Nihon e yōkoso - a photo on Flickriver

Nihon e yōkoso

            Shibuya Crossing, Tokyo, Japan

Wow... where do you start with a place like Tokyo. I have always believed there are just three great cities in the world that people should visit at least once in their lifetime:- London, Paris and New York. All three have their own uniqueness, history, vibrancy, culture  and most importantly, the infrastructures to allow people to get around the sites that draw millions to them each year. But I'll have to add a fourth to that list and it's Tokyo.

I have pondered over the last week of our touring adventure (relaxing holiday is not a term you can readily apply to the cities of Japan) as to what should be my first upload on Flickr and I have decided to go with a shot of Shibuya crossing as this best epitomises the vitality and culture of Japan. 

From touching down at Narita airport we had probably been on the go for some 35 hours when this picture was taken. After 20 years of worldly travels nothing has shocked the senses like Tokyo. Depending where you get your stats from Tokyo is one of the most populous cities in the world at 9.273m (2015 figures) but taking into account the surrounding metropolitan areas this swells to nearer 38m. My first 48 hours there cast doubts in my mind as to whether this was a good choice of holiday destination, maybe it was just the jetlag or maybe it was my age finally catching up with me but even with meticulous planning by Mrs R (and I urge anyone who's contemplating visiting to do your homework) you can never fully prepare for what you are about to experience and no guide book can bridge that reality check.

You may think such planning is anal, but as we were staying near Shinjuku station, Mrs R had even researched as to which one of Shinjuku station's 200 exits (I kid you not) we should take for the best route to our hotel. It was at this point the scale of Tokyo hit us both and what should have been a 14 minute walk to the hotel took us nearer and hour and half.
 
However, that was our one and only time we truly got lost and getting about Japan, especially it's cities is an experience and I'm so glad we did it ourselves rather than on an organised tour, which would rob you of so many personal experiences. What seems extremely complicated firsthand is relatively easy to workout providing you read every sign - those on the floor, ceiling, walls and pillars and especially those behind you. Only the fool hardy assumes the way is forward in a Tokyo subway. As Japan is gearing up for the 2020 Olympics many stations/subways are now dual language - Japanese/English, but I really feel for those visitors not speaking/reading either language. A blessing for us brits!

So, back to the picture. For such a vastly populated city, Tokyo simply flows... there are no traffic jams, there is no congestion, no litter, no cigarette butts, no graffiti on the streets - it's the cleanest city I've ever visited. The transport system is the best I've come across in the world, but a lot more about that in a later upload. At Shibuya crossing there are 5 zebra crossings and at any one time there are roughly 2,500 people waiting, but no one jumps the lights, no one pushes or barges their way across... it all flows when the lights go green. We likened our first 48 hours here as living in a perpetual state of exiting the best pop concert in the world, such is the flow of people. An amazing place!

As this was a "holiday" rather than a photo shoot (a hark back to our Italian tour last year) most of my images will reflect this and so I hope people will appreciate the travel blog approach over the coming weeks. Anyone who reads my stream, I really hope you can find the time to comment and express opinions on Japan, especially those that might have been or are considering visiting. We both found Japan to be an experience of a lifetime and I look forward to any questions, comments or disagreements... whatever they maybe.

Taken on: September 30, 2017

Tags:

Japan

Tokyo

Shibuya

crossing

subway

transport

trains

Starbucks

people

flow

traffic

lights

culture

first impressions

shock

population

Andy Rouse

Canon

EOS

5D3

5DMkIII

EF24-105mm f/4L « less

Sets appears in: • Japan - 2017

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Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark III, f/5.0, 1/25 sec, 24mm, ISO 400 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Canon EOS 5D Mark III
Lens:	EF24-105mm f/4L IS USM
Aperture:	f/5.0
Exposure Time:	0.04 sec (1/25)
Focal Length:	24mm
ISO:	400
Exposure Bias:	-2/3 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program:	Aperture-priority AE
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Color Space:	Uncalibrated
Software:	Adobe Photoshop CC 2017 (Windows)
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