Tokyo Day 2009: Japan in London

Today a little piece of Japan descended on London in the form of Tokyo Day. Mum and I caught the 8am train meaning we were at the exhibition earlier than planned – arriving around 10:30am. We were greeted by a Japanese woman in a happi who was handing out gorgeous thick plastic Tokyo-themed bags filled with brochures and leaflets. 

Lawrence Hall was already teeming with people, although some of the exhibits weren’t completely up yet. The first stall had an artisan making hair ornaments like those worn by maiko and geiko. However, in my opinion, the stands themselves could have fit in a hall half the size and the event seemed a little lacklustre.

Next we saw the calligraphy and tea ceremony stands, both of which involved reservations despite the fact there were seats free and the folk manning the stall just kept waving their reservation clipboards – a shame as Mum really wanted to try the. Folk having a go at the calligraphy had the chance to write simpler characters like Nippon and mizu using beautiful brushes and inkstones. We were quickly informed it was reservation only, despite tea being handed out for a taste. It was all a little confusing to be honest. Six lucky people got to sit on cushions, try wagashi and actually participate in the ceremony itself while everyone else had to watch.

At the same time, taiko drumming was taking place on the main stage and we had a wander around. There were plenty of leaflets to pick up, including some genuinely practical and interesting ones and next door a video was running showing the Olympic 2016 bid. I was disappointed to see the digital photos being offered were actually backdrops that you could stand in front of and they looked pretty terrible. I was expecting something more … something suitably technological.

Finally we had a look at the replica food models and various robots – including the iDog, an Aibo-like mechanical dog which acts as a moving speaker for your iPod. I want one.

I didn’t run into Akemi, instead I spent half an hour chatting to Ian Rudd (and meet his friend Piers) which was nice as I’ve not seen him since October. He started telling us all about his trip to Japan over Christmas and managed to increase my desire to go ten-fold.

Overall the event itself was disappointing though, especially given the amount of backing from the Japanese government. That doesn’t mean it wasn’t interesting and enjoyable though, even if we didn’t get the chance to do the things we really wanted to have a go at.

Eager to show my mother a piece of Japan, I took her to Mitsukoshi (okay, I got a little confused by the streets) and then to Japan Centre for a little shopping. I forgot that a Japanese event in town means everyone was in the bookstore downstairs. Quickly returning to the ground floor, I picked up some tea cups, a gorgeous little Japanese tea pot and a bag of green tea for under £15. Then it was time for some lunch and the final leg in our Japan-themed day: Tokyo Diner.

I love Tokyo Diner, it’s an amazing little place on the edge of Chinatown, a few minutes walk from Leicester Square tube station. Mixing fantastic and cheap food with an authentic Japanese feel, it attracts English folk and Japanese alike (the latter is always a good sign of a fine restaurant) and gave me the chance to practise my Japanese. Granted my ability order wasn’t as fluid as I would have liked but Mum was impressed. She had rice and chicken karaage while I had chicken teriyaki but we swapped dishes – the karaage was actually really nice and incredibly filling. 

I can never finish a dish when I’m there but you don’t have to. The Tokyo Day trail were slowly making their way towards the diner and we also got to see part of a Chinese New Year procession (which is tomorrow) passing by. The entire area was festooned with red lanterns and seeing a dragon and what I think was a silver lion was quite a site. 

While Tokyo Day was a great idea in principle it did feel like there could have been more there … robots, shodo and anime is great but the it felt more like a mini celebration of Japanese culture rather than a full on ‘Tokyo wants the 2016 Olympics bid’. Indeed, what was it? An event to promote the bid or a cultural evil with a sideline looking at the Olympics? Regardless, it was certainly an interesting way to spent a Saturday morning.

I took a few pictures – chatting to Ian distracted me from taking any more, hehe – which can be found here.

To get a much better idea (and see more pictures), take a peek at Joanna Chlasta’s write up of the event here.