Home >> DL Index >> Japanese Night Life, Shopping & Seasons

.:A Desert Lifestyle Article:.

What I Love about Japan
Part 2: An insider's view of Japanese Night Life, Shopping & Seasons
Story & Photos By: Lala Bevilacqua

It’s not just the beautiful, mystical and sometimes downright odd traditions that make Japan such an intriguing country to visit and live in. As East meets West and the old merges with the new, Japan bursts open its cultural seams with energy and activity, hyper-loading your senses with all the wonders of the modern world…but with that exotic samurai twist. Whether your passion (or addiction) is shopping, skiing or partying like there’s no tomorrow, welcome to Japan, you’re in the right place.

Night Life

What’s the one thing I’ve missed since leaving Japan? Neon lights. Lots of neon lights. A beautiful starry night sky is hard to beat, but sometimes you just want the glitz and excitement of a city that never sleeps. The rural areas shut down early like any small town, but in the big cities of Japan, night is like a second awakening. Businessmen, weary from a long day’s toil, drink and eat their irritations of the workday away at the many izakaya restaurants. Billiard and dart bars open their doors to the hipper crowd of wannabe sharks, and young and old alike file into the numerous, multi-level karaoke complexes to sing like a rock star.

Clubs and bars abound in every major Japanese city for every age group, taste in music and girth of wallet. Piano bars? Check. Hip-hop clubs? Check. You name it, Japan has it. Drinks tend to be on the pricier side compared to counterparts in the United States, averaging about $8 each. For a romantic night out, the mega hotels have top level bars with breathtaking nightscapes, like the Top of Akasaka at the Akasaka Prince Hotel, where you can indulge in tasty libation while overlooking the sparkling lights of Tokyo.

Numerous other options exist for insomniacs. Shibuya is a hotspot of backstreet bars and underground clubs, a few known worldwide in the genre of hip-hop and house/trance. Shinjuku, another night life hot-spot, is a town for those who know where to look. For those who don’t, there’s always Google. What’s the best aspect of partying in Tokyo? You don’t have to worry about designated drivers. The metro system takes you anywhere and starts running at the break of dawn; perfect timing since most clubs and bars in Tokyo keep rocking until the sun rises in the East.

Shopping in Tokyo

Yes, many weird fashions exist in Japan and yes, you will walk into stores where you won’t find a single article of clothing on the racks that you would ever consider wearing in public. The truth is, Tokyo is one of the most fashionable cities in the world, where you can experiment with style to the nth degree and still feel like you fit in just fine.

One of my favorite shopping districts, for the sheer collection of stores specializing in diverse styles and goods, is Shibuya. Home to the ever-notorious six-way “scramble” crossing often seen on Tokyo travel documentaries, Shibuya breathes its own culture. You could spend an entire day sitting at the Hachiko square, a popular meeting spot outside Shibuya station, people watching or window shopping. Towering department stores filled with designer everything and basement Rasta shops tinted in ambient lighting line the convoluted streets. Prada iPod cases, old 12-inch vinyls, $5,000 kimonos, robo-dogs, Burton snowboards, vintage jeans, one-of-a-kind Sumi-e scrolls and every PS3 racing game never translated into English encoding are all available for purchase within a 15-minute walking radius. You may be overwhelmed at first by the endless flow of pedestrians filling the streets, but with a little practice, you’ll be dodging and weaving effortlessly like the locals. Stop and take pictures at your own risk.

More of a tea and biscuits kind of shopper? Ginza is just an underground ride away. Ginza has one of the highest (if not the highest) concentration of designer label stores in Japan, making the town’s name a brand in itself among the Japanese. Many visitors come just to window shop and enjoy the elegant and posh atmosphere of Ginza and maybe drink a cup of cappuccino or two at one of the many Euro-taste cafes. Ginza isn’t just about Cartier watches and Hermes scarves though. It’s an old town with a deep history. In fact, after the town was nearly gutted by air raid fires during World War II, it was steadily rebuilt to its grand glory through the resilience of the Ginza merchants. For a period after Japan’s surrender and before the restoration of Ginza, United States forces occupied the town with military police directing jeeps in the center square and barracks constructed to house military personnel. Interestingly, one of the oldest department stores in Ginza, the Matsuya, served as a Post Exchange after World War II.

Seasons

Each season in Japan is very distinct. You can mark the changing of time by the colors of the foliage and the feel of the air. Japanese love their autumn foliage. The greens of spring and summer turn vibrant shades of red, yellow and orange. Many of the historic Japanese sites and temples are in their best elements when fall ushers out the ephemeral energy of summer. In Japan, fall foliage is called koyo (literally, “scarlet leaves”) and many people venture out to the koyo hotspots to see Japan dressed in its autumn best. Kyoto prefecture has some of the most beautiful, historical Japanese towns and sites in the country, with 17 properties designated as UNESCO World Heritage Sites. One of these is the Kiyomizu-dera, a temple comprised of 15 buildings. The main hall juts out over a precipice for a spectacular view of the sea of fall foliage below. Walking through the older districts of Kyoto is like strolling through history, with elegant, subdued wooden structures adorned with flashes of bright red lanterns or paper umbrellas, and the sounds of echoing footsteps on the stone-paved streets. season2

Unbeknownst to many, in winter, Japan is a hot spot for skiing or snowboarding with slopes in places like the northern island of Hokkaido. The coastal prefecture of Akita located in northern Honshu (mainland Japan), or the site of the 1998 Winter Olympics, Nagano, have numerous ski resorts catering to the needs of hard core carvers or beginner snow bunnies. The Niseko-Hirafu area in Hokkaido boasts an average snow depth of 11 feet and was named second in the world’s snowiest places for 2007. If world class powder is what you want, look no further. Niseko-Hirafu has 61 runs spanning three resorts and 12 square miles of back-country. If time is of the essence, a two-hour ride on the train departing from Tokyo will get you to the massive Naeba Ski Resort consisting of four interconnected mountains all accessible on one pass. Naeba is home to one of the world’s largest ski resorts. On a personal tip, I would suggest looking for a bus tour. Believe me, lugging a snowboard and all its accessories on a crowded train for two hours after hitting the slopes all day is one serious trial in patience. Try the H.I.S. travel agency at www.HISExperience.jp.

Spring ushers in the sakura or cherry blossom season. Droves of Japanese venture out of their homes and workplaces to enjoy the warming air and the light pink petals adorning rows of trees in places like Ueno Park in Tokyo. The cherry blossom has a special place in the hearts of the Japanese, as many consider it an unofficial national flower. The cherry blossom embodies the spiritual sense of fragility of life and mortality, exemplifying the concept of “mono no aware” or the “beauty in transience.” So serious is the arrival of this season to the Japanese that news programs inform viewers daily of the impending bloom through updates of the sakura zensen or the “cherry blossom front,” a calculated forecast of the blooming “line” moving from Okinawa up the archipelago. Ohanami (literally “flower viewing”) is such a popular event during the cherry blossom season that it should be considered a national sport. People compete from the break of dawn for the best viewing spots under the trees. Ohanami is like a lively picnic marked by lots of eating and drinking. Quite often, your usually hard-nosed boss is dancing drunk in his boxers and socks with his necktie wrapped around his head.

Summer, my favorite time of the year in Japan, is when the energy knob is turned up in every beating heart across the country. Never mind the sweltering heat or the waterfall of sweat flowing from every pore. Summer is omatsuri or festival season.

Both major cities and local neighborhoods busily prepare for this time of the year. Vendors line the streets with booths offering food, games and goods. Indulge in delectable treats like steamed potatoes soaking in butter, frozen chocolate-dipped bananas, beautifully shaped sugar cane candies and mouth-watering yakisoba (fried noodle) while enjoying simple games like goldfish scooping, water-balloon fishing and hoop throwing. Omatsuri are religious and spiritual festivals worshipping the many different gods of Shinto-ism. They are also infused with the ancestral worship aspect of Buddhism. Many omatsuri involve the locals of the community carrying an omikoshi, (richly adorned mini shrines that temporarily house a god for transportation) through the streets. Traditional wear for male omikoshi bearers are loin cloths, so try not to stare when you see a crowd of young and old men ambling around without pants. To really get in the spirit of things, don a yukata (the most casual of kimonos usually made from cotton) and don’t forget to carry a uchiwa (paper round fan) to cool yourself off amidst the energy of the crowd.

.:A Note from Lala:.

I’ve scratched the surface of what I love about my country in this two-part feature but there’s no way to completely convey the exciting, intriguing, bewildering and sometimes confusing experience that is the collage of living or visiting Japan. As in any great adventure, the details are so much more vivid when captured with your own eyes. So, what’s the greatest tip I, as an insider, can give you to make the most of your experience while in Japan? Easy. Open your mind and breathe it in.