Tokyo contrasts

Whoa, here is the thing about new discoveries. Some anxiety. How would we deal with the crush of people and noise on a city of 36 million? Then, we arrive in Tokyo and find ourselves in a two story house 1/2 a block behind a main traffic artery. We sleep in the same kind of quiet and dark as we enjoy in Kaslo, relief and amazement. The next day we discover the contrast of busy and quiet, right down in the heart of the city's high rises where we zip up to the 50th floor of the city hall to get a high peak view. 1block behind several monolithic hotels again were familiar 2 storey houses with creative little dressed up entrances, one even like a little bears cave.

For the evening we dive into the throbbing crowds of Shinjuko the 10 and twenty stories of neon that Tokyo is noted for. 

To get to Golden Gai we deek out the masses into a quiet lantern lit alley lined with trees and a magical bridge right behind all that neon.

Through a dark narrow path we once more join the flow of tourists and locals in Golden Gai the old brothel area. Through the crowded narrow "snakes and ladders" of bars I find doors for people just my size .....

.....while Dan ducks to make it up the ladder-like stairs. 

In a second storey bar we sit in a 16x 5 wood and soccer poster panelled room complete with kitchen, bar, soccer trophies, guitars, many bottles and still room for 12 cozy patrons. Contrast after contrast. Here we sit not able to read a thing but end up drinking Sake with two young backpackers from Wells, BC and eventually a whole crew of young Japanese hippies and business men. Sweet moment. We entered this little treehouse as cold strangers but left laughing and warmed by the cozy companionship.