Tokyo

Story by Karen Walker
Photos by Mikhail GhermanThe perception I always had of Japan before visiting it was that it would be very Western; that since it opened up to the outside world in the 19th century or began it’s rise as a global power in the 50’s, it would have embraced everything Western and become like an American and European hybrid where everyone speaks English and watches American TV. I was wrong. There are certainly Western elements that have been embraced almost fanatically by Japanese culture but from the second you land in Japan you’re constantly assaulted with new and bizarre things that, big or small, are exclusively Japanese - cab doors that open and close by themselves, their obsession with high tech toilet seats, the rows of vending machines selling hot and cold drinks in the street, the fact that almost no one speaks English and when you do see or hear English it’s some fruity Japanese interpretation (jet rug, eyes cream, pot ato fu rai or the little boy in the lobby of our hotel saying to his sister ‘talko to the hando’), drunk salary men sleeping in the street at 3 a.m., the wonderful understanding and approach to space and scale, the constant desire for newness and change set against the overriding sense of ritual, honor and aesthetic that is the backbone upon which the culture has been built. All this adds up to a culture that feels completely true to itself; that, despite its place at the forefront of globalization, Japan somehow remains undiluted and unhomogeonised.

The sense of honor, respect and rituals in Japan are refreshing coming from the West where we have comparatively very little of any of these in day-to-day life. All meetings in Japan start 10 minutes early, not because people are prompt but because you need that extra 10 minutes at the beginning for all the bowing. Every couple of years my Japanese distributors host us in Japan for five days for press interviews and store visits. During this trip I had to go through the whole bowing ritual with about 300 people and, being in Japan where fashion is taken beyond the extreme, a lot of them look like complete fruitcakes and yet, unexpectedly, the ceremony’s still there and the show of respect is paramount.

There’s something so delightful about the Japanese sense of respect and I miss it when I leave but when I’m on the plane taxiing away from the terminal there’s one final reminder out the window - 10 ground staff all in overalls, hard hats and ear muffs stand in a perfectly straight line waving at the plane as it taxies past.Just as the Japanese never miss an opportunity to show their respect for you, they never miss an opportunity to be cute. The Japanese word for cute is ‘kawaii’ (rhymes with Hawaii) and once you know this word you hear it constantly (as in, pointing at something; anything, “ahhhhhhhh……..kawaiiiiiiiiii….…” followed by giggling) and you see kawaii things everywhere in Tokyo. Most noticeably are the ‘alert’ signs that anywhere else in the world are a faceless stick figure getting his hand stuck in a train door or falling off a ledge or getting hit by traffic; in Japan it’s a rabbit man with huge manga eyes and a tiny mouth getting electrocuted by the train doors or warning you not to go in the lift in the event of a fire or letting you know there is road work in progress. Also feeding the desire for kawaii is the proliferation of lap dogs and the associated paraphernalia. One afternoon in downtown Daikanoyama where the temperature on the street was a balmy 39 degrees Celsius I noticed a pair of longhaired dachshunds in matching Little Bow Peep dresses (not a lot of dignity there but 100% kawaii factor that’s for sure). They were en route to ‘Three Dog Bakery’; a shop that specializes in fancy dog biscuits that are actually baked to be identical in shape and color to the finest petit four in any Parisian bakery. Such is the dedication to kawaii and to aesthetic that there’s a queue for the counter to buy a $10 dog biscuit simply because it looks cute.

Even if you’re not a lap dog the food and shopping in Japan is incredible; the best I’ve experience anywhere in the world. Compared to Tokyo the shopping in London, Paris and New York looks pretty flat. If you’re after cool new fashion, big label designers, vintage, denim, trainers or high tech you couldn’t be more at home than in Tokyo. It’s a bit overwhelming at first because there’s so much to take in but bear in mind that the very best shops, bars and restaurants in Tokyo are normally the ones down an alleyway and up some stairs with no address or signage so it pays to keep exploring. I’ve had many wonderful hours wandering through the little back lanes of Shibuya and Aoyama. I cannot name my favorite discovery of this trip because I’ve promised the owner I won’t reveal the details so you’ll have to track it down for yourself. We’d been invited there for an interview with a Japanese magazine and it has no name, no address, nothing else any good around it and no signage on it’s plain wooden door but it can be found in an alleyway off another alleyway in the middle of Shibuya. It doesn’t have a fancy cocktail list and tends to only serve beer or whisky to Tokyo’s hippest crowd. The interior is kind of junk shoppy and it’s all compact Tokyo size fits only 30 people. When it opens at midnight there’s already a queue of 100 outside. The owner, Hayao, also has 3 vintage shops, which he gives us the whirlwind tour in the early hours of the morning after we run into him on the street. There’s nothing to make me happier than looking at great vintage shops at 1 a.m. Mikhail is miserable, of course. Hayao speaks no English and we communicate via sign language and, of course, my key Japanese word is kawaii.

In Tokyo the food too is incredible and I always think it’s best to eat Japanese when you’re in Japan because this is where it’s going to be the best you’ll ever experience. Two of the greatest restaurants I find this trip are Gonpachi and Shunbou. Shunbou is in the fancy Roppongi Hills complex, which is a new high-rise where you can take in the view of Tokyo from the 52nd floor. When we visit at night the red lights flashing at the top of the high-rises around us are like a beating heart. The restaurants on the 2nd floor are not what you expect of a tourist trap. The eight to choose from are all incredible with an amazing sense of space around them and a beautiful Japanese garden in the courtyard. I’d recommend any but at Shunbou we had wonderful sushi topped off with the best green tea ice cream I’ve ever had; served with all the tradition and ceremony you want from Japan - from choosing your own special sake cup to the gorgeous kimonos the waitresses wear. The toilet seats were pretty impressive too with 22 different controls; a lot, even by Japanese standards. My other favorite restaurant this trip is Gonpachi. Built as a replica of a traditional Japanese inn (kind of like the inn that got smashed up in ‘Crouching Tiger’ even though that was Chinese) it also has a wonderful Japanese roof garden. On the night we ate there the temperature had dropped a little so we could actually eat outside. Past nights it had still be in the 30’s but this night it was a balmy high 20’s and we ate the most wonderful sushi and drank shochu cocktails in a lovely garden lit softly by paper lanterns. Considered some of the best food in Tokyo, (make sure you try the horseradish, caviar and gold sushi) this is where Prime Minister Koizumi recently took President Bush for dinner and the food is terrific.

Half way through my stay in Tokyo I received a three-word email from a friend back home. ‘Lip my stocking’ it said. Coincidently that day I had been interviewed for a Tokyo fashion magazine by a great guy called Mago who had played the part of the commercial’s art director in “Lost In Translation.�? People in Tokyo either love or loath the film but the reality is that it captures perfectly the other worldliness that you feel there as a Westerner when you’re confronted with all the oddities and points of difference it holds; not to mention the fact that Tokyo must be one of the only major metropolises where you can spend five days without seeing another Westerner, be they drunken ex-pat or bewildered tourist, but that’s what’s so exciting about being there; that it is so different to anywhere else in the world. This was my eighth visit to Japan and it’s still a huge adventure for me, full of surprises, unfamiliarities, warm toilet seats and great sushi.

Best Places to Shop

Best Neighborhood

Daikanoyama, Aoyama, Shibuya, Harajuku and Ginza. The shopping changes all the time so the best way to do your homework prior to going is on http://superfuture.com

Must Visit Stores Include

Beams - many branches all quite different but all great for cool, new fashion.

And A - great fashion with a fresh mix.

Prada and Dior - new flagships that really show big label fashion at its best and most tempting.

Undercover - the best Japanese designer of the last 15 years and the store is mind blowing.

Dual - very cool new boutique, as with all good stores in Tokyo down and alley way and hard to find - 1st floor omote-sando,5-12-14 jinguumae, shibuya-ku

Vintage

Cabaret - room 201 coop napori, 1-14-1 jinnan, shibuya-ku

Hypnotique - 2nd floor, ido building, 1-13-4 jinnan, shibuya-ku

Rosy-Baroque - 6th floor hoshi building, 1-12-14 jinnan, shibuya-ku

Best Places to Eat

Shunbou

kind of posh and some of the best sushi you’ll have in Tokyo in a wonderful environment. Also in the same spot are 7 other restaurants and cafes that are well worth a look. 2nd floor, grand Hyatt, 6-10-3 roppongi, minato-ku

Mama Tarte

cute little overgrown cake shop in Daikanyama. Great for an afternoon break from shopping. 2-15-9 ebisu-nishi, shibuya-ku

Gonpachi

amazing Japanese food - noodles and grilled food on 1st and 2nd floors, sushi on the 3rd floor. 1-13-11 Nishiazabu Minato-ku, Tokyo. 03-5771-0170 or 03-5771-0180

Best Places to Sleep

Believe it or not there’s only one boutique hotel in Tokyo: Hotel Claska.