During the whole night, I was sleeping with a lot of images in my mind. Yesterday there were so many things happening during the day, so many people crossed my path in the crowd, so much noise filled my ears. Being around so much activity is an experience we can choose to have in life, and it’s a good choice, but I believe that it takes a little time for things to assemble in the mind. While taking the train ride home in the evening, everyone was silent but I could feel their emotions. People can be like bottles that contain secret potions, there is magic in all of us and we hold it in… waiting for the right moment, the safe moment to let it out and be ourselves. Maybe that’s why so much magic is often created over a table where alcohol is shared, and in Japan the normally shy people will open up and speak English, ask questions, and tell stories.
But that was the end of the day, let me start at the beginning. We met at Ueno station, and I was a little nervous. It’s always a little worrying when two friends who know you but don’t know each other meet. There are over 20 years difference between these two friends of mine, and English is not the first language for either of them, yet the day went well. It was a little relief for me in a way, as I often stood back and let them talk about things. I was happy that they understood each other, got on well and in fact I was happy that I could facilitate the connection. We maybe looked an odd group… different ages, different nationalities, different ways of life coming together. One friend is from Japan, the other is from Switzerland. My friend played tour guide for the day and did a wonderful job too.
We started the day with animation in Akihabara, then learned about how to pray at a shrine in Asakusa, trained in the arts of the ninja and finally ended the evening drinking with two other strangers in Shinjuku. What a series of contradictions the day was, yet this is what all cultures are. It’s not something that can be summed up in a book or a paragraph or a blog post… cultures are shapes, three dimensional, ever changing living organisms. Almost a replication of the human being itself: complicated with many sides, many faces and many ways of being. Even though I’ve been to Tokyo three times before, I never saw it in the way I saw it today. Having my friend there, I got a window into what the Japanese think of their big city and a lot of little questions I had were answered as well.
I learned about the chōzubachi, I think it’s called, where you go to wash your hands from a dragon shaped fountain before entering a shrine and praying. I learned what to do with the alcohol that overflows from your glass after the waiter pours it in the Japanese style. I’ve learned that if you want to talk with someone local, then sit all alone in an Izakaya. Although we weren’t alone, we were a group that stood out, so when we finally sat down to have dinner at an Izakaya in Shinjuku it wasn’t long before we started a conversation. My Japanese friend was translating for us, and between us all we were able to communicate, but we came to discover that some things don’t need words. They just need a glass of sake.
We sat at the corner of a counter, ordering small plates to the table of food we’d never tried before… jugs of beer and high balls. People were moving in and out, as there was a 2 hour limit to your meal. Just as well. Because as one couple left, an older gentleman came and sat next to my Japanese friend. He downed one glass of sake, and then started to talk to us… a whole spontaneous conversation ensued, and before long we were laughing loudly, he was buying us drinks and we were taking photos together. Soon after, another Korean man from the United States walked in alone and sat down at the same counter. The group was now five of us… and instead of saying kanpai we started saying wifi, because some of us couldn’t reach our glasses together.
Now we enjoyed even more diversity between us and we were all able to share our experiences of Tokyo, from the eyes of locals, tourists, and business travellers… even if it was only for a short moment. But these are some of the most fun moments, when we let our guard down a little with a stranger, and then all of a sudden we let go. We connect, we exchange, and then we sink back into the crowd. The moment is gone, and if we didn’t remember it in our hearts then we may question that it ever happened at all. Maybe that’s why it’s good to just be quiet for a while and let it all sink in… just enjoying the feeling of being in the middle of it all. Over time, we let these series of moments which make up our lives give their own value. Naturally these stories are retold and remembered again and again, sprinkling its own magic into all the moments of life that are yet to come.
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