My First Japan Trip Day 2 (ish)

Continuing the story about my first trip to Japan, I want to say that a chunk of the trip becomes vague because of how it was spread around 19 days. But I do remember that I was scheduled to meet an internet friend out there that I had met on the old Usenet group rec.sport.pro-wrestling from back in the day. The guy was friends with other people who hung out on the newsgroup who traded heavily back then Japanese tapes. But at this time, he moved to Japan for work and ended up staying I believe. He might’ve even been the one to provide me the tip on the Hotel New Koyo. Regardless, I think the start of my Japanese puroresu tour might’ve begun the 2nd day I was out there.

The thing about the bulk of puroresu in Tokyo is that it occurs in one of three venues. The most notable is Korakuen Hall, which is next to the Tokyo Dome in Suidobashi which is pretty much dead center of the Tokyo train system. From where I was staying, you would hit up the Minowa station’s Hibiya line (Hibiya-sen) then go to Ueno where you could get off and transfer to the JR Line. Because of the JR Railway Pass, it made sense to hit up Ueno then swap to the Sobu (Yellow) line over at Akihabara. I want to say that I was expected to meet my friend somewhere in Ueno for lunch that day. I believe he might’ve been working over in Setagaya-ku because I had dinner another time with him later on over in Shibuya, which was closer to his office.

One thing that was a hassle back then was that cellphone use wasn’t as prevalent and you had to get a prepaid phone if you were a foreigner because you needed some documentation, including Japanese address/residence. But I think at that stage, I had no need which still made contacting people a royal pain. Instead, they had these ugly phone booths that accepted change similar to the ones you would see out here in America (like the ones in Superman with Clark Kent changing attire). But you can see how cellphone technology has changed everything in a massive way within the past two decades not to mention how difficult every step of this journey was for me back then.

Anyway, we ended up at a small shop serving Udon and Tempura. I think he gave me some hints at finding things around town like Akihabara, which was considered something like a Fry’s on a wider scale. The food must not have been that memorable but I think I was more hyped on seeing the show. I can’t remember if the show was on the 2nd or 3rd day. But I might’ve tried exploring Suidobashi after meeting with my friend.

Suidobashi itself is next to a river so as you stand up in the train you can see the boats around the area as you approach the station. The Sobu-sen itself has a slightly infamous reputation on the side that I learned years later as one of the most expensive trains to commit suicide at. The idea is that if you commit suicide by train, your family ends up paying out of the restitution since it inconveniences many people and changes the schedule for a whole day. In the case of the Sobu-sen, it’s one of the most used/crowded trains in Tokyo, which is why it has that high cost. Luckily for myself, I never bore witness to such an event, although I did hear of one from someone else.

The area around Suidobashi is kinda like a fair. Little shops, restaurants, etc. surround the area. The Dome from the outside doesn’t look as big though compared to footage you might see. I think for myself I ended up just wandering around the immediate area without knowing what I wanted to see. I did encounter a shop that sold a lot of puroresu items like tapes and magazines so I ended up spending a lot on stuff I wanted original copies for. That has to be one of my biggest regrets based on the amount of money I could’ve saved and the debt I would not have dealt with during these trips.

Eventually, I searched around to find where I could buy tickets. The first show I would attend was a JWP event. I think I bought basic tickets here then may have waited around for the show to start. It might’ve started in the afternoon but it wasn’t crowded at all. Of all the people who showed up on the show, the only person I was interested in at the time was Kana Misaki. I got to chat with her a little early on and she was both very pretty in person and eager to meet me. But my Japanese was horrible so I don’t know how much I could impart.

The show was far from great and the undercard was dreary since JWP had lost all their big names to GAEA, retirement or freelancing. That made Kana and Commander Bolshoi the only “stars” (or maybe I should call them veterans) remaining. If there was someone else, it might’ve slipped my mind because I probably didn’t care. But the only match that mattered to me was Kana Misaki’s. I can’t recall whom she faced but I do distinctly remember seeing the first high spot where she did a top turnbuckle dive to the floor on the opposite side of the ring from where I was sitting. I heard a crash into the metal railing and I was pretty hyped…until I learned that she probably hurt herself on the landing. For the remainder of the match, Kana limped through and I assumed she sprained her knee. Eventually, she had to wear a knee brace but the injury put a damper on the show for me. What made things worse was seeing the tiny crowd. I think it was reported that 800 people showed up but I doubt there was even half of that number and it was pretty clear to me that this was a zombie promotion that probably died when Plum Mariko had her accident.

I don’t remember if I stuck around for much longer after the show or if that’s when I got a chance to talk with Kana. But it just made me feel real bad for her, seeing how she pretty much got her career destroyed in front of such a small audience. If there was any potential for her, then it wouldn’t be with JWP for sure. Sadly, I have no idea what happened to her after she quit. But that seems to be a common story for various joshi puroresu stars around this period, who might have a small retirement ceremony then return to civilian life.

Afterwards, I’m sure I was hungry as these events lasted a few hours, including an intermission in the middle of the show where the wrestlers would go back to the front booths by the door to hawk more merchandise. But I was worn out and walked around the area before heading back to Ueno station. There was a McDonalds around the corner but I didn’t eat there that second day. Now, I’m almost sure that my 2nd major dinner out there came from a spot in Ueno where they sold curry at a vending machine. It might’ve been across the street from the station. Since my Japanese was terrible, the vending machine with pictures pretty much was a lifesaver (not to mention those spots were dirt cheap). I don’t think this spot was a chain like Matsu-ya though, albeit that place becoming my go2 spot once I started living in Japan.

Spent, I retreated to the hotel. But before that happen, I do recall that when I was hanging around Korakuen Hall and trying to figure out where I needed to go, I saw this really weird guy following me around and looking at me. I might’ve spotted him while I was at Ueno earlier in the day, scheduled to meet my friend. But I know for certain he was at that show. In fact, he might’ve been someone on the ARSION tour when they came to LA in ’98. Nonetheless, he kept to the background and eyeing me, which, of course, creeped me out. At one point, I got lost trying to find the New Koyo and kept wandering around the side streets where everything was dark and my poor Japanese reading capability was insufficient for understand where I was (not to mention, as I later found out, Tokyo is intentionally designed in a confusing manner). Somehow, this guy had tagged along in the distance and kept walking from side to side.

I can’t remember what I did but I might’ve tried some tactic to scare the guy off. However, I gradually made my way back to the New Koyo and locked myself in my room for the evening. Fortunately, I never saw that guy again.

My main comment about that last part of the story is that it was the first time I learned that there was a nutty side to Japan with a bunch of weirdos. I did meet some kids back at UCI’s ESL program who would brag about coming to the US to party because their families were wealth and believed that sending them out here would add character. So I knew Japan or the Japanese weren’t this perfect society. But I still held this notion of really high achievers because of various friends growing up who were extremely competitive in school. As a result, I had no idea that you’d see a lot of nutcases running around out there, especially in Tokyo.

But I think part of this insight for me was realizing how there’s a romanticization with Japanese culture that really boomed over the years. The Anime Club at UCI certainly contained part of it. These days, at least in more urban zones, you might see the popularity of Japanese food culture with markets, ramen, etc. Obviously, Anime is another aspect that really had been popularized over the years out here that went beyond cartoons you’d see back in the 80s. And even Joshi Puroresu eventually became more mainstream when the WWE started importing the top talent and pushing them much harder. On top of that, I frequently see friends make trips out to Japan as it’s become a top tier destination spot for tourism.

This romanticization probably gets ignored for some of the darker aspects people don’t get to see whereas I would view frequently out there, even on a short trip like this. Yet at that stage of my life, the downsides were relatively invisible compared to how I was gradually falling in love with the culture and the city of Tokyo itself. But I’ll save more stories for later and will continue on with the trip in a future blog post.