CODY SHIMIZU

A look into my life, a journal to look back on, a blog for others to see.

I woke up bright and early today , the plan was to go and endulge in some sushi for breakfast at the Tsukiji Fish market. This fish market is one of the largest fish markets, and one of the most famous in Japan. Although most of the market is dedicated to the big buyers like restaurant owners, there is a small section for the public where they sell small souveneir goods as well as a bunch of small sushi restaurants where they serve the freshly brought fish.

When I got there it was only around 8Am but there was already a line up infront of every sushi restaurant there, after wandering around and looking at the menu of the restaurants I choose one that had pictures and numbers on the menu, since I couldnt read any of the other ones LOL. It was absolutely amazing, I had a rice bowl with a bunch of O-Toro, and King Crab legs, it was absolutely incredible. Ive never had soo much King Crab legs!!

Afterwards I headed to the Akihabara area where it was alive and bustling. At first when I got there it was only around 11Am but only about an hour later the streets were packed! The streets were lined with enormous electronic department stores as well as small single shops which were selling small electronic parts from old computers. As you walk along the sidewalk there are girls that are in maid costumes that are handing out flyers for these maid cafes. As I sat on the guard rail eating some skewered cow tongue from a street vendor (Which tasted amazing by the way) I watched as most people just avoided the flyers from the maid girls, but the people who took the flyers were mostly single guys from mid 20s to what looked like 60 year olds. The interesting thing was that when they would grab the flyer they would quickly walk by and snag it like they were doing some sketchy drug deal, but then they would walk a few more meters before stopping and staring at the flyer looking for where the café was, Im not too sure but it definitely is a weird sub culture. I dont know if it’s a taboo or what people think of the cafes but the number of girls handing out the flyers tell me theres at least 2 on every block.

Later I headed to Harajuku to explore a little more and take in the vibe of the place. It was awesome to sit there and just do a little people watching. Seeing the different customs and cultures play out between peoples interactions was really interesting to see. As well as the different sub-culture Harajuku was compared to Akihabara. Where the Harajuku was an image of a more rebellious young, hip, style of place compared to Akihabara was a mix of old small electronics and the DIY electronics to the new sub-culture which is taking over Akihabara was the otaku culture with the anime, and video games.

Before I realized it was already close to 3pm and I hadnt had lunch yet, so I jumped into a random restaurant specializing in chicken. In all honesty I really didnt know what I had ordered and just pointed to a random thing on the menu. Once it came I was so hungry that I started chowing down without much thought. Next thing I know I look down and Im eating chicken tataki, which is (RAW CHICKEN) with a raw egg cracked on top. I stopped for a moment, then quickly pulled my phone out and LITERALLY GOOGLED “IS IT SAFE TO EAT RAW CHICKEN IN JAPAN” and the results were confidence inspiring. Apperently in Japan they are very good at controlling salmonella where it is safe to eat raw chicken meat or eggs. After a sigh of relief I started eating again. It actually tasted a lot better than I really expected and it was great. I was happy that I was able to eat something that I would never have a chance to eat in North America.

This was the last full day already! Everything went by so quickly I couldnt believe it. After a slow morning I headed to Kichijoji to do a bit of shopping. After walking around a little while, I headed to an eel restaurant to finally have some eel! It was absolutely amazing, although expensive totally worth it. I made a quick trip to Shinjuku afterwards to find some gifts. After I got home, I made a quick visit to my grandpas grave, then headed to a sushi restaurant with my extended family! It was nice to catch up with my extended family, albeit it felt a little awkward. Although related by blood my cousins were like strangers to me, people who I occasionally hear about from my parents. Other than that I have pretty much zero interactions with them. Also Im not sure what it is with Japanese teens or maybe just my cousins but they seemed a little on the anti social side, well to them I must be a stranger as well which may have also contributed to that. But my Aunts and Uncles were very welcoming and it was nice to talk about the differences in the cultures and the norms of Japan and Canada. Afterwards I brought a bunch of instant cup noodles and instant yakisoba that I could only find in Japan to take home with me to Canada.

This was my last day in Japan and I would be flying out later that evening, so for lunch my Aunt took my grandma and I to this incredible Soba restaurant where they had the biggest shrimp tempura Ive seen in my life! Also the soba tasted amazing as well it was a nice way to end off my last meal in Tokyo. Afterwards I headed to another superstore in Japan to buy some more snacks to take home with me as I had more room in my luggage than I expected. Once I got back I quickly finished packing my stuff then decided to go and check out the elementary school which I attended when I visited Japan last time. The school looked completely different as apparently they had renovated a few years ago, but there were still some elements of the school that I recognized. After having a nostalgic moment I had to rush back to my grandmas house to head to the airport. At the airport I ran into some trouble, like the idiot I am I never weighed my bag after I packed everything, and the max weight limit is 21Kg. One of my luggage was 27Kg and my other luggage was 14Kg so I ended up being one of THOSE PEOPLE who had to completely unpack and repack everything to meet the weight limit. Fortunately everything worked out, and the luggage went through. When I was saying good bye to my grandma, I could see her eyes starting to tear up, and it almost made me want to cry as well (IM WEAK OK) so I gave her a big hug and promised to visit soon again and said good bye as my Japan adventure came to a close.