Tokyo, 3 am

You can only know a city when you walk through it at 2 or 3 am in the morning. I did this last night, walking from Shinjuku, through Harajuku and Shibuya, on to Meguro where my place is.

Now the problem is that public transport stops around 12:30 am, but the city certainly does not. Shops are closed, but bars and cafes and restaurants are still open and very crowded. Even in Meguro, which is not a busy shopping hub, I walked by local ramen shops at around 3 am and saw they were packed with people. And not just club-hopping youth ... unless guys in their mid 40s are into club-hopping.

There's also no paucity of drunken business men staggering around the streets in search of a cab and while there is a plethora of cabs in Tokyo, none seem free at 2 or 3 am. And by staggering, I mean really unable to walk. There are capsule hotels available for these men if they can't get home, and some public bath/sauna places that are open 24 hours also offer some "sleeping" areas. I can just imagine what they'd be like at 3 am.

The city did feel exceedingly safe, and it feels like an exceedingly safe city anyway. I did not feel in danger once, did not need to look over my shoulder to see if I was going to be mugged (although a few people looked at me wondering if I was going to mug them.)

As I got home, I saw this billboard. Not sure what it's for, but she seems to be indicating I'm a loser.