Just in Tokyo: Page 19

Just in Tokyo by Justin Hall Page #19 This is a browsable copy of the original pdf hosted on Rikai.com If you enjoy this work, please consider donating to the author This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.
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my own cotton face mask. Eventually someone stopped staring long
enough to let me know that most facemask wearers are protecting
themselves from hayfever, because they're sensitive to it and it's
allergy season. Or they have a cold and they're keeping it to them-
selves. Like many things that seem odd here, once you find out the
reasoning behind them, they make good sense.

Subterranean Love

Flirting is a fantastic way to pass twenty minutes on the train.
People are already glancing at you since your clothing, body lan-
guage, apparent cluelessness and perhaps ethnicity mark you as an
outsider. So feel free to have fun with that by tossing about some
loaded glances. Just remember please don't take a young person's
curiosity too seriously, and respect your hosts.

Another thing to remember, always, is to smile. You will find many
chance encounters on the trains (with people of all ages!) if you
remember to present a friendly countenance.

Subterranean Fashion

Of course the subway is a fantastic place to people watch, and keep
up on Japanese fashion. Suddenly you'll blink and you'll realize that
every lady you see under the age of forty has a small set of fur balls
hanging off of her purse. Or many of the young dudes are wearing
puffy brown leather coats. Fashion here happens fast and hard and
the subway presents a wonderful thick pool of Japanese people to
study.

Particularly shoes, something you can watch without seeming too
intent on surveillance. Look down, notice the shoes - that lady in
business formal attire has curly-toed high heels that would make the
Mad Hatter proud. That bird-legged lady walking up the steps out of
the station has an ankle cast on, and she's still wearing some high
high heels.

Subterranean Foreigners

Tokyo may be the only major world capital where you can board a
crowded subway car and look around you and see no one else that
appears to be from a foreign country. There may be some Koreans
or Chinese folks in the mix, but if you were in London, or Paris, or

Movement -

Crime is increasing in Japan - from 1.7 million reported
crimes in 1995 to 2.4 million reported crimes in 2000.