Welcome to Wonderland

Tokyo, Japan

From the instant we stepped off the plane we loved Japan. After 4 months of travelling through south east Asia we can admit that a few home sicknesses had begun to take their toll. But somehow, Japan wiped them all away. And now, at the time of writing, just a few days from getting on the plane home, it turns out that we aren’t ready to leave at all.

Tokyo was instantly welcoming; our first experience was the toilet. The heated seat, gentle music and ridiculous number of buttons made us feel like we’d stepped into the future. Even the most public of toilets are spotless, and come with a set of controls.

Our next experience with Japanwas with its people. The jumbled messy crowds of China had disappeared and instead we were met with orderly queues and people who went out of their way to make sure we were going the right way. Everyone we have met so far in Japan has been incredibly welcoming, friendly and helpful. Even if they can’t speak a word of English!

The streets here are infallible. Everywhere you look, someone is cleaning, sweeping or polishing. They are spotless, even cleaner than Singapore! I couldn’t find a single cigarette butt on the floor.

As a city, Tokyowas as modern and dazzling as we pictured. There are districts that teem with flashing lights, arcades, casinos and anime shops. It’s fascinating to look at a buildings floor guide and see just how much it contains.

There’s some weird sh*t here too… Really weird. We found French maid cafes where the girls – obviously dressed as French maids – call you master and ask you to clap and perform mini dances with them when they bring you a drink. It’s a slightly disturbing mix of erotic and childish. The popularity of anime is also incredible, characters (often highly sexualised) fill the streets, you find it everywhere; billboards, video games, cereal packaging, childs toys.. You name it.

After seeing this, we passed a sex shop and decided that we just had to go in. The first three floors were host to a mind (and other things) blowing array of toys and devices. Or, how about some used female underwear to sniff? The top floors were for men only. I found myself among the most detailed sex dolls that I’ve seen – errrm.. imagined!

Even the generic supermarkets often sell fascinating extras. Fancy a samurai sword? No problem, just head into the nearest equivalent of Tesco. Whilst you’re in there you could grab some kinky fancy dress outfits, a few throwing stars or maybe some anime porn?

The food here is also amazing; the supermarkets are giant and contain bakeries, delicatessens and other sections. Everything is so fresh and tasty. You can grab a coffee or tea off the shelf and it’s inexplicably constantly hot, no need to heat it up. Japanis insane and awesome. We love it! Now, time to buy some more used underwear.