Descriptive Paper:
Tokyo, Japan
Stepping into the main streets of the city there is a feeling of connectivity that is felt not only by the crisscrossing power lines, fiber optics, and other black, silver, and white cords that adorn the spaces between buildings in several districts, but from the people as well. There is no one set style in the capital city of Tokyo, Japan. There are wonders to be seen on every corner, an abundance of lights, goods, and user-friendly conveniences that stand in stark contrast to the more traditional aspects of the fabled avenues. Tokyo is an old, much renowned city, but its pulse is a stunning blend of youth and experience that is seen only in select locations throughout the world. There is history to the city that does not bow to the new world, even as it watches it pass by.
Surrounded on its outskirts by farmland and forest, the heart of Tokyo is a thriving city that features buildings tall enough to stab at the sky. Their glass and steel construction stand in stark contrast to the traditional structures and gardens that are to be found throughout the city, interjecting the realm of the new with that of the old. I can see that this city was majestic once, yet its classic grandeur has been surpassed and tainted by the contemporary technological advances. If not for the mobs of citizens that call the city home it might well be a most desirable location, though in truth they are the beating heart of the city itself, the lifeblood that keeps it all running.
It might well be those same individuals massed within the cityscape, seemingly visible no matter where a person turns, that create a feeling of claustrophobia that causes an anxiety in those who are not equipped for big city living. I am included in this group. Tokyo is a fascinating and dizzying city in that almost every direction one looks there appears visual representations of the new, the old, and everything in between. There are buildings that have stood for a century or more, and some that have existed for only a few decades or less. I am on the grand Tokyo Tower, looking out at the magnificent array of lights. Visual representation of culture is an important part of Japanese culture, and the more flash the more notice in some cases seems to be the general attitude. On some streets the amount of signs available for viewing causes sensory overload just by their size, intensity, and color. Maybe this is why I constantly have a headache here.
I have learnt the hard way that taking Tokyo by sight is far easier when viewed in layers, the experience of parsing out different sections of the city into what is desired, what is needed in accordance with what is available. There is no shortage of goods and services in this vast city, as it provides everything a body could need in mass quantities, the better to serve the human sea that is its populace. No matter where one goes there will be bright lights, culture that shines through the multitude of other attractions surrounding it, and of course goods that fill the shelves almost to overflowing in an attempt to insure that the consumers are kept satisfied. Tokyo is by far among the greatest cities in the world for the sheer numbers it contains, both of people and goods to be purchased.
While much of the city remains indigenous there are still a noticeable number of individuals that are decidedly not Japanese. It is a growing trend throughout the world, but is noticeable here as a stark contrast. Tokyo is decidedly a tourist town, and that is the reason why everything is so abundant and bright. Before its Western, modernizing influence, there probably weren’t so many foreigners, but now, I can’t go a minute on the streets without seeing somebody that evidently is not from the country.
Among everything that makes Tokyo unique, including its feel and the sights to be seen is the general texture of the city. Strange a sentiment as this may be, it is still quite telling given that each and every place upon the world has its own feel, its own touch. One word springs to my mind concerning Tokyo, a word that gives way to many different adjectives and descriptions. Tokyo feels clean, giving way to smooth, soft, unsoiled. Strange as this statement is, it adequately describes the vast number of public places that in many cities are left to gather rot, germs, and even disease-spreading filth despite any mandates existing to keep such areas clean. Tokyo is different in this regard that the texture of it feels quite tidy, almost antiseptic in some areas that are kept clean on a continual basis.
There are indeed less clean areas of the city that offer a more gritty, rough, and even grimy feel, but the overall feeling of Tokyo is one that is not sullied by the dirt and filth that is so prevalent in other, similar cities. In Tokyo it is noticeable when filth is left to sit, and thus it is reasonable to assume that thanks to the fastidious nature of the public cleanup crews it will never last for very long. The efficiency for this is simply astounding as it gives the impression that the people within this city value their home and their culture so greatly that even the most insignificant of spaces is cleaned almost to a high sheen, allowing them to take pride in their city in a manner that few others ever seem to do throughout the world.
There is a great and pervading sense of dignity in a city that seeks to keep its streets, subways and various other areas clean and swept. I can feel it in every breath I take here; you do not breathe air, but self-respect. It speaks of a culture where mess and disorder are not welcome, as they are swept away in favor of order, serenity, and a nearness to perfection that allows the city the strong sense of being so close to pristine that it falls short only by dint of being so vastly populated. Within a city so large there is bound to be filth somewhere, no matter if it is not easily seen thanks to the efforts of its considerate and concerned citizens.
The very odor of said filth is barely a memory as I continue to make my way through the city, a faint whiff here and there of the less desirable traits that Tokyo possesses in favor of the much more pleasant olfactory sensations that are that I experienced. Food baking, cooking, frying, being presented in a myriad of different ways to tease and test the palates of the many are ever present, redolent and blended into the general miasma of wonder that is a large part of the city. I can feel a veritable cornucopia of aromas awaiting me as I stroll about the city from one district to another, taking care perhaps to experience each scent and odor in a way that excites and titillates the senses in new ways. There is no shortage of wonders to be had in the experience of Tokyo, not even in the realm of scent and odor that my nose can detect throughout the various corners of the city.
With scent comes as well the taste upon the tongue, the indescribable thirst for the culture that comes through the food and the very essence that lingers upon the teeth and tongue as I immerse myself within the city’s many wonders. Not only does the level of taste emerge in the literal sense in favor of the local cuisine and how it adapts to the needs and desires of those who visit and find themselves a part of this culture, but it exists as well in the aesthetic sense that helps to style and maintain the city. My eyes are assaulted from every point in their periphery, but just as much that speaks to the calmer, more traditional sense of style which is in great part responsible for the culture that has created and maintained the city. That the new age has outgrown the old in ways is blatantly obvious, but the sense of style and of culture has still left its indelible mark upon the very soul of Tokyo, never to be removed or easily forgotten.
The beating heart of Tokyo is in its streets, its gardens, and in the very air that surrounds high rise and temple alike. Within the city there is without a doubt the very essence of what it means to strive for perfection, to exist in a manner that is truly living, and not simply passing through life from one day to the next. Like nowhere else, I feel alive here. Yet for all this mystical wonder and sense of what is truly right in the world, there is still the overlying taint of what is seen first, the face of the city and how it looks to others. Tokyo is not as nice a city as some would make it out to be, and not because of the vast number of personal experiences that might claim it to be so, but more likely the face and sounds it presents as the vast metropolis that it is.
There are reasons why country-dwellers, or those who simply do not care for the city, would disdain the very feel of Tokyo. The lifestyle that existed before the coming of the soul-sucking West has been relegated largely to the past, with those who seek the new and more exciting ways of the western world embracing what is considered the more advanced, socially acceptable lifestyle. To say this changes the sound of the city might well seem an odd statement, but if one listens closely the once calm and steadily beating heart of the city is now a frantic, almost hurried staccato rhythm that does not cease with the coming of night or with the shift between night and day.
Nevertheless, Tokyo’s identity has not been completely demolished by the West, even though its people constantly look in this direction. Those who hold to the old ways and those who seek a stronger connection with what the city used to be are able to hear the same strong, enduring heartbeat of the city that still exists, but only faintly. The pulse of Tokyo is now a superhighway of information, a frenetic population whose continual hum seeks to force down the once proud and mighty surge of tradition. Tokyo is a great city still, but what existed before has become a secret hidden behind the mask of society. Sadly, I can only hear the echo of what Tokyo really is.
