I’ve Lived in Tokyo For 20 Years and This Is My No. 1 Travel Tip

The practice station closest to my home has a cut up persona. Exit north and also you’ve received an orderly bus lottery, tidy streets of chain shops, and the ever current Starbucks. Exit south, nonetheless, and also you’re in a warren of tiny streets, many too small for automobiles, lined by ramshackle buildings with overgrown Japanese kerria and trumpet vines.

It was idly wandering these alleys that I found the Woodworker. That’s not his actual identify, in fact. We’ve by no means met. In truth, in 10 years I’ve solely seen him a handful of instances. However he delivers a burst of pleasure each time I go as a result of his backyard is a menagerie of mechanical dioramas, hand-carved from wooden and powered by little photo voltaic cells. Clicking and clacking, a tiny picket marionette lifts an apple to his mouth advert finitum. A twee carousel of tiny horses solely ceases to show when the solar disappears. The crowded panorama of ticktocking packing containers is ridiculous and charming and completely unforgettable in its barely manic demonstration of Japanese hobbyism.

The Woodworker’s home is hardly one thing you’d put in a journey information. And but, I’m positive it’s a fond reminiscence for guests fortunate sufficient to come upon it.

Over 20 years of residing right here, I’ve usually had family and friends go to. We make the rounds of the same old vacationer websites, which they discover duly spectacular. However the tales we recall to one another years later are in regards to the unplanned encounters. That sake bar the place the proprietor’s canine greeted each arrival exuberantly however growled and nipped their ankles once they tried to depart. That little neighborhood shrine the place the rubbish cans had neatly lettered English indicators studying “Field for FILTH.” That random espresso store that had essentially the most beautiful assortment of Arita porcelain and stacks of express manga.

Tokyo rewards the flaneur. Perhaps as a result of a lot humanity is packed into a comparatively small area. Perhaps as a result of there’s some cultural inclination in the direction of making an idiosyncratic mark on one’s little nook. Who is aware of? However the metropolis is filled with delightfully small discoveries.

So, my journey tip for guests is to depart room for serendipity. Tokyo has a lot to supply, it’s simple to overplan, to hurry from one well-known museum or temple to the subsequent. However you’ll miss a whole lot of what makes Tokyo Tokyo. As a substitute, go away a while to wander aimlessly, taking whichever turns appear most intriguing. The town will reward you with some impromptu jazz riff of humanity that you might by no means have anticipated and will definitely always remember.