Day 86: Tokyo busy and the last goshuin

I have 5 days left in Japan, to be spent in Tokyo specifically.  Having been in this city for a little over a week already I have had the chance to explore a fair deal of the city, and to no ones surprise I have found it to be exceptionally busy. Everywhere. All the time.

I'm used to the idea of places having peak periods. Restaurants, stores, subways all getting busy at certain times of the day. Here, what I would consider peak activity in most other cities in have lived in or visited is merely the baseline.

There is a good reason for this sense of hustle and bustle; Tokyo is the biggest city in the world, with 38 million people living here. To put that into perspective, the entire population of my home nation, Canada, is 37.5 million people.

One of many exits to Shinjuku station, at 11am on a Sunday morning.

At times this sort of density can be intense, and other times it can be frustrating. But for the most part I have simply adjusted to the flow of life here, and generally enjoy the bustle of the city.

That said, there are times when it can be go from the background tone of the city to a complete pain in the ass. Want to eat at a restaurant anywhere near typical meal times? Get in line and wait. Want to get something from the corner store at lunch or after work? More lines.  Need to use a public restroom at a train station? Hope you like standing in line!

Eating lunch solo? Don't expect a table to yourself. But staff will setup a little privacy barrier instead.

But where it gets truly maddening is in the rain.  In some parts of the world life slows down a bit when it rains, with people content to stay in and avoid getting wet. But in Tokyo rain doesn't slow things down at all.  This means that streets turn into an unending obstacle course of umbrellas.

It is like dancing trying to weave your umbrella through the crowd unscathed.

But, for all its hustle and bustle, there are quiet times and places too.

I have spent a lot of time wandering around late at night, through the side streets and back alleys, and I appreciate how in these places Tokyo can feel altogether different and vacant.

Empty side streets, thick with ambiance.

I have also spent a good deal of time in shrines and temples, both in Tokyo and throughout my time here in Japan. These places are excellent sanctuaries in this big city, quiet and open; a welcome break from the crowds.

Aside from the obvious ability to escape the throngs of people and soak up some culture, I have been using my visits to these many religious sites to collect goshuin as well.

The goshuin are stamps and calligraphy that are unique to each shrine or temple you visit, and reflect the date you visited as well.

I have appreciated collecting these stamps, as it has given me a way to interact with these religious places in a respectful manner, and with a purpose.  I rarely feel comfortable in religious sites, as I feel that I do not belong.

Having the goal of collecting these stamps has allowed me to feel a sense of belonging and purpose when in these places, and had also helped lend structure to my efforts to shift the way I think about my life, as I have been routinely praying and giving thanks throughout these past few months.

This is not to say that I have become religious, or that I believe in what these religions practice. What I am saying is that it has allowed me to build repetition and rhythm where I actively focuses my thinking on being thankful for things in my life.

I am working to create a mindset for the people and experiences in my life more, in an effort to find greater happiness in my everyday life.

Along this journey I have filled up my book of stamps, and created a visceral record of not only my physical trek across Japan, with each stamp recording a time and a place, but also a record of the efforts spent in the attempt to improve my state of being.

Today this collection was made complete with the addition of one final stamp, filling the last empty page.  In total I have collected 45 individual stamps, but I visited far more shrines and temples along my journey.

This collection is visually striking, and likely something anyone would appreciate flipping through and seeing all the interesting designs and brush strokes, even if they perceived no greater meaning in the pages.

To many of the locals I have met, this collection has been a source of joy.  I have enjoyed sharing my collection with them over many conversations and seeing their eyes light up as they read the names of each site I have visited.

Early on I had worried that this might seem intrusive or garish; being a tourist with a book full of stamps from religions I do not practice.  But each time I shared them with the people I met here I was greeted with happiness and respect for my dedication to learning and exploring Japanese culture, with many questions about where I had been and what I had seen along the way.

To me this collection is a document of my efforts to grow, to remove past pains old and new, to attempt to forget and to remember many things.

I have a few more days here, and even though my collection of stamps has come to and end, I will continue to visit the shrines and temples along my path and continue to remind myself to be thankful for so many things.