silent intensity
Upon getting off the plane at Narita, I was whisked away by SkyLiner train to karaoke in Shibuya, then off to a strange very Euro bar with an all red interior, all night conversation to the soundtrack of thumping disco, somehow dovetailing into amazing sashimi for breakfast at 4 in the afternoon, next gave a presentation for Pecha Kucha at Super Deluxe, afterwards I drank the best margarita I've ever had, got some sleep, and now a day to be spent looking for Uto Ploier at BEAMS, and gifts for friends. Welcome to Tokyo.
But throughout all of this I realize that this city should be much louder. How is it so quiet? There is intense activity in every direction and at every angle, but there is so little noise. Everyone takes their cell phones outside to make calls, no one seems to feel the need to have obnoxious conversations (at least in public space), the trains are all so well maintained that they are nearly silent, and no one is carrying a boombox. As I walk throughout the city I just have the sense that these are people who have little need for loud public conversation and are completely uninterested in striking up conversations with strangers. I love this aspect of the environment. I hate it when in America strangers just approach you and start speaking as if you actually want to talk to them. This happens to me constantly in San Francisco and is so completely irritating. Here in Tokyo, communication to strangers is made by slight gestures, clipped statements, and very little eye contact. Definitely the way I prefer it.
---Roddy (in Tokyo)---