Ramen! Robots! People! Welcome to Tokyo!

August 7, 2018

We have arrived in Tokyo and it is not like the rest of Japan we have seen so far! As we left the train we were immediately met with the sights and sounds of a big city again-tons of commuters, all in a rush, and all the lights and noise you can imagine. It’s also a bit dirtier than the rest of Japan has been, and by “dirty” this is nothing compared to literally any other city we have ever visited, but not quite what we were used to in the rest of the country.

We decide to head out to explore the Shinjuku neighborhood, which is full of neon lights, tons of stores and lots of people. It seems like this is a more expanded version of Times Square. We stop for dinner at a small ramen shop where we wait in line, always a good sign here, and then are shown to our own little cubicles to eat. We are given the order form and directions, explaining to first eat, experiencing the food, before adding any additional items or drinks. Apparently being served in cubicles is also part of the experience of simply focusing on the ramen and not distractions around you. They definitely take their ramen very seriously here. As usual with our meals here, it is delicious and so different from the other ramen we have had. We have noticed that each one is unique not only to the region but also the specific place, some focusing more on the broth, others the noodle, or the toppings.

The Robot Restaurant. Only possible in Tokyo.

As we continue to walk through the streets, we find our next stop of the evening, a place that only makes sense in Tokyo: The Robot Restaurant. Calling it a restaurant is a bit of stretch, as it’s more of a robot show with optional food and drinks options. We entered the waiting room full of mirrored walls, bright lights, gold chairs, and all the tackiness you can imagine. We then experienced the 90 minute show of loud music, lasers, neon lights, a cheesy video explaining the “story,” and all the robots and crazy dancing you can imagine.

After walking our in a daze, we headed to the Shibuya area, another neighborhood full of more neon lights and craziness. Right outside the train station is one of the busiest intersections in the world. It is an all-direction crosswalk, where every 2 minutes, pedestrians make their crossing and chaos ensues. We were there are about 10pm and based on the amount of people that were there still, we were not surprised it is the busiest crosswalk. Apparently at peak hours, they estimate about 2,500 people cross at a time! While that sounds amazing, we were glad to see it much later when the massive crowd was apparently relatively small.