by Michael Wong
Tokyo is an amazing place. With its ancient shrines hidden behind massive buildings that soar into the sky, Tokyo is hardly a place you could compare with any US city. The myriads of salarymen, shoppers, and school kids that make their way through this haze of streets and lights and brown air seem to do so with almost unconscious ease. But for the tiny group of foreigners or gaijin that make this city their home, it can be quite difficult. And if you can't read at least 300 kanji or know 2nd grade Japanese grammar, it can be an almost insurmountable challenge.
You might be excused for thinking that for me--an American living in Tokyo for 5 years now and with over 1000 kanji under my belt--this city has passed from the exciting exotic world of wonders it inevitably is to the newcomer to something much more mundane. To a certain degree, this is true. For the first month after I first came here, stepping outside my front door was a challenge in itself, but even after the first year, I could only go to the office and the local convenient store with any confidence. Another year after that, the vast maze of subway lines opened up its secrets, and my world expanded. And now after 5 years, I feel a certain sense of pride as I board the subway to an obscure station or give directions to the taxi driver in Japanese. Success! (And complacency?)
Yes, the city is my home now, and I feel relaxed and completely at ease as I navigate its intricacies these days. Of course with a city as vast as Tokyo, you can never say you know it all. Yet it has become increasingly more difficult to find new ways to explore this ancient city--but to the resourceful American mind, there are ways. And this gaijin for one has found his. I call it "playing moth."
I have done this with many friends who are either visiting or are new to the city. This game of exploration, which I devised with my sister during her visit here, is based on the instinctual behavior shown by countless moths of the winged variety each and every night: the hunt for light. But before I begin my tale of one such adventure, I need to give you some background.
On Wings of Steel
The bicycle is essential to this game. Fortunately, my girlfriend and I each own two bicycles, so when a visitor arrives, we have a couple of spares. Playing moth cannot be done properly without this leg-powered form of transportation. Cars are too fast and isolate one from the city, and walking is too slow to let you find anything of interest before dawn. So bicycles it is. We mount up and then off we go...but where do we go? I of course provide a certain false sense of security to the newbie by boldly leading the group into the Tokyo night, pointing at this and that along the way. But after a few short kilometres, I fall to the back of the pack and announce to the newbie, "I am done leading for the night--it's time for you to play moth!" The newbie is always reluctant and almost scared to death of the maze of unknown streets without names or landmarks or English markers but with a little encouragement and the motto "follow the lights," the newbie takes off.Which way? Follow the lights. Where now? Follow the lights. Is this way okay? Follow the lights!!!
A 3D Maze
At this point, I need to explain the make up of the city. First of all, one must remember that this is city of over 20 million people squished together in a fairly tight area, and this means that the only direction to build is up. So what we see covering 90% of the city are very tall buildings from 4-15 stories tall on average. Be they houses, apartment buildings, warehouses, offices, department stores or markets, they are very high throughout the city and into the suburbs. But it is not, however, one huge bustling downtown. Rather, there are perhaps a dozen "mini-downtown" districts evenly spaced apart and easily recognised by the enormous buildings which tower over all others by 40 stories or more! And in between these "downtowns" are long stretches of local residential enclaves that hide within themselves parks, shrines, temples and small shops. There is no concept of separation of uses, so it all gets jumbled together amidst roads that wind their way through wherever space permits.Trying Your Wings
Our story would not be complete without a classic example which depicts the adventure of playing moth in all its glory. On one occasion several months back, I had two good friends come over from the London office to do some computer work during the week. On the weekend, they left it up to me to show them around. And me, knowing how to play moth, obliged them with great anticipation.
On Saturday afternoon, I had Victor and Simon meet me at my flat, where I had the two spare bicycles. We had a couple beers on my balcony and talked until late in the day. They complained a little about not being able to see the city since work had them tied down till late night. So I was happy to tell them that this then would be their lucky night because I was going to take them on a tour of the city they would never forget--and neither would I as it turned out!
I need to tell you a little about both Victor and Simon before describing our moth adventure. They are quite opposite in every way. Victor is a tall and wide black man with muscles bulging out of his muscles. He is married, has two kids, and, despite his size (and a laugh like a lion's roar), he has the disposition of a timid hamster and enjoys the quieter side of life. Simon on the other hand is a young single Brit looking for action and excitement, who never misses a chance to ogle a passing short black skirt. Simon was game when I told them that we were going for a bike ride but Victor warned that it had been years or even decades since he had ridden--but being an easy going man, he was easily persuaded.
So off we went, and with my Japanese girlfriend included (essential for surviving in Japan for any duration, by the way), we must have made a motley bunch. I quickly took the lead and started down some quiet back streets until Victor assured me that he most likely would not fall off again for the foreseeable future. That's when I turned onto a major street, Kiyosubashi-dori. (Japanese 101: dori means street.)
The sun soon fell behind the tall buildings, and once it did, I knew that it was time for the game of moth to begin. I said that I did not care who led, but that either Simon or Victor should take over and play the role of lead moth. After puzzling looks and excuses about getting lost and not knowing where to go, I told them that that is the fun part of this. Just think like a moth and follow the lights. At any of the myriad of intersections that exist in Tokyo, just look down each street and head down a direction which is either brightest or most colourful or has something that has for some reason piqued your interest. And so they did. We were off!
First Flutters
At first there was some confusion about whether heading toward many small lights was better than going toward one bright light, but they soon figured out that it didn't matter one bit. For the exciting things to see are often places in between and not well lighted at all.
For example we were out for at least 5 hours that evening (not always riding of course), during which in an unusually dark but distinguished building turned out to be the Tokyo Stock Exchange, home of the Nikkei. (Being finance people they were quite excited about that!). And then there was a small street with a funny red light coming from a garage that we checked out. Inside we found a dozen old men in traditional garb preparing an omikoshi--an ornately decorated shrine that is carried in parade-like fashion--for an upcoming autumn festival. (Omikashi are the size of small cars and can weigh as much!) On another occasion during our adventure we were stopped by some smartly dressed bicycle police who checked to make sure the bicycles were all registered and not stolen. The surprised look on their faces when they found that all 4 were registered under my name was worth the 10 minute wait (I should mention that if it weren't for my Japanese girlfriend who could explain to the Japanese-only-speaking cops that we were just confused tourists, the wait could have been much longer).
The fun really began to pick up as we turned on to Harumi-dori and got closer to the famous lights of the Ginza, Tokyo's ritzy-glitzy shopping district. Now this is a moth's paradise! With every color of the spectrum represented in joyous and confused abundance, we lost all desire to leave, and so we didn't: we stayed, and shopped, and walked our bicycles through the throngs of people; we laughed and talked and looked at all the pretty girls (for Simon's benefit); we ate and drank and soaked up the brilliance until we had our fill (of lights and sake!).
After the Ginza we hit some back streets that led us to a place that was particularly dark place but for a single beautiful light in the middle. We had entered Hibiya Park, which is famous for its colourful gardens--none of which we could see at night. Instead we were entertained by a dazzling fountain that shot lighted water 3 stories into the sky! Now this was a magnificent glow that attracted not only Tokyo moths but also scores of lovers, young and old alike. Noticing no young single girls amongst the spectators, however, Simon urged us on.
Out the back side of the park and into an area filled with dark gloomy buildings surrounded by police on every corner, I had the pleasure of introducing my visitors to nerve center of Japan's government. We cycled past the suspicious eyes of patrolling police (secret and otherwise) standing in front of buildings such as the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Education and Ministry of Technology--all blackened and dead to the world at this time of night. No place for a moth in his right mind to be for any extended time! But after crossing Sotobori-dori and passing by the infamous JT Building (government-owned Japan Tobacco, we were confronted by an immense brown nondescript building in the middle of a well guarded compound with flood lights that could have attracted moths from distant parts of the world, all beamed up at the stars and stripes of the American Flag. Yes, we had arrived at none other than the US Embassy! Which I should mention did not impress my British friends one bit….
With hardly a second glance we passed behind the ANA Hotel on a street lined with cherry trees (magnificent in spring) which led to a large street called Roppongi-dori. Up the hill we went under the ominous raised expressway which hovers four stories over the street until we reached the place Simon now warmly refers to as "Single's Paradise." For amongst these bright lights are heaps and heaps of young girls and guys walking this way and that between the bars and the pubs and the clubs and the love hotels…. (Don't ask!) No sooner had we arrived at Roppongi Crossing that Simon found himself with a handful of fliers promoting X hostess club or XX dance hall or XXX gentleman's club. It took all of our combined strength to drag him away from these hypnotic lights…away from the masses of girls in high black boots and mini-skirts who dye their hair blond or brown or red and giggle with their hand over their mouths. Simon with great reluctance gave in, and we moved on (thanks greatly in part to Victor's timely mention of Simon's girlfriend back in London!).
Lunatics
The highlight of the evening must have been on the return trip home, when Simon got the grand idea to follow the moon. We had started to double back from Roppongi and toward the skyscrapers of Kamiyacho, the financial district, when we were rewarded with the sight of a full moon balanced on top of the glowing red needle of Tokyo Tower. I knew that Tokyo Tower was in the area, and even though it was the wrong way, I let them discover it because if there is ever a fine night sight to see in Tokyo, it must be this. We lingered here for several minutes before I told them that their ride as Tokyo moths was at an end,, and that I would be leading them home.
We were all exhausted and fulfilled (and a wee bit tipsy) so we took it easy--but it was approaching midnight, a time when the dreaded Tokyo taxi drivers come out in force to roam the streets like packs of hungry wolves...and woe to all those who should get in their way (especially those of the non-motorised two wheeled sort!). So we did just that and stayed on the side roads. Although narrow and dark, they are as safe as any other street in Tokyo. We were joined on those almost deserted streets by the occasional drunken salary man or road construction worker. My British friends were quite surprised as we passed a young girl walking alone or old man walking his dog, sights one would never see in London if you knew what was good for you, they said.
We arrived back at my apartment at just after midnight. And before calling a cab to take them back to their hotel, I was honored that they would thank me so profusely for their incredible and enlightening journey through the heart of Tokyo, seeing sights no normal tour could ever offer. Of course at the beginning they were sceptical about bicycles and even more so about playing moth, but by the end of the day, they would have had it no other way!
We flitted here and fluttered there
to where ever the lights would lead
A Tokyo moth without a care
and adventure his only need.
Text and photos by Michael Wong
