Jim Goes to Japan

Well, it’s my last few days in Tokyo. What a ride it has been. Call me sick, but I love the last few days of a trip the best. I’m excited to finally return home, I don’t want to leave, and I’m trying everything to relive my vacation one last time before I go. Because I know how memory works and soon Tokyo will only be a feeling — an event to be referred to in the past tense.

I saw so many things here and barely scratched the surface. I saw punk living on in a new culture and generation. I saw the most beautiful places on Earth. I saw a society struggling with accepting an international community that doesn’t understand it. I saw many stereotypes shattered and many more I didn’t expect. There is a feeling here that sings in my heart but is not mine to know, hold, nurture, or understand. It fascinates me like fire, will, and the purpose of being. There is more to Tokyo than I’ll ever understand.

That is why I will miss it so much when I go. I am a philomath, an autodidact, and a collector of knowledge. I am obsessed with what I do not yet know. I don’t think I came here for the manga or the pretty girls or wearing rose coloured glasses. I did not come to appropriate any culture or fill the void of my own lack of it. I will miss it because I came here not knowing why I wanted to come and I am leaving with an answer.

I just love the last few days. They are full of contemplation. And an eagerness to never forget.