LUXOMME

On the plane ride over, Tiffany and I were in a discussion of whether Hong Kong or Tokyo has more skyscrapers. I adamantly insisted it was Hong Kong, while Tiffany argued for Tokyo. Picking the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, we quickly sped our way right to the top in a brilliantly fast elevator, and were greeted by this view. 

While there, we googled the stats, and as it turns out, Hong Kong has more skyscrapers in physical form, but Tokyo looks like it has more because everywhere you look, the city is flooded with lights, and I've honestly never seen a city so consistently lit up, not even Hong Kong.

For those of you thinking of traveling to Tokyo, a popular place to view the city is from the Skytree. We elected not to visit it because the Tokyo Metropolitan Building is free. FREE. And apparently the view is equally amazing. My motto in life is 'why pay more when you can pay less!.. or not pay at all'

According to my sources (aka travel blogs), the view from the Mori Museum is also quite breathtaking, but will cost you around $20 canadian to get in. Worth a trip if you are planning on visiting the museum anyways.

naomi

One thing so magical about Japan is their temple culture and their reverence for tradition and ceremony. Personally, as a Christian, I don't agree with what the temples represent, but I can't deny the sheer history and beauty that comes with these places.

As Tiffany and I were heading to the Tokyo National Museum for a look see, we stumbled upon this tiny little shrine. Not knowing if we were actually allowed to enter, we tiptoed around until we saw a few other tourists.

Being completely Japanese illiterate, I have no idea what I stumbled upon, or what this place was exactly, but it was so quiet and removed from the touristy areas that I had to take a moment to zen myself in this place.

These are the places that have taught me how to appreciate Japan. Not necessarily for it's food, or picturesque tourist hotspots, but for it's little gems hidden around every corner. 

naomi

One of the most recognizable landmarks in Tokyo is the famed Shibuya crossing. It's featured in movies, in tv, and littered all over the social media. Simply put, it's a pretty happening place.

Insisting on taking advantage of this opportunity to finally experience the mayhem that is Shibuya, I urged Tiffany to locate it on google maps - so that we could go take a look see. She took me to this three way crossing and announced that we had arrived, and bewildered, I took in my surroundings.

To suggest I was dissapointed was putting it lightly. It was nothing like what I had seen on TV! Despite being a busy crossing, there were few people compared to what I had seen in pictures. Did I fall prey to some tourist scam?

Surely this couldn't be it.

Slightly confused, I turned to Tiffany and told her that I thought that Shibuya crossing was four ways, and not three. She paused, insisting that this place that we had arrived at was definitely the crossing. 

At least according to Google. 

Not satisfied with her answer, I decided to map it out myself, and 10 minutes later we found ourselves in the middle of this mayhem, flanked by sky high buildings covered in bright animated LCD screens.  Now this was the real deal.

After experiencing the crossing firsthand, which made us feel like tiny ants scrambling on top of each other, we decided to ascend to a higher level to admire the excitement from up top.

Watch the crowds begin to move.

We stayed long enough to watch people cross a few times over - which is difficult to observe when you're caught up in the middle of it, but interesting from up top. Careful when you cross though, most crossers are tourists who are either wearing a gopro on their forehead, holding a really long selfie stick (which is a hazard in itself), or people like me - going snap happy with my camera and trying not to run into anyone but sometimes failing miserably.

  Satisfied with the fact that we had found the REAL Shibuya crossing, and not the fake one that Google led us to believe, we braved the crossing one last time, and headed towards the underground. After a long day of exploring, we shuffled in with important looking businessmen and tried not to fall asleep on the way home.

naomi

In Japan, girls are experts at taking selfies. From the pose, to the lighting, and the angle - they've got it down to an art. Naturally, their love for pictures come from somewhere right?

Before the invention of the front-facing camera, there was something called the puripika machine, which is essentially a fancy name for photobooth. But a worthy name too. This isn't your normal photobooth, nope. It's like an editing app combined with a photobooth, that prints your pictures on the spot and makes them into stickers. 

Yes. 

One thing I loved doing when I was younger was going to First Markham Place in Toronto, where my friends and I would pay extravagant amounts of money for these tiny little pieces of captured memories that we'd carry with us everywhere. As these stores have phased out over the years due to the increasingly popular presence of the front cam, it has become harder and harder to find a proper and authentic Japanese photobooth.

What makes these booths different from normal ones, you may ask.

Well firstly, they're Japanese, which means that unless you can speak and read Japanese - prepared to be lost. Thankfully, it's not a huge deal to navigate the system, everything's pretty graphic and easy to understand, despite the language barrier. Secondly, each photobooth has a different style. Some are 'cute and innocent', while others are 'lolita style'. This means that the backgrounds are different, the angle of the camera is different, and the editing process is different. 

Here we've got a 'Fashion' booth a la Vogue magazine on the left, and a babydoll one on the right.

The options are endless when it comes to customization. Unlike typical american booths, you can choose backgrounds, different types of shots (full body, upper body, group etc), and the layout of your printout (more wallet sized, or more coin sized pictures). Getting into the part which REALLY sets it apart, are the editing features, which are pretty much what you would find in an asian editing app - skin whitening or darkening, eye enlargement or reduction, etc, which are all things that reflect the Asian notions of ideal beauty standards. Very interesting. 

Being in the land of Japanese photobooths, Tiffany and I ventured into a basement on the streets of Harajuku and picked a machine to pop into. They're much cheaper in Japan (400 yen), compared to places in Hong Kong or even Canada, where a round in the photobooth costs anywhere from 12-20 dollars Canadian. 

After we had taken our photos in the booth, we moved to the other side of the machine where there was a bench for us to sit on, facing a screen. This is where the editing happens - and also where my inadequacy in Japanese is highlighted. Clicking on random buttons always leads somewhere, thankfully, and here you can add stickers, writing, and make further adjustments to the picture (hair color change, eye color change etc). 

At the end, you wait at the side of the machine, and eventually a sheet of photos pop out. We chose the two person option, so we were each able to keep a full set of photos.

Japanese photobooths are a fun time and definitely an interesting experience. For those of you who are like me and don't speak any Japanese whatsoever, it's an interesting experience to learn how to navigate the system blindly. Otherwise, it is also an interesting reflection of their culture and beauty ideals.

Who would have thought that all this can be found inside a photobooth?

naomi