the next week with Great Britain’s Ambassador to Japan, but I haven’t gotten a copy of that one yet. I went to a Christmas party at his house, in the British Embassy compound, and had mulled wine and mince meat pies (no meat, only dried fruits) while confusing everyone there with my presence. “I say, what is the Yankee doing here? Jolly good.”

Walking back from the subway the other night I saw this advertisement at the entrance to a Lawson's convenience store. I have no idea what it is, or what it’s advertising, but it looks amazing and I want an entire box of it. It's a funny example of Japanese advertising -- goofy, and maybe a touch "alternative lifestyle"?

The view off the balcony of my apartment the other night was nice. The sky was clear, and the moon was apparently at apogee and full, so it was amazing. Behind and just to the right of the big building in the foreground is the illuminated Diet Building, Japan's equivalent to the Capitol Dome in Washington, DC. Their upper and lower house meets there. The big patch of dark space between that and the line of buildings in the distance is the Imperial Palace and its grounds, where the Emperor of Japan lives. He's my neighbor.

I looked out my window at the office several days ago and, to my surprise, sandwiched between two buildings was Mt. Fuji. Right there! See it? You can just see the snow-capped peak. The view out of this window 6 months ago must have been very nice, before that building went up. But I can still see it! Trust me, it looks a lot more imposing in person.

Mt. Fuji is amazing. It just looms on the edge of the city, visible from anywhere on a clear day and tantalizingly close. I can’t wait to climb it! I’ve got some people interested in climbing it with me, both from the US and here in Japan. And I’ve a friend who has generously offered to let us use her family’s condo near the base of Fuji-san as a base camp, but she’s adamant that she won’t be climbing again. She’s done it once already, and there’s a famous Japanese saying : “A wise man climbs Fuji-san, and a fool climbs Fuji-san twice.” She’s no fool.

My walk to work is easy. I leave my building at 8:30, grabbing a free Financial Times in the lobby, walk down a short street, make a right turn, a left turn, and then round the corner and SHAZAM! There's my office. Heck, I’m there by 8:35!

And I pass this car dealership on my way. Not Hondas, not Toyotas or Nissans, but McLaren F1s ($1,000,000), Ferrari 599s and F50s, Lamborghini Diablos, Panoz’s, Jaguar supercars. I’m not especially a car guy, but I can appreciate blatant excess as well as the next guy. Wow!

I also pass the entrance to a huge Shinto Shrine on my walk to work, and today at lunch I walked over to check it out. It’s a little island of tranquility in an ocean of concrete and glass. It’s beautiful and quiet, and it was a really good opportunity to take some pictures juxtaposing Japan’s love of nature and natural beauty (as exemplified by Shinto) and Japan’s love of capitalism and excess (enter Prudential Tower). Kind of cool I thought.

Okay. That's it. Tokyo Drew, over and out.