At morning Kabukicho is a ghost city, godforsaken.
Only restless spirits roam about it, mostly kids staggering out of love hotels and brothels. They wear discreet and refined clothing such as white boots, black trousers, leopard jackets and a low-necked t-shirt, hair that not even the Guns’n Roses. Or studded black wedges, handbag, alien fur jacket. When I go directly to my breakfast, they look at me like a dog looks at the meatball.* Woof!
Kabukicho is the red-light part of Shinjuku, a sort of oasis of mainstream transgression where I do not know whether or not I regret having found a cheap accommodation. If you do not want to get drunk or go to prostitutes who go there alone?! I’m not like Kabukicho myself, I just drink something good and laugh about it with a friend. I do not say at the level “Glass of wine with a sandwich”, but I think I made the idea: I had nothing to do there.
But the curiosity…
Yesterday I met a young couple arrived straight from Silicon Valley, she works for Google and he works for Amazon (they gain 80k per year to share the house with other 3(!) persones.Puah!). They were friendly and approachable, already had a good ethyl level and we chatted chatted and drank a bit – Oh Japanese whiskey! – we went to Oslo Batting Center there around, told load of baloneys and soon we told hello each others. They left to get some ramen before heading to the hairport, and I wanted a night cap Chpok (beer and vodka shot) because I was in full jetlag and didn’t have marijuana gums like they did.
i was looking for a pub, something simple so not a disco or an equivocal place (note: there are officially around 200 clubs there around where woman of every kind entertain men with big pockets). I wander around and at a crossing it stops me the umpteenth nigerian guy – is a rare human race too meet in corner of the world, they usually get out at night – “Hello my friend, how are you?” and so on. It was at least the 10th in two nights, and I was finally curious enough, I wanted to know.
“Came, I’ll bring you…”
“Nope, just tell me how it works.”
“Yes but come my friend, I’ll show you where it is so you’ll know where it is”
“Please understand is simply not the right day, up until now I just wanna know…”
Then I heard laughing at my back: it was the Silicon Valley couple.
“What are you two discussing about? Oh on, nailed! Enjoy it! Enjoy!”
The black guy do not lose a sec “Yes yes, your friend is gonna enjoy tonight. He’s doing well.” “Treat him good then, make him enjoy!” and so on. “Sure! Sure! He will enjoy like never before”.
I was there, in the middle like a [that!]. I was waiting for my mom, the parson and all my ex gf in lane to pass there.
Other jokes between them, I laugh and give up about saying anything, the californians goes to their damn ramen, the nigerian turns “You see? even your friends told the same! Came with me, only to see where the place is, let me offer you a beer!“ F*ck Schwarzenegger and the Silicon Valley!
“Ok so, but I’m not gonna stop, got it? Show me the place and I’ll return next days” (sure, wait for me!)
“Yes, sure you’ll be back next days, let me offer you a beer and keep this.” He hands me a business card with the tariffs (!). Damn my curiosity. They told me that to ask for an indication in Japan brings committing answers…
We walked just few steps… [continue]
Shibuya - Tokyo - November 8-2017
*Later, I found out that the most of them are singers, dancers and seducers. They are the stars of the local night clubs, where Japanese girls pay good to watch their performances and pay much more for the privilege of being seduced by these VIPs.By my Gaijin standards they are virile like a rag doll, but as romans used to say: De gustibus non est disputandum
