After wishing Ken and Maureen sayonara, we headed out for fun-filled day in Tokyo, eager to explore as much as we could with our few days left. Taking a cue from our Rome trip, we decided to walk everywhere. We left the Hotel Okura in the late morning, first stopping at a quirky coffee shop before finding a Neapolitan pizza place for lunch. I’m not sure if it was just trendy at the time, but it seemed like everywhere we went in Tokyo, they were making Neapolitan pizza, which suited us just fine. The chef at Pizzeria-Trattoria Napule had clearl studied pizza making in Italy, as, at the time, it was definitely the best pizza we had had outside of the boot.
I’m not joking when I say the first stop we made in Tokyo a few days previous was to the concierge desk, where we asked him to help us make reservations at the Robot Restaurant. First having seen this spectacle on Anthony Bourdain’s Tokyo episode, we knew we had to check it out when we were in town. Basically, guests witness a somewhat mind-numbing experience where robots fight humans and scantily clad females dance on top of neon lit parade floats. You really just have to see it to get the full picture. The wonderful concierge had made us reservations for that evening, and we started a slow crawl from Roppongi through Akasaka to Shinjuku, where our date with the robots would take place. We had already dipped our toes into Tokyo culture over the past few days, and we were primed and ready for a marathon (not a sprint). We stopped at several bars along the way. At one, we left a few coins on the table as we were leaving and got another glimpse into Japanese hospitality when the server chased us down the street with our leftover change.
Having been in Japan now for 4 days, I was desperate for some ramen. After doing research, we settled on Ichiran Ramen for an early dinner. Authentic ramen restaurants in Japan are a truly unique experience. At Ichiran, we entered and went down a dark stairway to an even darker hallway. In front of us was a vending machine with lots of different options for ramen, all displayed with photos. It slowly dawned on us that we would need to order through this machine that only spoke Japanese. Luckily, we were saved by some locals behind us who guided us through the process and made sure that we got the best ramen to fill up our bellies. After our tickets were spit out at us, we entered through a curtain into the main “dining room” which consisted of single person semi-private booths next to each other. We were fascinated when seconds after sitting down, a small window in front of us was opened up hastily and a hand swiftly reached out and grabbed my ticket. In under a minute, the piping hot bowl of ramen and an ice cold beer glass was delivered. We filled up our glasses with the small draft system in front of us and went to work. Incredible….hands down the best ramen I’ve ever had.
The closer we walked to Shinjuku, you could feel the neighborhood and vibe starting to change. If you have an image in your head about what Tokyo would be like, Shinjuku is probably that image. Stereotypically loud and bright, your senses are working overtime as you walk past the bustling karaoke bars and neon-lit buildings. We could tell we were approaching the Robot Restaurant from a few blocks away…there was a buzz surrounding it.
What can I say about the Robot Restaurant? It was certainly a spectable. From the moment you enter the building, you are smacked with over-the-top lights, music, wacky decor and, of course, robots. You are first escorted through a maze of technicolor hallways and elevators before eventually being led into the restaurant’s bar for pre-show cocktails. Musicians dressed as futuristic angels serenade you as you drink your Zima (yes, they actually had Zima on the menu). After we were properly liquored up, we made our way to the “main stage.” What happens over the next few hours is nothing short of an extravaganza. The show begins with a lengthy performance by beautiful young Japanese women, gogo dancing on top of robot floats while motorcycles and men in trippy animal costumes prance by. Eventually the robots take over and chaos ensues.
Aside from the infamous Robot Restaurant, Shinjuku is also known for being the home of Golden Gai, a district of run-down, time-warped bars where it seems that anything goes. Still on a high from everything we just witnessed, we stumbled into Golden Gai and bar hopped until the wee hours. In one bar, I sang karaoke (I can’t remember the song). In another, we met a bartender wearing a Wayne’s World shirt and a salaryman with whom we started a conversation. He started telling us about his life – he had a very demanding job, a wife and no children. He told us his wife didn’t work and he said in passing that his wife was probably waiting for him to come home for dinner (keep in mind, it was well past midnight). I asked him straight, “did she make you a nice dinner and you just didn’t show up?” He confirmed that he did not, and that this usually happened most nights. I asked if he thought she might be upset about all the work she went to only to have him not show up and eat with her. He looked at me slightly baffled, admitting he had never considered that before. Yikes…
Time has clouded my memory and I have no idea what we did the next morning, but I do know we eventually made our way to the Tokyo Tower, the city’s copy of Paris’ Eiffel Tower, where we took the elevator up and got a bird’s eye view of the city. Like a new addition to the Sears Tower, they had a glass ceiling that you could step on to see the world below. I remember specifically waking up to news that said ceiling at the Sears Tower had cracked the day before and was temporarily closed. I wasn’t going to push my luck and stayed away from that area at the Tokyo Tower, but of course fearless Kevin checked it out. After the tower, we were searching for a wine bar in a large restaurant and shopping complex in Roppongi when we stumbled upon a very cool art gallery opening. We hopped around that evening, grabbing yakitori at one restaurant and sushi at another. Sushi is very expensive in Tokyo, so instead of finding a place that would break the bank, we found a reasonable but well reviewed place close to our hotel called Sushi Zanmai.
On our last day in Tokyo, we really went all out. We started off the day heading to Shibuya Crossing, a large and famous intersection akin to Times Square, where hundreds of locals constantly converge on the streets and large TV screens blink brightly on the buildings above. Shibuya is a popular shopping district, so we wandered around, finding a comic book shop where I bought my dad a few graphic novels. Luckily, I leafed through the ones that I purchased beforehand, as there were very few without sexually graphic storylines, which would have been a bit awkward. We found a delicious udon shop for lunch, Kama Age Udon Sawanoi, where we slurped down some noodles.
After lunch, we took a cab over to the Harajuku neighborhood to do some more shopping for our families. We saw a large line around the block so we decided to check it out – interestingly enough, it was a Garret’s Popcorn, the famous Chicago popcorn shop. Harajuku is known for its funky fashion shops, where teenage girls dress in outrageous outfits, taking their love of pop culture to the extreme. The prime area to witness the fun fashion is on Takesihita Art Street.
To round out our trip, we headed back to Roppongi where we wandered around embracing the last bit of Japanese culture that we could before heading to dinner at Inakaya West, famous for their robata, or Japanese style barbecue. Seeing as we were in our 20s and still didn’t get as hungover as we do now, we ended the evening by renting out a private karaoke room, where we had planned to stay for only an hour until the karaoke gods took over. These karaoke rooms are so fun – you completely lose track of time as you queue up song after song, ordering more wine and beer through their online system. I’m pretty sure we sang most of the English selections on the list and finally gave up quite late in the evening. As we walked back to the hotel, we were surprised to find lots of young people in nice party clothes sleeping on the street. Apparently in Tokyo, the trains stop at 1 am, so instead of getting a hotel room, most partiers will pop a squat and sleep until the trains begin running again in the early morning. This is completely normal and a true sign of how safe this country is. A bit tired the next morning, we headed to the airport, certain that we did Japan properly, eating yummy food and seeing all of the sights we could in the time we had.
Recommendations:
- The Okura Hotel Tokyo. 2 Chome-10-4 Toranomon, Minato City, Tokyo 105-0001, Japan. https://theokuratokyo.jp/en/.
- Pizzeria-Trattoria Napule. Japan, 〒107-0052 Tokyo, Minato City, Akasaka, 9 Chome−7−4 東京ミッドタウン ガーデンテラス1F. http://napule-pizza.com/midtown/.
- Robot Restaurant. Japan, 〒160-0021 Tokyo, Shinjuku City, Kabukicho, 1 Chome−7−7 新宿ロボットビル B2F. http://www.shinjuku-robot.com/pc/.
- Ichiran Ramen. Japan, 〒160-0022 Tokyo, Shinjuku City, Shinjuku, 3 Chome−34−11 B1F・6F Peace Bldg. https://ichiran.com/shop/tokyo/shinjuku/.
- Golden Gai. 1 Chome-1-6 Kabukicho, Shinjuku City, Tokyo 160-0021, Japan.
- Tokyo Tower. 4 Chome-2-8 Shibakoen, Minato City, Tokyo 105-0011, Japan. https://www.tokyotower.co.jp/.
- Sushi Zanmai. Japan, 〒106-0032 Tokyo, Minato City, Roppongi, 3 Chome−10−9 三経２８ビル １階. https://www.kiyomura.co.jp/.
- Shibuya Crossing. 1 Chome-2-1 Dogenzaka, Shibuya City, Tokyo 150-0043, Japan.
- Kama Age Udon Sawanoi. Shibuya-ku, Shibuya 1-8-5, Ogawa Bldg. 1F Tokyo 151-0063 Japan.
- Harajuku/Takesihita Art Street. Harajuku Station. Tokyo Japan.
- Inakaya West. Japan, 〒106-0032 Tokyo, Minato City, Roppongi, 4 Chome−10−11 八巻ビル １Ｆ. http://www.roppongiinakaya.jp/en/index.html.
