shinjuku

Walking around Shinjuku this past Saturday night was like something out of a movie. I stuck out like a sore thumb in my t-shirt, jeans and flip-flops, which, by the way, I have hardly worn since we were all warned that showing your toes in public is a no-no. (I was surprised to see that for the most part this seems to be the case -- open-toe wearers most times wear stockings or knee-high socks.)

The crowds of teenagers and 20-somethings had crazy poofy hairdos, colorful make-up and big jewelry, snazzy suits and short short skirts with billowy, lacy tops. Like they'd all been pulled off the runway of some important fashion show.

In my wanderings I happened upon a movie theater and because I love movies and thought it would be a good opportunity to *study* Japanese I decided to check it out. They were showing a lot of American movies, although none that really appealed to me (mostly blockbuster-types like Pirates III, etc). I decided on 大日本人 (Dainipponjin), which literally means "Big Japanese Person." Turned out to be a good choice. I would say I understood about 60-70% of what was being said but got enough of it to know it was pretty great. Imagine Clark Kent meets the Dude and throw in some anime scenes with eccentric *monsters* tearing up familiar buildings in downtown Tokyo. The craziest part was at the end when a troupe of American superheroes come to save the day and take Dainipponjin with them to their house in the sky for dinner. Fantastic!

Afterward I found myself part of a human stampede in Shinjuku station. The trains do not run 24/7 like in NYC, even on the weekends, so around midnight everyone has to make the big decision -- go home or stay out til the first trains start running again around 5am. I was not particularly keen on the latter so I found myself running to find the correct platform.

Side note on Shinjuku station: it is ridiculous. I can think of no good analogy. The station itself is enormous and depending on which side you exit from, you can find yourself in a completely different neighborhood. Inside the station itself there are department stores, food courts, bookstores, restaurants, at least one mall, and not to mention platforms for several different subway and train lines. My teacher, Nakamura-sensei, who has lived in Tokyo for over 20 years, said that it is difficult even for her to find her way around Shinjuku station.

I'm just happy that I can remember the names of the lines I need to take and what direction to take them. I'll save trying to figure out Shinjuku station for another trip.