"as for traveling alone....

fuck it. if thats the way it has to be, then thats the way it is"

I intended today's post to be about my trip to the Edo Tokyo Museum I took this afternoon. I was especially impressed not because of the "wonder of history" or any of that bullshit, but because they had a dozen or so intricate diaromas set up of entire cities and ports of feudal Japan. Being a nerd, I couldnt help imagine how sweet it would be to play out some huge battle using the hundreds of miniatures on display.

However, I found out today I dont have the USB cable for my camera with me in Japan. So after buying one tomorrow afternoon, the next entry will be about that trip, complete with pictures for the first time. If I can figure out an easy way to get pictures on here, expect them in all posts from now on (if anyone has any tips or ideas on how to do this please email me fastbrigade@gmail.com.)

I stayed in tonite, so in honor of my lack of a social life I will discuss what options one has when you want to stay out all night.

The first, and most obvious, is that you do not sleep. Many clubs stay open until 8 am or later in Japan (theres no last call ive been able to find), and it is not uncommon to find them packed until dawn. If this is the type of person you are, than congratulations. You are fun, exciting and rich, you little prick.

So assuming you are one of the many who dont enjoy pulling all nighters in expensive Tokyo nightclubs, the first option is a taxi. However, as previously discussed, cars are quite the luxury in Japan. As such, a taxi ride home can easily go to as high as 100 dollars, for as little as a 30 minute ride. Everyone I know who has gotten a taxi ride home more than a few miles has usually been drunk, or in the company of a drunk friend to take advantage of financially.

The next option is the most financially taxing, but the most rewarding. It is the love hotel. To foriegners (or gaikokujin, gaijin for short), the love hotel resembles a whore house. You have the option for a 'rest' or a 'stay.' A rest is an hour or two, a stay is a night. Rests range from 4,000 to 6,000 yen and a stay goes from 10,000 to 14,000 yen. Just divide that shit by 100 to get approximate dollar prices.

Love hotels are usually grouped together in clusters of a dozen or so in back alleys in every major part of Tokyo. The maximum occupancy is 2 to a room, one guy and one girl only. Not two girls and not two guys. The lobby has a bright board with pictures of various rooms on it. They range from jungle themes, to romantic themes to even S+M and leather fetish rooms. You press the buttom of the room you want, and the light for that picture turns off and you get your key and pay at the front desk without exchanging words.

As mentioned before, this may sound like a whore house, but it is actually a venue for the youth of Japan to express their sexuality unbridled. Most dorms in Japan have strict rules about letting in members of the opposite sex, even during the day, and most girls in their 20's still live at home. Tokyo has very few quiet places, which leaves very few places for teens and young adults to "get it on." Thus, love hotels are extremely popular among the youth after hours. Oh! and also old men take whores there.

I have only been to a love hotel once. I was with 2 of my friends and I got stuck odd man out by myself. My ceiling had a mirror on it, and the head board had a control panel similar to the death stars for everything from lights to music to heat to bed vibrations. On my pillow was a Madonna brand condom.

It was very romantic.

For those unable to afford the love hotel, or not wishing the shame and embarrasment of going alone, you can always sit in a restaraunt all night. Most all hours restaraunts are littered with passed out salary men at night. As long as they spend enough money and pay the seating charge, no one cares if they pass out until morning in a booth.

My all time favorite place to stay if I miss curfew is the Manga Kissa, short for kissaten, coffee shop in Japanese. Manga Kissas started out originally as a place where salary men would go and pay a hourly rate to read all their favorite manga. The kissas kept all the most popular mangas in stock and had extensive back logs. Over time, they added internet cafe's to their repotiare (i know i spelled it wrong, sue me) and video games and movies as well. You pay 200 yen every half hour to sit in a wide variety of booths and read/play/nerd to your heart's content. Many kisssas now have private booths with beds and internet connected computers in them that you can rent out. The booths are about 6 by 4 feet You get unlimited free soft drinks, manga and magazines while you are there. My favorite kissa offers a rate of 1380 a night to stay there (all kissas are 24 hrs.) With unlimited soda to sober out, and a bed and pillow you can't go wrong for about 12 bucks US. Plus you have a computer right there to drunkenly post on your favorite message board.

Manga kissas also offer the alternative use of a cheap love hotel. People will often go to the private booths after dates to hook up for 200 yen a half hour, rather than use an expensive love hotel.

Now that i've shared with you all the places people go when they stay out all night, i'm going to go back to sitting by myself in my room at 12:30 at night. At least I have the 40 year old Japanese business man who lives across the hall to talk to if i get bored.

Edo Tokyo Museum post with pictures coming tomorrow night!
~karl