GRIP, Internships Abroad Tokyo City-Escape

While I love Tokyo, living in the heart of Shinjuku, arguably the city’s busiest neighborhood, can be tiring. Ome, within Tokyo prefecture, provided me the perfect short escape from city life.

Boarding the train to Ome you already know that you’re going a little off to the beaten path because there are for once open seats on the train. The pleasant one-hour train ride provided me with a nice, relaxing time to do some reading. I just bought a book on Japanese history to help provide some historical background for everything I’m seeing, so it was nice to get through some of that.

First thing I did getting off the train was look for a place to eat. After a stroll, I stumbled upon this homey, tatami-seating restaurant that smelled like campfire. I ordered this delicious fish and shrimp tempura that was being fried right in front of me, but what made me happier than anything was watching as the owner was teaching his son how to cook things in between orders. They ate their meal together right in front of me while watching the Tokyo Giants game.

After my meal I strolled over to Kamanofuchi park. While this may not look like much to many, this park reminded me of the parks at home in Michigan. I sat on a huge rock in the river for a while just taking it in for a bit, I looked at some of the rocks in the water, and strolled around.

The next thing I did with my time in Ome is visit the famous Showa Retro goods museum, which has items from the Showa period in Japan. Most notably they have hand-painted movie posters for both Japanese and American movies.

After that I was a bit hungry again, so I stopped by this cafe right above the train station. There, I had a lovely slice of homemade pumpkin cake made by the older woman who ran the cafe.

The cafe was quite small, maybe about 12 seats in total, only the older woman and her husband running the shop. The cake was of course delicious and I sat there for a while enjoying the jazz music they played. I shortly left, and in an hour was back to the hustle and bustle of Shinjuku.

When people think of Tokyo they often think of the flashing lights, the swarms of people, the music, the characters, but the outskirts of the city provide great places for reflection. While I was in Ome, without music or someone to talk to, I was able to do some reflection and really take in everything around me.