Tokyo

There's no other city in the world like Tokyo. It's packed with people and alive all day, all night and yet anyone can walk down the street in relative safety. We can stumble and sway drunk as we want to be, fall asleep on the train with our bags next to us. I don’t know how many times have I left my laptop or my iPad on the seat only to have it waiting for me somewhere at a nearby station or police box lost and found. Yes, over the years I have had some difficult times, but I don't think that difficult times are completely indicative of Tokyo. In America, a man can get shot for straightening an air freshener on rearview mirror. That's hard times! Once in a while a Tokyo cop will stop us on the street to ask ID, but no one has ever died from it.

This city howls with all kinds of madness, mayhem, topsy turvy crazy out of the world look over your shoulder and say to yourself what did I just see happenings. It'll make you dizzy if you don't pay attention. Like all big cities, Tokyo can suck the life out of you. Being constantly surrounded by so many people can sometimes be an incredibly lonely experience. Still, I love this mad town with every sinew of my being. I love the young bustlers in Shibuya and the old ladies shopping for bargain bags in Ginza. I love the seedy characters of Roppongi and Shinjuku. I love the business suit clad salary men on the march in Akasaka. I love the Chinese, Koreans and Japanese mishmash in Ueno by the park. I love the hoity toity of Hiro and Daikanyama where high fashion foodies flirt with bourgeoisie intent.

This is definitely my town, my place, my home, my slice of earth. I don't give a damn how much of an alien I am. Home is where you make it and here is where I've made mine. Sure, the pandemic has put a damper on the city. That’s to be expected. I sit here in my chair growing fatter by the day as I live my life through computer screens watching my daredevil friends hit the streets of Tokyo. I understand it. I understand how hard it is to tear yourself away from all that life. Hopefully, all this pandemic business will be over soon so we can get back to our regularly schedule program of nightly rampages across the city.

I want to hear subwoofer beats as the DJ wrinkles his brow intently while looking through his record stack. I want to jump like a madman in some live house in Ebisu, howling wild at the wind. I want to catch a cabaret burlesque just like the kind they used to do at the Moulin Rouge. You can see that kind of thing here in Tokyo if you know where to look.

Tokyo, oh Tokyo, you and I are going to be in this to the end, well until my end anyway.