Part of Four Days in London: A memoir about trying to find a way to the Olympics, and finding something else instead.

This story takes in January 2010.

“Drinking is bad unless it provides a story.”

Is it geek out time? Yes its geek out time. Seen here: a bedazzled Zaku from Gundam.

I didn’t have a hard time biking to the train station. It was only a few miles from the university. On my way I passed by a giant rocket that was in the center of town. I noted the landmark for future path finding purposes, not anticipating I would have difficulty spotting it from the train station. Confident in how simple it seemed to be to get to the station, I didn’t bother to grab a map or directions back to the university.

Upon reaching the train station I was comforted to spot a Starbucks. While I made a general habit to avoid too many comforts from home, I would make a note to stop here on the weekend trips out to Tokyo. A small cup of coffee and a cookie were a nice comfort to address my homesickness.

After getting on the train I pulled out my guidebook. I knew exactly where I was going: Akihabara. Even before Judo I was drawn to Japan. Pokemon, Gundam, and Dragon Ball Z were staples of my childhood. I had grown up with a love of anime. Akihabara, one of Tokyo’s twenty three wards, is in the anime nerd world equivalent to Mecca.

Akihabara initially gained notoriety as a location to buy electronics and was home to the Tokyo black market after World War 2. While not as commonly portrayed as places like Shibuya (Tokyo’s bigger version of Time Square) it is referenced in anime like Stein’s Gate. These days it is heavily influenced by what’s known as Otaku culture. Otaku is a phrase meant to refer to someone with a deep obssession. It is equivalent to the use of the word geek in the West. Otaku culture has a different perception in Japan than it does in the United States. In the United States the word Otaku is synonymous with a deep interest in Japan, particularly Japanese anime. Within Japan however it can carry negative connotations. While the term has become rehabilitated to an extent, for many years it was considered derogatory. This difference in how the term is received is a common example of how Japanese culture can be misunderstood in the US, especially among young people. As with any cultural exchange, there are nuances. If you feel like checking out a parody of the the American stereotype of an Otaku look no further than this skit by Saturday Night Live.

When I got there I wasn’t disappointed. There were entire department stores dedicated to anime and manga. There was a fantastic, albeit small, museum dedicated to anime. It even had an exhibit with voice actors dubbing new shows. The one downside was I had expected to run into some people dressed up as anime characters (a practice known as cosplay). According to my guidebook and what I had read online, this was a common sight in the area on the weekends. What I didn’t know was that two years before someone went on a stabbing rampage attacking cosplayers. In a country as safe as Japan, this was shocking to read. I also in turn understood why the local practice may have waned in popularity.

Voice actors dubbing an anime.

After finishing my walk through the area, which only took a few hours, I stopped into a little restaurant. I was a little bummed since I had failed to find Nintendo’s Pokemon Center.* Little did I know I ordered some salmon sashimi on rice. A simple enough dish that turned out to be one of the best meals I ever had in my life. I had never given much thought to rice. Rice was that thing you have on the side with your vegetables and meat. It was just bland carbs. This was my introduction to the idea that rice could be really good on its own. I would not go hungry in Japan.

Amazing food to be found in the area. Alas I couldn’t find the Pokemon Center.

A few hours later I made my way to Ropongi. Ropongi, as I discovered, is a nice family area home to Tokyo Tower (picture the Eifel tower but red and white) during the day. At night it becomes a hive for scum and villainy. I had decided it would be fun to blow off some steam and go out for the night. I had just turned 21 and had not yet worked “it’s fun to go to bars legally” out of my system. I had been given a list of bars that were safe to go to by some friends, and thought it would be best to get this out of my system now.

I’ve got several stories about events that happened on the nights I went out in Tokyo that I will go into later. What I will say for now is what followed was a series of poor but harmless choices. I have included a list of pro tips for a night out in Tokyo:

1. Don’t believe the hype. Capsule hotels and other cheap places to stay are not everywhere.

2. Just because you can safely lock things up in the subway lockers over night (in fact you can do this for a day or two though longer will result in a trip to the Tokyo subway lost and found) doesn’t mean you should.

3. Just because bars close at 5 AM, does not mean you should by any means decide “it would be fun to harness this jet lag and stay out till said 5 am”.

While fun, my night ended with me sitting in a McDonalds for ninety minutes waiting for the train to open back up.

The train ride back was thankfully straight forward. My feet were completely burnt out and covered in blisters so I appreciated being able to rest them. When I got off the train and grabbed my bike, I realized there was an issue, I didn’t actually remember how to get back to Tsukuba.

My trusty steed

What followed was at least two hours of me wandering Tsukuba. My feet hurt, it was cold, and I was hungover, but it was still a beautiful day out. I eventually found myself out among the rice patties that I had seen when the train left the station the day before. It was then that I realized there was on reason for me to be frustrated. Practice wasn’t until the next day. I had no where to be. This wasn’t a mistake, it was a happy accident. I stopped and just took it in. I eventually found the rocket in the middle of Tsukuba and found my way back to the athletes dorm.

My temporary roommate Sam asked me how it was. Exhausted I answered it was an adventure. I had been an amazing first week in Japan. After going without sleep for more than twenty four hours, I drifted off moments later. The next day the happy grind would start all over again. Also, my extended night out did cure my jet lag.