Tokyo is a depressive maniac!11 min read

First impressions – Tokyo is a depressive maniac or bipolar – observed symptoms can include increased energy, excitement, impulsive behaviour, and agitation. I have colleagues and friends who are obsessed with it and then I have people who start having panic attack and cabin fever with the hustle and bustle and crowdedness of the city. You can’t stand still in a 7/11, street, train station, road crossing and even in your own hotel lobby. The unavoidable momentum of societal motion forces you to emulate, change and conform to the incessant existence of this city.

I absolutely love and adore the human expression, colours, animation, gaming clubs, karaoke bars and energy.

Some of the things that I enjoyed in the Paris of Asian Culture (Just Kidding!)

The dazzling lights, which captivate you and force you to disconnect with from observed reality. At Shinjuku station, there is a giant 3D Cat that sings (Meow Meow) and plays with a microphone every time the traffic light turns Red/Green. I am guilty of missing the lights plenty of times to see the Cat performance and tricks – partially judging myself for wasting time, but then you see millions locals do that too. Then, you realise that your surroundings impact you way more than you can fathom.

The landscape is so versatile with old structures, museums, skylines and new age towers which show you scenery like no other i.e. Shibuya Tower and Skytree Tower. It was a learning journey to know you cannot buy tickets on the spot or next day even in winters.

The sheer momentum and population of the city makes everything an experience, like crossing a street. The Shubiya scramble has 3000 people cross every green light every 2 minutes. The estimate from 2014 was around 390,000 pedestrians cross this street on a Saturday & Sunday, each. That’s almost the same number of net migrants in Australia in a year. One day = pedestrian on a crosswalk Vs pursuing better life opportunity in a different continent.

The self-help world or management consulting wouldn’t have had any meaningful impact in their work without leveraging the wisdom of Japan’s culture, stories of greatness, wisdom to be applied in developed world and mainly to apply existing knowledge to new world – with a hint of capitalism & self aggrandisement to sell own book/work. Some of the ones which I love Wabi Sabi, Lean Production, Discipline, Ikigai, Marie Kondo, Kintsugi…so and so…millions of book sold by telling stories of dedication, commitment, honour, allegiance to a cause, horror stories from atrocities of Hiroshima to unimagined destruction by Godzilla.

On a personal level, I had the biggest happenstance of my life outside Shinjuku Station. A decade long running National TV Reality Series (Why did you come to Japan?) asked me the perplexing question. I thought it was a Tik tok or someone recording material for a school project. Well, I answered honestly, saying that Travelling is the antidote to bigotry, it allows us to see our own prejudices and biases. Being a information hose, I told them I am here to write and may be do a stand-up comedy show in a local bar that someone from Newtown, Sydney recommended:
- Little did I know that I will get picked up for a 7 hour+ recording following me around Tokyo, doing a stand-up/open mic show in Tokyo Comedy Bar.
- The overall experience was so fascinating, having a translator telling me the questions and then converting my reply around life, philosophy, jokes (punch lines) into Japanese to make the host understand. I swear all the punch lines were flat, he was just laughing to make me feel like less of an idiot 🙂
- We had a ball recording the show at Tokyo Comedy Bar – a gem of a place, all expat community in Japan gathers there for laughter, connection and sense of belonging in foreign lands. Fingers crossed if the show will be aired on National TV – despite my nonsense, predominantly R-rated, explicit & below average stand-up material.
- The host from Tokyo Comedy Bar reassured me that they will dub Japanese over my voice. Since we had an audience member in front seat laughing & crying at the jokes..so may be I guess I do have some talent after all – Watch this space and (maybe) the show too!

I have never had a restaurant turn me away at 3am, because they were full. I was like bro – “I am not here for Wagyu beef fiesta, I was just curious why these people don’t go home!”

Tokyo is also the only place where semi power ranger & goth, suit case carrying, tatted and overly pierced chicks sleep in shisha cafe’s from 12am to 2am. I conjured the courage to ask, how come you don’t go home and sleep. She replied, you’re the person with a book, shisha and writing pad at this hour – so she’s not flying the freak flag – Fair call!

I have never seen that many make-up wearing non-sensual Men/Boys on billboards – on trains, building, outside gaming shops, pubs, downtown, ads, selling whatever is cool and famous. Imagine every billboard you’re seen with J.Lo, Beyonce, Taylor Swift, Madonna…the current beauty standard celebrity and now replace them with a man with same build, makeup and pose. I discovered a new art, those billboards are strictly non-sexualised and overly beauty focused…so a part of me feels they are not there to arouse a want but to only damage yourself esteem. So I was like, I am not turned on by you but I wish I was as pretty as you, but I also know I will never look as good as you – mainly because you are computer generated/de-sensualised for materialism.

The downtown in Tokyo comprises of giant Karaoke bars which were bigger than most hotels and gaming clubs (which were btw too complex to me to indulge) quite similar & interchangeable to clubs in Paris, & casino’s in Vegas, same obsession, crowd energy, late night life entertainment – Tapping ($ and minutes) away just waiting for life to change.
It is hard to shrug the feeling of chronic hedonism/materialism as you roam around the city. It is like me saying, you don’t get the creative energy & chronic secularism in Paris or random people following you/government breathing down your neck in Moscow. You know it is there…for you to entertain…engage… and slowly accept as something you are lacking and subliminal but really want and yearn in life! (Of course, proponents of ‘isms’ always tell you their ‘ism’ is the solution to all ills of the world – capitalism, feminism, communism, socialism…whatever appeals to collective human narcissism)

A lot of people will say go to Ginza for high end fashion. I will say visit Harajuku Markets for the true hipster experience into Japan’s fashion scene.

Tokyo has Boy Bars & Girl Bars – The latter is like ‘Hooters’ for girls. I accidently went into a bar and the guard said to me – only females. I was like isn’t that discrimination but then realised that c**ktease is a universal need – so kudos to Tokyo for capturing/sliding into the market.

The train system in Japan has trains where both platforms travel in the same direction. It is a great system but each line is a labyrinth of its own in the start, but once you get a hang of the lines/references – then you can make your way around. I am not sure around your survival in the sheer momentum of peak hours, ability to make commitments or generally get clarity of mind around the station.
- There are heaps of shops inside big stations, small sub-section of areas which are serving all novelties from Boba tea to octopuses inside a shop the size of an ATM.

Note to my fellow, internal & external fatties and Sydneysiders who do not like the density in their suburbs – In Japan everything is 1/4th of the size of normal things. From hotel rooms, cafe’s, bathrooms, showers, shisha cafe’s, lifts, eating places – also don’t forget you can’t stop anywhere, well there are 3000 people crossing the road every 2 mins. The plus side, Tokyo makes it up with heated bathroom seats, music, cleanliness, elevated privacy, bidet which oscillates in different ways to cover all areas and overall superior bathroom experience – JK!. Fun Fact: The Japanese urban legend and OG horror story – Aka Manto actually kills people in public bathrooms.

I was gobsmacked to find out that after walking 17kms each day. There are no trash cans in Japan. I was so afraid of leaving trash that I ate inside a 7/11 and similar shops just so I can use their trash can. All trash cans were removed from Tokyo after a bombing incident in 1995. The city is clean as anything, but to find a trash can for your drink, coffee cup or sandwich is a nightmare – especially when around every corner a boy/man is trying to sell you something with his captivating beauty.

All the above listed marvels, novelties and superior Tokyofied life experiences allow for a very purposeful existence if people know their Why/Purpose in life. come with chronic rat race, depression, fluctuating self esteem, class struggle and general societal expectation of making all hedonistic dreams true.
- Alternatively, there is the self mercy killing (Seppuku – a form of Japanese ritualistic suicide by disembowelment) to compensate for the overbearing downside of acting as a embryo of a productivity, omnipresent social pressures and general lack of purpose with chronic discipline.

An estimated 302,000 people are hospitalized with mental health-related issues. Although was trending downwards, Japan has the most people hospitalized in psychiatric wards on a per capita basis in the world. The overall number was ~5 million in 2017/2018. Another objective study tested and concluded a high level of materialism, social comparison and neuroticism which comes at the expense of individual’s overall wellbeing. A theme which I find is usually common amongst in developing world, benefits/received provided personal upbringing, external validation centric, usually family oriented, highly populated and relatively lowly resourced demographics. I heard this fascinating thesis, the more family oriented a culture is, the more corrupt it is – because people justify their corruption in the name of looking after their family. The tyranny of human narcissism being plugged into the hope generation mechanism of humans – which sadly comes at the expense of core societal values.

Just like every other place in the world there is a Value Trade off – Pros & Cons. Tokyo has a gem of a culture, the life and business changing mantra of ikigai, lean living, minimalisation, tea ceremonies, architecture, superior technology, obsession with games, anime, billboards, food and everything else. It’s an experience and place like no other but it is hard to not notice the elements phenomena economists have termed as Japanification, deflation, aging population, shortage of younger workers to cover the 11 million gap in employment force by 2040 (2026: Estimated to be ~2.3 million). As of last week, Japan has lost its status as the world’s third-largest economy to Germany after slipping into a technical recession. As fate would have it, Tokyo’s stock market sits within a whisker of its 1989 peak. A fair interpretation of development would be…Bipolar!

Nothing sums this up as Nietzsche – Whoever has a WHY will figure out a HOW.

I know a strong nation with adaptability and heritage of unmatched wisdom to constantly reinvent and rethink a ‘HOW’ suited to live a meaningful life.