Amidst the hustle and bustle of the Eastern Capital

Amidst the hustle and bustle of the Eastern Capital, I stood. I am stood still, as still as a stone, trying to squeeze my tiny way through the immense 6pm rush hour.

I stare to my front, a dozen blocks of neon light aligned back to back encroach my visual field; colorful flashing signs above them are roaring directly to me: “Come on in!”, others desperately yelling “Extra sales here!”, “You are missing out!”

I gaze to my left, a multi-storey building has its foundation built on top of a giant superstore; each storey boasts its unique asset with a defining colour of its own, with an iconic logo priding itself on the very top.

I look to my right, a row of white and black vehicles is sat one after another, resting on top of a line of zebra crossing, just like checker pieces on a checker board. They are beeping non-stop, chasing on each other, the efforts of which are comparable to a mother’s trying to wake her son up for the first day of school after a long summer.

I raise my head, and above me a 100-year old rail track is drawn across the night sky, just like a pencil marking made across a blank sheet. Above it sits a high-speed train racing its way along the track, its speed comparable to lightning, just like its colour and form. Encompassing this horizontal streak are vertical skyscrapers lying about, layer by layer, competing their way towards the defining full moon.

And I look around me. At eye level, a bubble of pedestrians surrounds me in 360 degrees. A few kids are prancing their way home from school, carrying heavy rucksacks, grabbing tight on Mummy’s hand; a hawker is pacing his way through the crowd, pushing his trolley forward, frantically hiding away from the nearby cop; a salesman who’s just finished his shift is making his way out too, possessing a bunch of flowers in one hand, replying his girlfriend’s text with the other.

This is Tokyo - a metropolis, a gem, a concrete jungle.

But what I have not witnessed, apparently, are her still and motionless shrines, her diverse and cultured historical exhibits, her soothing and calming gardens, her tall and majestic mountains…all amidst the hustle and bustle of the Eastern Capital.

Pedestrian crossing, the centre of which I am stood.

Shibuya crossing taken above the Shibuya Sky Viewing Tower, January 2023

Painting done 21st May, 2020