As I write this entry I am freezing my toes off, but it's worth it. I'm on the roof and have all of Tokyo blinking in front of me. Parading its beauty and sheer magnitude. We've reached 1,000 visitors. I know most of you don't care, but when you are a long way from home your web journal is your life. And today, well it was like graduation from baby journal, to teenage journal. Sure half of them are just us checking too see if anyone has left us a message in our guest book (god bless those who have) but who cares, the counter says 1,000+.
We took a wander down to our local park last weekend, Yoyogi park, little did we know that it's one of Tokyo's largest recreational parks and during weekends, it's alive. It stretches from the back of our place all the way down to Harajuku and all through out the open spaces and the secluded area under the canopy there are people having fun. Near the water fountain there are a dozen or more drummers, accompanied by African singers. There's an old man singing with a little casio. A group of teenage boys practice their synchronised boy band routine and a guy plays his trumpet into tree trunk. The coolest guy there was playing a didgeridoo as well as a little Indonesian glockenspiel. His badly written English sign proclaimed “Play Free” with an assortment of Indonesian bells. At one part near the lake there was a small tribal rave with 100 odd people dancing to their music and at another, a bunch of Elvis wannabeas, complete with slicked back hair and leather jackets trying to dance. There were so many other people just there to enjoy each other and the beautiful sun.
As we were walking under the canopy we came across a quiet part of the woods where we heard the most amazing music. As we were drawn closer we saw two people playing what looked like a cello, but with a square bottom, only one string and an amazing carved wooden horse head. We watched them play for about a quarter of an hour in total awe. Completely unbelievable.
We'd been given free tickets to Design Festa and anything free in this city is worth paying a visit too. So we trekked out to the other side of Tokyo last weekend to explore. It was exciting, even the trip was an adventure. To get there required a trip on one of Tokyo's private lines. Apart from costing more, we didn't know anything of this line and were surprised when we entered the station and were faced with a 6 carriage, above street level, guided bus way. As we started moving we approached the front of the rubber tired train and noticed something different. We could see right out the front of the carriage and on closer inspection realised that it was indeed driverless.
Arriving at Tokyo Big Sight (and it is indeed a big sight, it makes the Jeff's shed look like Jeff's…) we walked along endless corridors filled with travelators until we reached the right wing of the right side of this massive complex. Upon entering the enormous hall we found hundreds of little stalls, each selling their own little crafts and arts. There were a lot of photographic stands, an abundance of graphic postcards, beads, jewellery, music, dolls, anything abstract, creative or artistic was here. There was a projection room where avant guard films were shown, an outdoor stage with Jap alternative/punk and a swarm of food stalls, ranging from the tasty to the uncanny. In the centre of all of this was an exhibition space for conceptual performances, which were fascinating to say the least.
One piece started with a procession of traditional musicians walking through the space with a group golden naked girls which were very nymph like adorning them. Then a huge cute fluffy man in a rabbit suite hurried the traditional band off and the nymphs started to adore him. A group of naked men covered in a type of Orc stickey, gooie brown sludge started running around, convulsing and enjoying the rabbit man. The faces of the nymphs were scary, with their enormous glee that is so obviously reserved for advertising models. Suddenly the music changes to Jap hip hop and a power puff candy hip hop girl bounces onto the stage bring spritely moves, energetic gestures, short skirts and provoking suggestions. Yet no one seamed to care and she eventually died. The mob of scary men manage to get closer to the rabbit man than the nymphs and start to grab at love heart around his body, ripping them out of his side and exposing his long entrails. They tugged on them and swing them over the crowds head until the rabbit man eventually ripped himself open to revile a creature similar to them, only with blood red splatters instead of brown. He goes a little crazy until there is anarchy and they are all running around madly again. Slowly the almost forgotten hip hop girl starts to breath life again and suddenly all of the characters start dancing in synchronised hip hop steps. This goes on for a little bit until the sound of the traditional musicians can be heard as they once again make their way through the crowd. The masses this time follow them off stage and leave the two false idols on the stage alone. The hip hop girl runs after the crowd and the rabbit man screaming at the top of his lungs tried to climb back inside his broken shell and frantically stuffs his entrails back in, puts his head on backwards, still screaming and collapses to the ground. It was truly on of those bizarre moments, unique only to Tokyo.
We will leave you with that image as it was a curious memory that haunted and intrigued us for some time to follow. I have uploaded some new pics, they are just simple digital camera shots to show you what the area looks, but when I get enough money to scan the photos I have I'll put them up. Please leave a message in the guest book, even if you have already done so before and I hope you have enjoyed these rambling about our experiences in this strange country. Thanks for helping push past the 1,000-visitor mark and we send our love to all of you, even the people we don't know.
That's about it for now…
Alexander and Emily
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