Except for a few famous landmarks, the Tokyo today I saw was entirely different from the Tokyo I knew in the early ‘70s.
In the early ‘70s only few tall buildings dominated the skyline of Tokyo and the vacant spaces around them were planted to trees. But today these vacant lots are all skyscrapers.
Gone were the enormous individual homes of no more than one or two stories high. They are now replaced by houses of many stories.
Tokyo, the capital of Japan, is the political, cultural and industrial center of Japan. Situated on the large island of Honshu, the city sprawls for miles over the great Kanto plain, Japan’s largest area of level land. Today the hills and mountains that enclose the city on three sides are covered by tall buildings. But the majestic peak of Mount Fuji, about 70 miles southwest of Tokyo, can still be seen on a clear day.
Tokyo has always been the largest city in the world but it is even more larger today after the government filled the Tokyo Bay to accommodate more buildings including the Tokyo Big Sight, one of the world’s largest exhibition centers where the last JATA event was held.
Not only that, the city where almost one out every 10 Japanese lives, spread into the town areas of the suburbs as thousands of people looking for jobs pour into the capital from all over the country.
From the airport, a van brought me to Roppongi district where I checked in at the Roppongi Prince Hotel. It was already past 11 in the evening and the hotel’s restaurants were already closed. I was very hungry and decided to go out of the hotel to look for food. Luckily I found a six-seater ramen house along the Roppongi avenue where I enjoyed hot authentic ramen vegetable noodle.
Roppongi, this international town dominates Tokyo’s night scene. Roppongi Intersection is the crossing of Tokyo and the world. It’s interesting to note that out of 127 embassies in Japan including the Philippine embassy, 69 are situated in the Roppongi/Azabu area. Starting from here, I walked through the crowds on Roppongi Dori toward Roppongi Hills the new landmark.
Here you can spend your time in anyway you like, from eating good food and shopping to experiencing the arts, and savor the atmosphere of old Tokyo. Among the many stroes, taiyaki (carpshaped café) shops and soba (noodle) restaurants attract people from all over the country.
There are five Filipino DJs in various dance halls along Roppongi sidestreets, according to one of them whom we met. He said parties start at 2 or 3 a.m until 12 p.m., sound unsual to hear. He said ecstasy and other forms of drugs passed the hands during these occasions. But even before that these drugs are available at street corners of Roppongi.
Tokyo, with a population of 24 million, has a number of famous buildings and landmarks that are still standing. With a student volunteer taking up Philippine Studies from the University of Tokyo as my tour guide, I revisited some of them including the Imperial Palace, situated in the heart of the city, and home of the Emperor of Japan.
Although the palace was closed when I revisited it being a Labor Day, a national holiday in Japan, just the same, I, together with my tour guide, Masaki Nakatsuka, 22, who speaks a little English and Tagalog he learned from Tokyo University under a Filipino professor, loitered around the palace ground. I told my young guide that the skyscrapers that crowded across the palace were not there in the early ‘70s.
In my attempt to impress Masaki I recalled to him having travelled by train with his Emperor, Akihito and Empress, Michiko from Manila to Baguio City as I covered their first trip to the country during their honeymoon in the late ‘50s. From the defunct Damortis (La Union) train station, we tailed the handsome young couple (the newlywed prince and the princess of Japan) as they motored by a limo to Baguio City.
Masaki who is a member of 50-member (all female and male Japanese) Philippine Folk Dance Troupe of Japan who has not seen in person the emperor and the empress was indeed dazzled by my story.
The second place I wanted to see again was Hotel Okura Tokyo where I stayed during my first visit to Tokyo. The 5-star 5-storey hotel fronting the US Embassy still stands but a tall west wing building was added to it to accommodate more guests. The US embassy is still protected by high wall which was built during the height of anti-American demonstrations in the late ‘50s and early ‘60s.
We also climbed (for the first time for both of us) the famous the 333-m tall Tokyo Tower. Since its opening in 1958, the Tokyo Tower has been the world’s tallest self-supporting steel tower. Its close rival Eiffel Tower in Paris is 320-m high only.
Another well-known landmark is the imposing national Diet building, home of Japan’s parliament. It is located about one mile to the west of the palace. Nearby are several foreign embassies. Northwest of the Imperial Palace is the Marunouchi district where the greatest banks of the country have their main offices.
As we go around the city, it was noticeable that thousands of taxis – small, medium and large – cruise the streets at all hours of the day and night. Brand new automobiles are seen everywhere as the three-year-olds and above are exported to the Third World countries including the Philippines to pollute Metro Manila air. Traffic jams here are frequent despite the new system of elevated highways and railways because of the great number of vehicles on the narrow streets below them.
It is difficult to find one’s way in Tokyo except in downtown area. The streets of the city form a bewildering maze, and even longtime residents lose their way. My student guide who lives in the city always check a handy guide for directions.
Huge flashing neon signs light up the sky. The downtown section has hundreds of restaurants, coffee houses, night clubs and dance halls.
Traveling by train, my student guide brought me to Nakamise Shinto-Buddhist Temple, about one hour from the emperor’s palace. In halting English and Tagalog, my guide said over 200 religions are represented in Japan. But most Japanese who have religious affiliations are associated with Buddhism or Shintoism in their various forms.
He said Shinto, meaning "way of the gods" is a native Japanese religion. It has its origin in primitive nature worship and a type of ancestor worship. Shintoism remained in its pure form until the introduction of Buddhism from China in the middle of the 6th century.
