Into Shibuya

Today I decided to get out of Shinjuku and see more of the city. It’s a little more daunting than you might think. I really have some trepidation about using the Tokyo subway, and you would too if you saw the subway map. I wanted to see one of the animal cafes, but which kind? Cats are nice, but we have lots of cats in New Hampshire. Dog, ditto. The miniature pigs were too far away, so I set my mind on hedgehogs. It was a bit of a haul though, about 45 minutes to Shabuya. The place was hard to find; Google navigation doesn’t cope well with places that are upstairs or when you have to go over one of the pedestrian overpasses they have here. That came up in Kanazawa; its not nearly as busy as Osaka or Kyoto, but there were some large intersections where there were no crosswalks. I wondered how the hell you were supposed to cross the street for a while until it finally occurred to me that what I thought were entrances to subways were actually underpasses. 

I made it to the Hedgehog Cafe. Its not just hedgehogs; they have a menu of animals and options. They have a bunch of what I would call cribs (in the baby sense, not the LA Crips sense) with some sleepy hedgehogs; after all, they are nocturnal. Unfortunately, they landed this gig, for which they are unsuited. You put on gloves and you can pick them up; for a few yen more, you get a tiny cup of mealworms and you can feed them with tiny tongs; they aren’t so sleepy that they don’t chow them down with gusto. For an additional charge, you can have an up-close and personal experience with a bunch of otters. For those with less to spend, there are a bunch of little bunnies. You know, I’m a little cynical and curmudgeonly; this will probably shock both of my kids, Jon and Joss, but it’s true. The idea of animals as a source of amusement for tourists is…OMG, that hedgehog just made the cutest little noise! They are so prickly and adorable! 

(BTW, Jon, I’m sorry, but they bear no resemblance to Sonic and not one of them ate a chili dog.)

I decided to do a little shopping in Shibuya, but the crowds were unbelievable—maybe the worst I’ve ever seen. They have some amazing buildings and all kinds of major brand stores, as well as every junk shop you can imagine. I did find one store that would be my wife’s favorite.

I grabbed a cab back to Shinjuku and eventually found my way to an udon restaurant. Nothing particularly special about it, but very atmospheric. I’m still astonished by the price of meals and drinks and restaurants compared to what we pay in the US. I had a bowl of curry udon and a draft beer, and it came to 1800 yen. That’s about $11.50 US. I followed up with a glass of sake for $5.00. The waiter comes over to your table with a gigantic bottle and fills the glass to overflowing; my understanding is that this is a sign of generosity and also shows that they are giving full measure.

Since it was my last night in Tokyo, I decided to walk around a little bit more and just take in the atmosphere. Here are some shots of streets, crowds, and storefronts: