Send Me Back to Japan

TOKYO SHAKEDOWN

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11.

It's been years since I've lived in Japan, but still sometimes the memories are so strong that I actually need to stop what I'm doing and just allow myself to be overcome. There are certain triggers I might have, and a moment later I might be back in Yokohama, right at dusk, on a brisk wintry evening, with the glittering Minato Mirai skyline before me as I take in the sight with awe. Or I could be in Ueno Park in the spring, the trees and the air alive with cherry blossoms, fluttering in literally every direction you look. Or I'm in Zushi, its summertime, there's a drink in my hand and sand my beneath my feet, the beach is before me and a bar is behind me, the sun is setting, and somewhere nearby I hear a band warming up. I'm leaving from a party in Kami-Ooka that is wild and chaotic and there is literally a mountain of footwear near the front door that I need to dig through in order to find my shoes. I'm at a reggae bar in Minami-Oota where the staff wears wide smiles and Rastafarian colors, and I'm sipping a cold draft beer and before me is a yakitori grill hissing loudly and piping smoke as my stomach growls. I'm crossing through the cavernous, labyrinthine Yokohama station, where people are walking in literally every direction, and I cut and angle my way through them, maneuvering out into the city where I'm meeting friends at a favorite izakaya. I'm in Shibuya at nighttime, with massive, shining advertisements and sparkling lights all around me, walking amidst a river of people adorned in everything from suits to wild youth fashion and everything in between. I'm rushing through Shinagawa station as its approaching midnight and I'm utterly thrilled to catch the last express train heading south.

I step aboard that train, the doors close, and I take hold of the bar above my head as the train rockets southbound and a pleasant Japanese voice speaks to my ambient surroundings. I only understand a few words of it, but it's enough to know what the next station is, which for me is just good enough.

Rushing by outside the window is a fascinating land, largely still unknown to me, and standing all around me are people that I don't know and have never met. All along, the expression on my face holds more curiosity and satisfaction than I've ever felt before.

Seriously, can someone send me back to Japan somehow? The title of this book is more serious than you might suspect. C'mon, there are people out there that can make things happen, right? Is someone looking to become my benefactor?

Someone might ask, dude, why don't you just go back to visit? Well, of course we do. My wife and I have visited Japan several times since we left. But, it's just not the same. Why? Well, let me tell you.

There is a dirty little secret about travelling: it actually kind of sucks. You're rushed, you're tired as hell the entire time, and you just don't have enough time to really get to know the people and places you visit.

Say you have a week or so in Japan. It takes at least a few days to fully adjust to the time difference. After a full day of sightseeing (and surely partying), you're really too tired to do it again the next day. And if you do power through it, it's so busy, more or less a whirlwind, and you never really get to truly know the place. Eventually, all you really want to do is sleep. And you could have done that at home.

You need to live in a new place. You need time to marinate. You need to have day after day after day there. You need to be a resident. That's when it gets fun. The most interesting or comical day you might ever have is a day when you set out to accomplish a seemingly innocuous task, say, you're just trying to buy the right kind of contact lens solution, or, trying to figure out how to pay your electric bill. Simple stuff like that can result in a funny adventure, a rewarding moment, and potentially even some everlasting memories.

Truthfully, some of my most enjoyable moments in Japan were just the idle ones, when I hadn't any other plans at all. I may have just gone and taken a long walk in a new place I'd never been to before. During those moments, you really have time to think, to reflect, and to really internalize everything. Those moments never come while merely traveling, or during just a quick visit. There just isn't enough opportunity for them.

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TOKYO

SHAKEDOWN