King Tsutaramen.

Suica card charge, charge, recharge.

Tokyo, Japan – The coloured lines of the subway system fall before me like pick-up sticks.

 

It’s a dizzying blur of people, pastry shops and options.

 

Each of the seven major private railway companies in Tokyo is assigned a colour and a two-letter code. When the lines continue seamlessly like a rainbow, the code can be relatively easy to decipher.  

When they don’t, you might find yourself walking several blocks to a competitor’s station of the same name. Or, in my case, to the wrong competitor’s station of the same name in the completely opposite direction. 

There are so many destinations wrapped up in these bright ribbons that flow through the city like the neon signs hanging over the streets above. In Shinagawa Station, I, for the longest time, find only platforms (there are 20), and neither of the two exits. 

Sometimes it’s easy to understand why I walk. 

For Pete's sake.

And walk I did: first to Meiji Shrine and nearly up to Shinjuku City for ramen at Tsuta Ramen, the first Michelin-starred ramen restaurant (first earned in 2015 but lost in 2020). At approximately $15, I figure it's worth the walk for my first ramen and first Michelin-starred restaurant. 

I arrive to a white steel shutter, fallen to the ground like a long metal gown. The internet says it’s open, but the gate giving me the cold shoulder says otherwise. 

I can’t read the sign taped to it, but imagine it says they've sold out for the day.

Back to Harajuku station to pick up more colours for my ride home.