super deluxe: shinjuku skyline

August 10, 2003

shinjuku skyline

The view of Shinjuku from the window of my old apartment back when I lived in the area:

This picture hits home for two reasons:

1) I took it four days after the September 11 terrorist attacks. From that day on, the world no longer felt like a peaceful, carefree place to me. You couldn't really look at a city skyline anymore without thinking about the horrible events that unfolded a few days earlier. We used to take a lot of things for granted, but not anymore; I wonder how long it'll be (if ever) before we can return to that kind of worry-free lifestyle again?

2) That apartment was the first place I lived when I moved to Japan back in 2000. I lived there with my girlfriend (at the time) for 15 months. It holds many, many special memories for me, most of them related to the many incredible experiences I went through as a wide-eyed newcomer to this strange, foreign land. It's very hard to put any of them into words, but I promise -- if I ever can, I will. I wish I was as camera-crazy back then as I am now so I could've had more of those memories captured in some kind of tangible form.

I often bitch about little things that really annoy me about Japan, but the truth is, despite the quirks, it's still probably the most amazing place I've ever lived.

Posted by john tv at August 10, 2003 10:36 PM | TrackBack

Comments

Japan really is the best place on the planet to live, I believe... and I wouldn't worry about not being able to describe the experience. Everyone I know who has gone to Japan can't describe the emotional impact of the collective experiences, only the experiences themselves.

Posted by: JP Kellams at August 10, 2003 11:55 PM

Tokyo would be the a great place if:

(*) they could get commutes down to < 20 minutes. Discovery channel pointed out most Japanese spend 5 years of their lives commuting!!!!!! It's an average for 2hours, 40 minutes a day!!!

(*) if they learned to relax instead of working till 11:30pm every night.

But otherwise Tokyo is pretty cool!

Posted by: Gman at August 11, 2003 11:47 PM

I'd like to add 2 "wants" to the list

(*) humane living accomodations. Keep the price the same, break the neighbor's wall and turn 2 litle rooms into one apartment.

(*) more covered walkways. I know Japanese people say they love to "experience the seasons" but getting wet and heatstroke is a little much for me.

...but it is still a great place to live. If you have a bike, you can get ANYWHERE in Tokyo and there are tons of great places to eat, drink and be merry.

Posted by: Ozchin at August 12, 2003 10:31 AM

When you view Tokyo from high up, like the tower in Roppongi or from a skyscraper in Shinjuku, it is amazing just how compact Tokyo is. All those hours you spend on the train seem to be for nothing. Rainbow Bridge is a great example... you can almost reach out and touch it from Tokyo Tower, but take the train from Roppongi and it would take about 25 minutes.

Posted by: JonnyRam at August 13, 2003 11:02 AM

I, too, wish that people there weren't so wrapped up in their jobs, but otherwise, I'd agree that experiences in Tokyo are incomparable to anything else.

Posted by: Alitak at August 14, 2003 01:32 AM

Alissa! Speaking of being wrapped up in jobs, I believe I owe you an e-mail (and an apology). :) I'm pretty much buried in work right now (it's 4:53am and I'm still working), but as soon as the dust clears on this project, I promise to catch up with ya. I'll look you up on AIM or something, too, cause this e-mail stuff is proving to be futile. :)

Same goes for anyone else out there whose e-mail is still sitting in my inbox. Gomen!! I'm so terrible with mail...

Posted by: john tv at August 14, 2003 04:55 AM