Tokyo is vast, fast and very interesting
IT was about 7AM and the sun from my windows was beginning to wake me up. With my room on the 35th floor of a tower in the business district of Tokyo, the view of the endless city was so intense that drawing my curtains – even while I slept – seemed a waste. I liked the feeling of sleeping somewhere in mid-air, among the tower-tops, amid the sparkling lights and vast dawn horizon.
Suddenly, though, I stopped liking it. I felt a tremor and my bed lightly shook, like when the Tube hits a funny note near my flat. With one of the worst earthquakes ever recorded having shaken Japan less than a year earlier, its epicenter not far from where my bed was, I felt panic surge. Hundreds of feet above the ground, I was helpless before the terrifying movements of north Asian plate tectonics. I was not, I repeat not, woman enough to face rumbles from the Pacific Ring of Fire, as the Japanese fault-line is called, on the 35th floor of any building, luxury hotel or not. And certainly not at seven in the morning.
Things seemed better when the world became still again, and I’d had a plate of green tea muffins and lobster eggs benedict in a beautiful, window-walled breakfast room. “Oh yes, there was a little tremor this morning,” smiled the waiter. Tremors, it turns out, are as common as post-sake hiccups in Tokyo and are generally no cause for alarm. The hotel’s executive chef later told us how, in March 2011, when the monster quake hit at 8.9 on the Richter Scale, the Shangri La building swayed back and forth – as its quake-proof DNA intended it to – and that not a thing slid off the shelves in the kitchen. Chefs continued frying omelets. Immediately after the quake, with the country in meltdown, people calmly queued up outside the hotel for taxis – prepared to wait and to do so without panic or pandemonium.
Indeed, the Japanese are famous for their strict adherence to a complex politesse; their amazingly extensive greeting rituals and highly coded tea ceremonies are the stuff of international wonder. But while profound respect for order and protocol is vital in emergencies, it’s also flummoxing to a Western eye. For example, on the morning of our arrival, we went out in the freezing cold on a tour bus of the city and – to get the best view – we sat on the upper deck. It was virtually empty (no wonder: in winter Tokyo is ice-cold though vividly blue-skied), but when we suggested to our guide that we all move a few seats further towards the windshield, she looked around nervously and said it probably wasn’t a good idea, since we’d already taken our seats. We looked at her in disbelief, coaxed her a bit and eventually she unbuckled her seat and scooted a few rows down the empty deck.
Of course, the most famous paradox evident in Tokyo culture is that for every rule-abiding, black-suited salaryman or woman, there is a girl or woman dressed as an erotically-stimulating French maid serving beer or even ice cream with a giant fish bonnet on her head; or people dressed as dolls or cartoon characters wandering neighbourhoods such as Shinjuku and Akihabara, “electricity town”.
Jet-lagged beyond belief (a nine hour time difference and a day flight from London to Tokyo is a tough one), I found wandering around these areas a strange experience. Akihabara, in particular, was surreal: jam-packed with electronics shops and arcades interspersed with ice cream parlours and quick chicken katsu shops, it’s an eco-warrior’s nightmare. It struck me as a kind of hinterland or twilight zone, a place where time slips away as rows upon rows of men sit hunched over their bowls of rice and fruit machines, while women are mainly doing odd things in shop windows (for example riding seesaws). Across town in Shinkjuku, the cool kids hang out dressed in frilly little skirts decorated with strawberries; pigtails; platforms, green hair.
The Tokyo that’s preoccupied with doll-like girls and cartoon images is still only a small part of the city’s curious fabric. Hipsterdom and formality are the next pair of odd bedfellows: take a trip to the Park Hyatt in Shinjuku for a dose of the former on a moneyed level. Made famous by Lost in Translation as the hotel in which Scarlett Johansson and Bill Murray find a kind of love, the foyer is a parade of extreme chic – women in Gucci and furs and uber-aviator shades; men in Ray Bans, leather jackets and sporting incredible quiffs. (The famous bar at the top, though, seemed mainly for tourists).
Tokyo’s art scene is formidable (and formidably hip), but as with any huge city, much of the creative scene is hidden. Tokyo’s coolest hideaways are even more inaccessible than those in other cities as in Tokyo the streets aren’t named, numbers are nonexistent and in the coolest dives, tourists are quite clearly not wanted.
On the other hand, nowhere does formality like Tokyo: and this was the side of the city we experienced staying at the ultra-glossy Shangri-La. Here, it’s all perfectly dressed, super-polite staff, lacquered minimalism and – in fact – a formidable art collection. Food ranges from fine dining Italian in a dining room that makes Claridge’s look shabby, to Japanese. It was here that I tried my first Kobe beef – or maybe it was just the first incredible Kobe beef I’d tried – and nearly wept. It was a whole new paradigm of meltingness.
Formality and business go hand in hand, and this is the ultimate hotel for business travelers – not least for its superb spa and skyline infinity pool. Located in the regenerated Marunouchi district, the Shangri La is in the heart of the financial district, occupying the top of an office building, and – literally – on top of the Tokyo train station. It’s not the sexiest area, perhaps, though the Imperial Palace is here, and there is a good deal of history to be found if you dig a bit.
Where there are business people there is good food – some of the best we had was at one of dozens of ramen shops off a main road in Marunouchi. Equally there are tempura, sushi (sashimi) and steak houses here and across town – each is a speciality to be taken on its own. If you’re in Tokyo on business, come with a good budget or a generous host: the city has more Michelin-starred restaurants than any other in the world.
The Tokyo I saw from my large, beautiful room at the Shangri-La was dauntingly huge. A city like this needs more than a short trip, but one thing I can guarantee is that it can never be boring, whether you like fine art, sashimi at 4AM or girls dressed in strawberry miniskirts.
A Deluxe Room (lead in category) at Shangri-La Hotel, Tokyo starts from JPY 51,944 (approx £426) per night. This price includes breakfast, service and tax. To book visit www.shangri-la.com or call 0800 028 3337. British Airways flies directly from London to Tokyo Narita and Haneda, from £714.
SHANGRI LA CONCIERGE: TRY THIS…
Tsukiji fish market: This is the famous fish market, where tuna from around the world is auctioned off every morning. You have to get up at 4AM to go there, but it’s truly unique. Wander around afterwards to see other marine life being carved up and sold – and beware the swinging machetes. Some of the best sushi in Tokyo is available in the market.
The tour of the fish market is free, it’s just a matter of arranging it in advance.
Kimono experience: If you want to know what it feels like to wear the traditional Japanese outfit – whether you’re a man or woman – this is one way to do it.
JPY 5,000 per person (minimum two people)
Tea Ceremony: This is a guided tour through this most complex of rituals, where the act of drinking your tea too soon could be enough to cause grave offence. Fascinating. JPY 3,500 per person (minimum two people)
Ski: Japan has some of the best powder in the world. In the winter it snows like crazy and the season extends to May. If you’re pressed for time in Tokyo and can’t get to Fuji, try Gala Yuzawa, a small resort 90 minutes away from Tokyo on the bullet train. Ski rental, tickets and even the gondola are located immediately adjacent to the train station. It’s a far cry from the Alps, but there’s no shortage of snow and minimal queues. For train tickets, lift pass and 10 per cent off ski hire equipment at Gala Yuzawa, try Japan Specialist, at japanspecialist.co.uk. For more info about skiing, see the Japan Tourist Board at www.seejapan.co.uk.
ZS