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For the fourth morning in a row, the streets of Shinagawa were aglow with the verdant sparkle of spring. Radiance had spread like the daybreak cascade of suits and school children starting their routine commute. We, meanwhile, were plundering the residential ward of Sengakuji, trying to locate a subway station that would eventually land us 80 miles north in the mountain town of Nikko.
Whether it’s on maps or in conversation, Yokohama endures as a distinct albeit cosy neighbour of Tokyo. In reality, the two are so dangerously proximate that merging to create one giant megacity isn’t really that distant a notion. Judging by the urban sprawl on the train journey between them – it’s already kind of happened.
The Imperial Palace, situated right at the heart of Tokyo in the district of Chiyoda, remains the primary residence for the highly popular and deeply revered Emperor of Japan. More than merely being at the geographical nucleus of Japan’s capital city, this expansive complex appears to hold a special symbolic and emblematic status, too.
Tokyo’s allure stretches beyond the endless parade of tourist spots listed and pictured in guidebooks. Indeed, every footstep kindles with it a new sense of inveiglement and affinity. Wandering semi-lost is surely the finest way of exploring the feeling further, as well as for discovering the disparity of crowds and quiet I talked about yesterday.
The prevailing perception most people have of modern Tokyo undoubtedly lies somewhere amidst an image of mass-urbanisation and swelling population – a scene where thick webs of solid concrete are laced with blinding, checkered neon, and extremities of culture and fashion move in tandem with the unceasing flow of people.
I was packing long into the wee hours of the night before, and surfaced what-felt-like minutes later, dashing out in the pre-dawn silence to hasten across the traffic-less suburbs. Tiredness, it seemed, was already absorbing my enthusiasm, and all I could do was to slink back into my smooth airline seat and long for my eventual destination: Tokyo.
My Brother went and got himself Tonsillitis, so instead of going to Nagasaki for the day, we ended up in a small local hospital. The hotel staff were great about it. One of the receptionists even came with us in the taxi an helped us fill out the medical forms. They even paid the taxi fare and loaned us extra currency for the prescription.
We travel 4 hours south on the Shinkansen to reach Fukuoka. Passing Kobe, Okayama and Hiroshima, and onto the southern island of Kyushu to Fukuoka, we journey farther south than ever before in Japan. From here we will sail on to Busan in Korea. First, though, we have several days to enjoy the bright, vibrant city of Fukuoka.
