image: Alice D.
“Shibuya was like a stroke.”
I had dreamt of this place … and here I was. Shibuya was like a stroke. [1] It was noisy, invaded by too many people. Shibuya was far beyond what I imagined: all the colors, people, traffic.
I began to wade through the crowd and became part of this swarming mass. I got caught up in the frenzy of colors and consumption and bought many kawaii things that day.
Then I walked up Dogenzaka-dori. [2] A side street caught my eye.
I was drawn to one small building in particular. I remember that I even stopped breathing for a moment as I looked at this old, grey structure stuck in the middle of the modern, silver buildings of Shibuya. I was touched by its faded exterior, the crates of bottles in front. For an instant, I was transported back to the old city streets I grew up within my native Corsica. [3] Then the jetlag caught up with me, and I felt dizzy for a few seconds. I don’t know why, but I nicknamed this little building “oji-san” before I went on my way. 
referenced works
- A stroke : Best description of Shibuya ever? We love it! ↩
- Well known area for its love hotels and thumping clubs, such as Womb. ↩
- All you could ever wish to know about Corsica ↩
location information
- Name: Dogenzaka
- Address: Shibuya-ku, Dogenzaka
- Time of story: afternoon
- Latitude: 35.658
- Longitude: 139.6969
- Map: Google Maps
033 “Dewy eyes closed, her porcelain arms and legs splayed attractively”
032 “The ika had made too many turns.”
031 “A tongue was moving around my big toe, like a warm slug crawling. ”
030 “Ichor will gush out of this carefully constructed image”
029 “I wince, more than her.”
028 “Their schoolbags were puddled around their socks, forgotten”
027 “Amongst the bottles and the obscure records and the crimson velvet walls”
026 “Nostalgia isn’t an easy indulgence for amateurs”
025 “... but anyway please take one of these little cheese cakes ...”
024 “The inhabitants of the blue, makeshift tents in the bushes.”
023 “Yeah … I’m sorry too. Merry Christmas.”
022 “I was dead broke. It was winter.”
021 “The district's energy had faded to rest on my last night there.”
020 “The slightly bald salaryman didn't correspond to any memory I could conjure up.”
019 “She laughed at my effort and responded in English, ‘Long time, no seduction.’ ”
018 “In my dreamy state, oblivious to signs and announcements I often boarded the wrong train.”
017 “I was fifteen years old and it was one of those nights.”
016 “That ear of corn just wanted to go home”
015 “With his painstakingly coiffured mane blowing in the wind”
014 “Her voice, even across languages, betraying her worry.”
013 “I saw them drawing bamboo sticks from a silver rectangular box.”
012 “A simulacrum of someone else's home, equal parts comfort and loss.”
011 “Jumbled Escheresque insanity where geography in any traditional sense ceases to exist.”
010 “I could hardly make out anything apart from his glowing eyes...”
009 “Shibuya was like a stroke.”
008 “I cried for a while and wiped the dead bracken off my karate pants.”
007 “Both my tie and my disposition hang limp as I calculate the remaining distance to the station.”
006 “I once read about a Chinese maiden whose feet were unbound by a cruel man …”
005 “The Bad Girl strutted off and I was left with a ham egg pie.”
004 “I arrived expecting an irritated Japanese person to step out of the crowd and identify himself as Hideki.”
003 “The woman at the ticket window seemed surprised to see another human being. I was the only visitor.”
002 “Flanked on either side by adult manga shops and the like, the smell of yakitori in the air.”
001 “For two weeks the day began with this morning walk, our shared routine.”
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commentary
To the right is a dinky little club where I met a special person, but I forgot about that old building.