September 06, 2004
The shockingly bland conclusion to the largest indie evar!
EVAR. Seriously though, WTFY 2k5 will skip a few stations or something.
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WALK THE FRIENDLY YAMANOTE 2004 CONCLUDE!
Akihabara - 00000
Akihabara! Style, comfort and luxury. And a few electronic stores or flee markets, depending on your view of it all.
Many a day can be spent simply just walking around. Due to the remaining 36 miles left to walk to complete the Yamanote line,
we decided it would be best to save our strength. At the beginning, the party was a record-smashing six people strong! Nick,
Akiko (Nick:s co-worker), Israel, Andrew, Jen, and Jeremy. And me, too, so that:s seven. One for every sin.
It:s about time I mentioned this anime. Or hype the DVD. Samurai Champloo. Look into it. I:ll get this DVD, nay, the whole series when I scrape a few tens of thousands of yen together. Time then was 13:06. We walked north. We walked hungry.
That day I got to see the new Don Quiote (a department store chain). We didn:t go in, of course, but it:s worth mentioning. The group did take some A/C in a cell phone store (which I had business at) and a few 100-yen stores (to buy gifts for friends and family). Israel, Andrew, Jen, and Jeremy waited outside while I tastelessly got a few trinkets to shower my brothers with. They don:t read my indies, so nobody tell them I paid a total of $14 for all the things I gave them. Please, dammit! They:ll beat me up if you tell!
Merely 10 meters from the next station we found our way to a nice curry restaurant, and it only took two tries to find it. We sat and reflected on deep and meaningful thoughts over our BUFFET of food. "Buffet" is French. In Japan they say "baikingu", which sounds similar to "biking" or "Viking" depending on the mood of the day.
Okachimachi - 02136
Strange name, cheap graham crackers and a good curry restaurant. Okachimachi in a nutshell. Sadly, Israel, Andrew, Jen, and Jeremy
realized that 4+ hours of walking on a hot Monday afternoon may not be the best way to spend one of their last 3 days in Japan.
THEY DITCHED US OMGF!
Nick, Akiko and I were walking on Easy Street. The 10 minute walk to Uyeno was mostly on a popular little street cramped on both sides by an endless supply of clothing and shoe stores. We three pressed on, determined to keep good time.
Uyeno - 03355
One of the oldest train stations in all of Japan, it sees all and knows all. No mortal man or woman can understand the secrets of
this massive and historic station. Take for instance how scholars, to this very day, "don:t get" the whole "Ueno" "Uyeno" thing. Sheesh.
One long and very hot walk over the station got us to the inside of the loop. Pigeons, bathroom signs and ancient temples were the highlight until this museum. You can:t see the museum, but maybe the ICBM peeking through the trees could grab your attention? To the left is a large, floating whale.
Uguisudani - 06968
The time now is 16:01. With only three stations down and
daylight running out on us 1/3rd of the way in, morale was strangely high. "Why?" you may be wondering? WHY INDEED! Our ranks were to
be bolstered with three fresh victims. Two n00bs and one l33t fool. Around 16:14 I got a call asking what the next station was (the ideal
place to meet up) and I told them Nippori.
All we had to do now was get there in one piece. Nick wanted to cross through the massive cemetery and I wanted to cross through the massive cemetery at night. Unfortunately, Seth, "the l33t fool" as I put it earlier, and his crew were in transit, so we compromised. We walked through the cemetery with our eyes closed, bumping into... things.
Nippori - 09789
A long and very important JR train station. One mere wait after this and we would continue the death mar... Ah, Walk The Friendly
Yamanote 2004. Six more stations were left and somehow, SOMEHOW it was already 16:40.
Here:s a shot of Nick and Akiko. Seth, his girlfriend Asato, and his father Jon were off somewhere around the station eating a very late lunch or an early dinner. The time was 17:10.
Textiles! Come to Nippori if you ever want them or just want to walk around from store to identical store looking at bolt after identical bolt of fabric. The designs and prices were also IDENTICAL, OMGF I HATE TEXTILES STORES... But I bet none of you knew that, huh?
This is just one of the many odd sights Tokyo has to offer. Strange. It:s a support for a highway or train line. I bet I could knock it down if I ran into it hard enough...
Nishi-Nippori - 12859
Well It:s 17:55 and things were looking a bit bleak. The walk to Nishi-Nippori was relatively uneventful. Next time I:ll be sure to walk
on the inside of the loop, that:s all.
Tabata - 15087
Akiko had to leave the group, leaving us five to fend off the wilds of Tokyo all by ourselves! While Seth and I argued over whose
Japanese was less likely to get us stabbed and lost in Roppongi, Nick took note of the time. It was 18:30, and the cool
evening air was a
welcome firend to us five weary travelers.
Komagome - 17136
To enter Komagome the station you must go in here. But be careful! The maximum height is 2.3 meters, or in other words, more than
twice as tall as the tunnel from day 3. The time is now 19:00 and only three stations remained between us and our goal.
...And another shot. Seth took this one around the same time as mine. The Yamanote train, one of many, can be seen in these shots. Asato and Jon had enough and wished us "good luck" as they left for home or shopping. Possibly both. After walking for two hours in the most boring stretch of the Yamanote, who could blame them?
Sugamo - 19042
Walk... Walk... Walk... Nothing to see or do... Walk... It:s been seven hours since we started... Walk... So tired...
The Nishi-Nippori to Ikebukuro stretch I had already walked before day 4. It:s sort of the "test walk" I did to see if I could get from one station I didn:t know to another station I didn:t know. One wrong turn and you:re way off course and all hope is lost. Not to mention finding your way back on course and such penalties like that.
Fuji Golf. The second coolest driving range in Tokyo. The coolest is actually in Kawasaki, but it can:t help being where it was built!! Also it was only 5 minutes away from my house and over the super market I frequented.
Ōtsuka - 20514
There:s a trolley thingie here. Lots of colleges in the area or not, I really don:t care anymore at this point. Nick, Seth and I were at
the ends of our rope. Fortunately there was only one stop left. The last stop on WTFY 2k4
What the? Commercial business open after 7pm?? This must be Ikebukuro territory! Where all the cool people go to kill time and spend money on things like cheap used VHS tapes and $5 jars of salsa. And Hello Kitty merchandise, yeah.
Ikebukuro - 23603
DONE!! 20:24!! 23,603 STEPS!! GO AWAY!!
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WTFY 2k4 is done and buried. I won:t do anything this stupid for a while. Maybe 12 months, maybe 4 months... Maybe 133 months. SO! Hope you enjoyed the longest and most costly indie adventure to date. Train tickets totaled 1,681 yen or just under $16 US.
Yamanote for Dummies is now done. I memorized the stations this way and saw a side of Tokyo I might never have seen. Good company, good conversations (except that one Nick started about burning puppies), and good memories (especially the burning puppies).
THE END!!
