CODE IN TOKYO

I Was Born and Raised in Tokyo, But I Barely Knew the City

I was born and raised in Tokyo.

When I tell people from other parts of Japan that I am from Tokyo, they sometimes ask me about different parts of the city.

“What is that area like?”

“Do you know that shop?”

I do not.

It is a mistake to assume that someone knows Tokyo well just because they are from Tokyo.

Especially when I was young, I really knew almost nothing about the city.

To begin with, Tokyo is too large.

There are major commercial areas everywhere: Shibuya, Shinjuku, Ikebukuro, Ueno, Ginza, and many others. Each of them is also a major train terminal, and each district has more or less everything you need on its own.

In my case, that place was Ikebukuro.

I had gone to Ikebukuro often since I was a child. Shopping, entertainment, and hanging out could all be done there.

Once that is true, there is no particular reason to go all the way to Shibuya.

If Ikebukuro has similar stores, why would I get on a train and go to Shibuya? When I was young, that idea simply did not occur to me.

Even Shibuya’s scramble crossing, which is now packed with foreign tourists, is somewhere I probably visited for the first time only after I became an adult.

Later, the company I worked for moved to Shibuya, and I suddenly became familiar with the area because I worked there.

In the end, people usually become familiar only with the places where they live, work, or spend their free time.

Local Tourist Spots Are Often Like That

Years ago, someone I knew from Kyoto told me that they had never been to Kinkaku-ji temple.

They lived in Kyoto but had never visited Kinkaku-ji temple.

As someone from Tokyo, I was a little surprised at first. But when I thought about it, I realized I was not very different.

That is often how local tourist spots are.

When you think you can go anytime, you do not go.

There is also no strong reason to spend a day off going into a crowded tourist area.

People who live in Tokyo do not usually wake up on a weekend and think, “Let’s go sightseeing in Tokyo today.”

I Started Seeing Tokyo After Getting Older

I started going to different parts of Tokyo only after I got older.

The reason was my wife, who is from another region of Japan.

She did not know Tokyo’s famous places very well either.

So we started saying, “Then why don’t we go?” and began visiting well-known Tokyo spots such as Asakusa, Ginza, and Odaiba.

It is basically Tokyo sightseeing.

Someone born and raised in Tokyo is doing Tokyo sightseeing after turning 50.

But unexpectedly, it is interesting.

Places I would not have cared about when I was young look different to me now.

Sometimes I find myself thinking, “I can see why foreign visitors come here.”

Recently, I have also been trying to walk more for my health, so I now have another reason to go to places I have never visited.

Yesterday, I went all the way to Kadokawa Musashino Museum, a book-themed museum.

That is not even in Tokyo.

Before properly learning Tokyo, I ended up going into neighboring Saitama.

Well, that is probably how it goes.

Being born and raised in Tokyo does not mean I know Tokyo well.

If anything, I knew very little because I always assumed I could go anytime.

Now, after turning 50, I am walking around Tokyo with my wife, who is from another part of Japan.

The order may feel a little strange, but getting to know Tokyo at this age is not bad.

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