Lost in Tokyo: Day 2

Another early start from a restless night in the dormitory. I woke up various times in the middle of the night, not because of the noise or anything but from sheer excitement and joy at the realization of where I was in the world. I am fortunate not to get jet lag or have any issues with accommodating the Japanese diet either which only improved my mood. However, sleeping in a bed that wasn't mine was a little strange and did take some getting used to.

Today was the day we went to the Earthquake and Accident Awareness course that had been arranged for us in Tokyo. The center is operated by the fire department (I think) and runs courses all day for tourists and natives alike, providing an insight into the effects of natural disasters and how to prepare for them. We went with Yuki-san and the girls from Showa University so our group was rather large. We all boarded the subway together, which at this point I was beginning to understand the layout and was able to navigate ourselves without any issue. One amusing thing was that I had to take the Showa girls to the station! (Showa University is in Tokyo by the way)

We all made it to the center which was a little walk from the station, but it was amazing a long the way, being surrounded by tall buildings which crept up to the sky, making you feel so small and insignificant. I took a lot of video footage and pictures of the area which I shall be putting into a video as soon as possible. However, things have been so busy this last couple of weeks that I am so far behind on several things.

In the center we took the elevator to the top floor where we were met by a friendly instructor who guided us around the various information points. The facility was amazing with a variety of interactive elements, the first thing was what to do in a fire which meant having to use real fire extinguishers. There was a TV screen with a living room on fire and we had to aim the hoses at it and spray it with water while shouting 'Kaji-da!' which means 'FIRE!' It was great fun and everyone got a go. It was a little difficult to communicate as the instructor didn't speak English but thankfully Yuki-san was able to translate nearly everything he said. He was however, very kind and helpful.

The next activity will stay with me for the rest of my life. It was a introduction to earthquakes, something which was completely alien to me, coming from England where I think the last earthquake we had was aprox 5 or 6 years ago and was so tiny, most the country didn't even notice it. This part of the course had a state of the art simulator which re-created various magnitudes of earthquakes. The task was simple, you scream and dive under the table and hold on for dear life because of my god it is terrifying! I was on the simulator for a 7.9 magnitude quake and it was horrible! My friends before were put onto a 9.3 magnitude simulation and I can only imagine the terror they felt. I'll be uploading a video soon with footage from the earthquake and the disaster training center!

The simulator

After that terrifying ordeal we were left with the girls from Showa to explore Tokyo freely. However, you can not come to Japan and avoid doing the infamous... KARAOKE! Japan is famous for it's masses of Karaoke centers which host several private booths for groups or singles to sing in to their hearts content, all with the addition of free unlimited drinks. The karaoke was great fun and despite not being able to sing, I had an amazing time and the girls from Showa were so generous in paying for us. Again, I mostly recorded live footage so I shall be uploading that as soon as possible!

In the evening, we were scheduled for dinner with Alex Miller, our secondary country representative who was once a former volunteer in Japan but now lives out here with his Japanese wife and child. Alex was a great guy who was really down to earth and easy to get a long with. He is so generous as well as he paid for dinner at what I can only assume to be quite a very popular and expensive restaurant so I am still in awe that he could afford to take 8 of us out for dinner and host a variety of meals for us. We talked a lot all night, asking each other questions about our home countries and things about Japan while trying a variety of delicious Japanese food. An interesting fact: The restaurant was the original inspiration for the Kill Bill series. The decor definitely matched it, that's for sure! The restaurant was also in Roppongi, the district famed for both its shopping and nightlife which is filled with many bars and clubs, but also acts as Tokyo's 'seedy' district with many back rooms filled with Yakuza deals. Of course, the typical gaijin and even native wont ever come into contact with this sort've thing but it does exist in Roppongi, that is for sure!

The outside of the restaurant

Roppongi Nightlife

After dinner, we found that we had no one to take us back to the hostel so after exchanging numbers and directions with Alex, I was tasked with leading the group back to the hostel through Tokyo's subway network and it is because of this that I can now navigate anywhere with no issue. I got us all back safely and even got the right subway exit which surfaces just outside the street we need to go down to get to our hostel. So all in all, tonight was an amazing night filled with lots of excitement and fun.

Thanks for reading and check back soon for more!