Postcard from Shinjuku

At or around 630 in the morning of Sunday, August 5th 2007, we landed in a William Gibson novella. (Which one? Probably "The Gernsback Continuum.")

For someone who--as I keep informing anyone who cares to listen--had never ventured beyond his country's borders before, let alone experienced air travel, and who had hitherto spent the overwhelming bulk of his years within the Western Australian postcode of 6025, nothing could have prepared me for the vista that greeted us as we traveled along the expressway between Narita Airport and Shinjuku. (Incidentally--just to give you some idea of the enormity of the place--that's a journey of 50km.)

Skyscrapers. Skyscrapers, skyscrapers, skyscrapers. Stretching from horizon to horizon. Not your dull, prosaic, conservative Western Australian Bankwest-style skyscrapers either, but the very definition of Samuel Taylor Coleridge's "stately pleasure domes." As far as the eye can see. (Did I mention that already?) Case in point: the view from our hotel room in Shinjuku, an area to the east of central Tokyo, looking east and south-east. (I think.)

That's about as many pictures as I can post for now. All of our photos are on Emma's computer, which is currently out of battery power, so I'll have to give you the grand tour of Shinjuku on a future occasion. And rest assured it is even more breathtaking at night.

On the downside, we haven't really had much opportunity to explore Tokyo, given that yesterday was officially the first day on the job and we have been locked up in seminars for most of the past two days. On Sunday, jetlagged as we all were, a group of us JETs headed across to Akihabara (a.k.a "Electric Town"), which is apparently a mecca for electronics enthusiasts. (We saw the very same camera we bought last year in David Jones in a Wanneroo Market-style stall, selling for approximately what we paid.) Unfortunately, Emma's stomach did not agree with the nine-and-a-half hour economy-class flight from Sydney the previous night, and when we stopped at a sushi bar for lunch, the fragrance of pork and rice, along with the salty miso soup, somewhat stretched the friendship with her still-upset entrails (which was a shame--I thought it was delicious--the meal, that is, not the entrails). And I have forgotten to mention the absolutely stifling Tokyo summer heat, which wasn't helping matters much either. So we headed back to the hotel early--having tried and failed to identify which train to catch (we were rescued at the last minute by a fellow JET, Michelle, who had been to Tokyo previously). But we have since sampled Tokyo's nightlife--including a venue strangely reminiscent of the Hip-E Club--but more on that in a future post.

Tomorrow we board the famous shinkansen (bullet train) for Hyogo prefecture and our new lives. But we definitely plan on coming back to Tokyo.