A Week in Tokyo

Well, it's just about a week since I touched down on the sacred Japanese soil (much of it covered in protective layers of concrete), and as it's been well over a year since I was last in Tokyo, the changes which have occurred stand out much more than they would if I'd been here all the time. It won't be long before they merge into the background, so I'll note them here before I forget.

Inevitably many buildings have disappeared, and new ones have appeared, though quite often it's difficult to remember what was on the empty plot before, or whether the new-looking building is really that new, even in places I know well. However, I can definitively say that Meat Shop Bambi has tragically vanished, while the Shinjuku skyline has sprouted a new, innovatively shaped skyscraper (the first of its sort in Tokyo, where rounded corners have been the most radical advances in tall building architecture until now). Being of an adventurous mindset I toddled along to have a look, fearing it might be yet another Richard Rogers effort, but it turns out the 50-story structure in question - the Tokyo Mode Gakuen Cocoon Tower (東京モード学園コクーンタワー, some details from Tokyo Construction News) - is by Tange Associates, founded by Kenzo Tange (the architect behind some of Tokyo's other notable large buildings such as the nearby Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building).

Tokyo Midtown in Roppongi (right) is this year's fashionable new retail complex in which to go and stand in a queue. Meanwhile, over in Harajuku, the site of the former Palais de France (パレフランス, location of popular café Aux Baccanales and demolished in 2004), is still a dormant building site - apparently some sort of strife is preventing the involved parties from agreeing on what to replace it with.

No major changes on the transport network, although the Chuo Line has suddenly got nice shiny new trains (mind you I preferred the old ones with their uniform orange sides and late Showa atmosphere). It seems paper-based tickets are slowly being phased out, with more and more automatic ticket gates becoming electronic ticket only. Bi-lingual station announcements on trains are becoming more widespread (though they impinge severely on My Japan ;), and I wish they'd make up their minds whether to pronounce the station names in either the Japanese way or the slightly cringeworthy Japanese-American accent prevalent in most announcements).

Lotteria, purveyor of my favourite Japanese junk food the ebi burger (shrimp burger) has renovated most of its branches with a new design. A chain of standing-only sushi bars has made its appearance, accelerating sushi to true fast food status (standing-only eateries were previously the preserve of noodle places and the odd hole-in-the-wall bar).

The environment, particularly global warming (温暖化 / ondanka) is becoming a much-talked about subject, no doubt soon there will be an Ondanka-kun mascot character made of plastic in factories in China being widely distributed to raise awareness of the issue. Shop assistants seem far more likely to ask me if I would like a bag with an individual purchase, rather than try and give me one anyway, which I then have to gently but firmly refuse, and the concept of the "eco bag" (エコバッグ, i.e. a shopping bag you take with you to put your shopping in and use again and again) is making its debut.

Prices seem to have remained largely stable, though some foodstuffs are creeping up, and no doubt energy is not getting any cheaper. The Post Office has been privatized (I think), at least its component parts are marketing themselves more aggressively than they used to. TV-capable mobile phones are suddenly all the rage. The former Vodafone network has finally been rebranded as SoftBank. Tokyo is actively campaigning to host the 2016 Massive Construction Boondoggle Summer Olympics. There seems to have been a sudden profusion of pet shops (the kind with shelves of glass boxes about as big as a decent-sized hamster cage, each containing a rather pitiful puppy or kitten).

Finally, there's been a creeping hardening in the political attitude towards foreigners, most visible in the compulsory fingerprinting at immigration. I won't go into that - except to say it's one important factor in deciding whether I want to spend the next few years in Japan - but here's an interesting opinion piece on general policy direction towards foreigners by Terrie Lloyd of Japan Inc.