Around the World in 80 Days: The Japan Paradox

With a population of over 130m people, Japan is the 11th most populous country, but - squished on an island slightly smaller than California - ranks only 68th in terms of geographical size. So one might expect to encounter a few people here or there, that places might be a bit busy at times, that there might be traffic, that it might be slightly loud... in short, that in Japan there is no escaping from people no matter where you go.

Yet strangely, the streets of Tokyo - a city with over 30million people - are empty, almost deserted!

The main roads have six lanes, but traffic flows quietly; there are hardly any people in the streets and it is quieter than in a small town. Once you turn off the main streets, it feels as if you've stepped into a small village in the middle of nowhere. The pavement disappears, flower and herb gardens are in front of every house and bicycles are parked on the side of the streets. There are plenty of signs of life - schools, restaurants, parks, shops - but strangely, there are no people. It is dead quiet and you can walk several blocks without encountering another human being...

      

After I had almost come to terms with the fact that the Japanese seem to vanish during the day and only surface in the evenings for totally private dinners behind closed curtains, I realised that I was mistaken.

There were indeed hundreds and thousands of people in Tokyo. But they were not, as one might see elsewhere, all over the city. No, they were all in one specific place. To be more precise, they had all gone shopping - in one street! 

Stepping out of the train station in Harajuku, Tokyo's major shopping district, I suddenly found myself surrounded by people, pushing and shouting and was hardly able to move without running into another person. 

Up to this point, I had gotten the impression that Japanese people are quiet and polite, reserved and shy. But while this may be true for everyday life, it certainly does not hold when it comes to shopping. I don't think I have ever seen a louder, busier or more chaotic shopping center and was so intimidated that I disregarded whatever weird and wonderful treasures might have been waiting for me and made a quick escape.