Some words about human beings in Tokyo
Over the first two weeks I’ve met some great people in Tokyo. I thought it would be fun to spend a blog post highlighting them and what they do, as they’re all very different and inspiring in their own unique ways.
Xiang and Diego, who were staying here for Xiang’s exchange programme, were the first to invite me to dinner — two lovely, down to earth people. They wanted to bring me to the pop-up Pokémon cafe in Shibuya, that unfortunately was fully booked when we got there. Instead we went to an amazing ramen place. Food in Japan is on a completely different level — wherever you are in the city, there’s always a cheap and super tasty spot around the corner. Unfortunately these two very kind people had to go back to the Netherlands just a few days after I met them, even though they wanted to stay really badly. No doubt they will be back as soon as they can.
Ryo was one of the first Japanese people I met, who proudly wore a Amsterdam t-shirt to our first meetup. We met a few times, and he took me to an okinomiyaki place and a sushi restaurant. Both were in Shimokitazawa, a very hip and upcoming neighbourhood that reminded me a bit of Kreuzberg in Berlin. The food was amazing and especially the sushi was unlike anything I tasted before. Ryo introduced me to his friends and girlfriend, who were all great people. One of his friends is an underground hip hop DJ whose party I got invited to — looking forward to that. Even though there’s a continuous language barrier, everyone always tries their best. If that doesn’t work out, you just whip out your smartphone.
Another great guy I met is Luis, a Spanish illustrator that lived in Amsterdam before but now moved indefinitely to Tokyo. I’ve been a big fan of his work for a long time — be sure to check it out. He and his great group of friends brought me along to some expo openings and gallery parties — going out is not so different from Amsterdam in that respect. I got to meet some really cool people through him, like Sougwen and Adrien — two very talented artists in different fields. Sougwen makes transmedial art with a digital focus, and Adrien is a great illustrator that recently organised an expo together with Luis. They’re both great at what they do and I wholehartedly recommend checking out their work.
Hiro was introduced to me by a great friend from Amsterdam, and is currently producing his second collection for his brand ANYWEAR. It consists of different high quality leather accessories with a clear message: love and peace. For the first collection, he made beautiful wallets saying ‘SAFE SEX’ and having a small detachable compartment for a condom inside. It’s a great idea that already got quite some traction abroad — amongst other places it’s available at Colette, one of France’s defining department stores. He’s a very creative guy with an inspiring vision on what fashion should mean. A few days later he invited me to his home, where his lovely girlfriend Yuko and him prepared takoyaki — we had a great time.
Somebody else from Amsterdam introduced me to Sam. He’s a graduate student focusing on urban planning and specifically how the amount of people that live in Tokyo and Japan is getting less and less. A little know fact is that Japanese society actually is one of very few in the world that isn’t growing but shrinking. Sam spent a lot of time in smaller villages and different prefectures in Japan to learn more about this. When we met he brought me to the observatory on top of the Bunkyo-ku ward office, a slightly hidden but great spot to see the city. His knowledge about the urban planning in Tokyo impressed me, and when seen from above the city it’s even more beautiful. I even got to see Fujisan in the distance!
These are just a few of the people I met in Tokyo — if I didn’t mention you, don’t be angry! I like you just as much (maybe).
I’m looking forward to meeting a lot more people here. If there’s someone you think I should meet, hit me up.
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