Golden Week: My Birthday!

Feeling rested from our lazy day yesterday, we were all ready to go for, arguably, the most important day of our trip, my birthday! Today we planned to tackle both Shibuya and Shinjuku, two very large areas of Tokyo you could easily spend multiple days in. Thankfully, Tokyo (sort of) feels like my home turf, so I was all geared up to show off some of my favorite spots around the city. 

Our first stop was Shibuya, so of course our first destination was going to be the scramble crossing. It was busy as always, but I was surprised it wasn’t busier. For a major holiday week there weren’t as many people as I might have expected. Before braving the crossing, I pointed out Hachiko to my family. The crossing may not have been outrageously busy, but the line for a picture with Hachiko was still outrageous. 

My sister wanted to check out the Starbucks overlooking the scramble crossing, supposedly the busiest Starbucks in the world. I hadn’t been myself, since even a Starbucks closer to the station usually had a long line. Though, in this case we were just going to try and sneak a photo overlooking the crossing, rather than each buying an expensive coffee. 

We snapped a few pictures before venturing back out onto the crossing. I felt like we had to check out the 109 building, so I picked that as our next destination. We didn’t do any serious shopping, much like when I had gone there by myself, but I still thought it was a cool mall. It really shows off how different both the fashion, and the layout of shopping malls are here in Japan. 

Next on my list of must see places in Shibuya, was of course, Tower Records. Tower Records is one of the biggest music retail stores in the world, which is becoming increasingly rare as music shifts away from physical media. My parents seemed to really enjoy the store, and we spent quite a while on one of the upper floors flipping through Vinyl records of artists both new and old. 

I knew that Vinyl records had been making a comeback for a while now. Audiophiles tout vinyl records as having a better sound quality, though I doubt I’d be able to notice much of a difference. But, as someone who still likes to get physical copies of games, I can understand the appeal. What I didn’t know, was that cassette tapes seem to be making a comeback? I was shocked to find Taylor Swift’s latest album available for purchase on cassette. 

When I came to Tower Records on my own, I took some photos of the exterior, then quickly browsed the first floor before leaving. Alongside my family I probably spent about 30 minutes exploring the store and chatting. I learned that traveling on your own doesn’t have to be so scary, but it’s moments like this that you really miss out on when I’m traveling alone.

While it felt like we had just gotten to Shibuya, it was already time to say goodbye. If we were going to tackle Shinjuku, especially the Shinjuku gardens, we had to pace ourselves. Everyone seemed to enjoy Shibuya, though they didn’t exactly have the same emotional experience that I had during my first time here. I loved showing them around Shibuya, I was glad that I still had my first experience all to myself. Moving to Japan has given me the opportunity to experience places like Shibuya multiple times, and each one is special in its own way. 

Next up was Shinjuku, which meant we had to brave Shinjuku station, the busiest in all of Japan. Thankfully, my brother in law led, so I just followed along until we reached whatever exit we were after. I try to avoid these bigger stations like the plague, it’s far too easy to get lost, and whatever directional sense I might have acquired goes out the window in the underground areas. 

Somehow, we made it out and headed off to the Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden. When I came in November, the Maple trees were a beautiful amber color, now in spring it feels totally different. The cherry blossoms were already out of season, but there was still plenty of greenery to enjoy. It may have been my birthday, but it was also Greenery day, which meant that we didn’t have to pay to enter the gardens! 

We walked through the gardens, slowly making our way to the greenhouse at my recommendation. By the time we’d walked through the greenhouse, we were all ready for a break. The weather was quite warm, and we’d been on our feet for most of the day already. We tried to find a playground to let my nephew run around and we could rest our feet, but settled for a patch of grass in the end. 

Even after a bit of a break, everyone was running low on energy, from both the walking around and the heat. I suggested we find a karaoke place, since we could all take a load off, order some drinks, and enjoy a bit of AC. Since there’s plenty of karaoke places to choose from, it wasn’t long before we found one, and I stumbled my way through booking a room for an hour and ordering drinks. 

I’ve done karaoke before, but I’d always gone by myself, so it was fun to have other people join me. We each took turns, fumbling our way through disney songs, old classics, and I did the one song I know in Japanese. It was fun just to hang out, cool off, and sing together. This well deserved break went a long way in perking us all up. Between the AC, some cold drinks, and singing poorly but passionately, we were all feeling a bit better by the end. 

I’m sure we did a few other things in the area before heading back to the Airbnb, like stopping for dinner, it all turned into a bit of a blur. I was also thinking ahead to the night ahead. I’d bought tickets to a drag show with performers I’d seen before, though this particular show was new to me, in a location I’d never been before. Afterwards, I planned to hit up some of my usual bars and dance the night away. 

My sister and brother-in-law had talked a big game about grabbing a drink in Akihabara before I went out for the night, since we wouldn’t have time to explore much there. Though, by the time we got back to the Airbnb they sheepishly told me they were a little too tired from walking around all day. I had sort of expected as much, so I told them it was quite alright, I was glad to have a bit of down time before heading out for the night myself. 

After resting for a few hours, I pulled on my shoes, and headed out to meet my friend. They had some of their housemates tagging along, so after a quick round of introductions we headed off to the show, after a brief detour to Ikea anyways. The venue was a few floors down, and if I wasn’t in Japan it would have seemed like quite the sketchy place. 

It was a small room probably two or three floors underground, and the air was already starting to feel thick. I grabbed a drink from the small bar, and tried to chat with the rest of the group. For such a small venue, the music felt far too loud, which would sadly be an ongoing problem. After about 15 minutes or so the show began in earnest. 

It was definitely a different kind of vibe than the other shows I had been to, feeling a little more alternative. I didn’t know a lot of the songs that were picked, but I still really enjoyed the show. The last number though was a bit of a sour note to end on, at least for me. After a few minutes of set up, they blasted some music and two performers did maybe a 15 minute set. It wasn’t bad, but I truly couldn’t wait for it to be over. 

It was a little more avant-garde than a lot of drag I tend to gravitate towards, again, it wasn’t bad, but it was far too loud. I spent most of their set looking at my phone, just trying to grit my teeth and get through it. I felt guilty that I really didn’t try to engage with what they were doing, but with the music blaring it made it hard to not want to leave, let alone enjoy what was being presented. After it ended, I felt validated as it was one of the first things my friend mentioned, it was far too loud to enjoy. 

For the rest of our night we headed off to Shinjuku, parting ways with my friend's house mates. From there, it was the typical blur of dancing, a few drinks, and enjoying the night. My friend had planned to take the last train home, though 30 minutes later they showed back up at the bar, having missed their last train. When it was time for me to grab a taxi back to the Airbnb, I felt bad leaving them, but I was sure they would be fine. 

As I crawled into bed after a long, but excellent birthday, I was once again grateful my family had come to see me. Other than a trip to New York in high school, I think this is the only other birthday I’ve spent not at home. I almost always celebrate with family and friends, and I wasn’t sure that was going to happen when I left home to come to Japan. 

I couldn’t celebrate with my friends back home, but I could still celebrate with my family, even here in Japan. I haven’t managed to make many friends here in Japan, I’m grateful for the ones I do have, and I was glad I got to go see a show and dance with them and some of my new favorite spots. 

Golden week has been lots of fun, and having my family here for my birthday was a real treat. I’m always glad when I get to play tour guide, showing off spots I’ve been to and enjoyed here in Japan. Sadly, the week was beginning to come to a close, but there was still one major landmark we had yet to visit, tomorrow we would go see the one and only, Fuji-san.