Businessmen with straight faces in classy black suits smoke cigarettes and drink beers inside traditional izakayas—then party the night away in trendy Roppongi dance clubs. Teenage girls in poufy pink Hello Kitty dresses pose for pictures with tourists, and eat cake every Sunday morning on the bridge of Harajuku outside Harajuku station. Women and men of all ages dressed in kimonos sit by the river and watch fire works while drinking beer and munching on shaved ice to cool off in the summer heat. Fashionistas in the latest styles catwalk the streets of Harajuku to shop at high-end boutiques and drink coffee in windy sidewalk cafes. Young women and men with fake tans, overly painted faces, and pink hair sit on street corners in Shibuya and puff cigarettes with reckless abandon. All this can be found in Tokyo.
I lived in Tokyo for seven months teaching English and was constantly in awe of the myriad types of people who encompass this city. Tokyo lives and breathes like a human being and is a city of constant movement. In the heart of Tokyo—mainly the districts of Shibuya and Shinjuku—there is a revitalizing energy that never failed to keep me inspired. Bars and clubs transform this part of town from day to night with partygoers coming and going until the sun comes up. It is a center of constant energy, life, and contemplation.
Often it was easy to feel nameless and lonely, even while being surrounded by hordes of people shoving me in every direction. Everyone is always on the go. However, it is only a matter of time until the city forces you to adapt to its hectic lifestyle. Eventually you start to live and breathe it and appreciate the anonymity of life there. It is as if you can be anyone you want, dress however you like, and no one seems to question it. Not that judgments and stereotypes don’t arise—everyone just seems to mind their own business and live their own lives. Within Japan’s traditional rigidity, Tokyo has seemed to break through and has an undeniable sense of independence and non-conformity.
