The Barking Crow
Shin-Okbuko's "Dog Bird".
I highly recommend taking a trip to Shin-Okubo, Korean town - on the Yamanote Line.
It's like 3 min. from Shinjuku and has got a slightly different feel from the rest of Tokyo.
Most people living here have recently arrived from Korea.
You can find Korean movies, books, restaurants, bars and everything in between.
If you love martial arts, I'm guessing you can probably find a decent "Hapkido" or "Tae-Kwon-Do" dojo in
the Shin-Okubo/Okubo area as well. Korean foods delicious, spicy and a little cheap. The waiters and waitress'
are more "outgoing" than the Japanese as well, because of culture differences.
If you're like me and love. love, love meat - but find Ya-Kini-Ku slightly on the expensive side...in Tokyo.
Korean food is definitely a great alternative!
I hope that while staying in Tokyo, you take the time explore and make friends with people from the smaller ethnic communities - especially the Koreans. You'd be surprised at how similar, yet different Korean and Japanese people are
from one another.
Want ANOTHER reason to go to Shin-Okubio?
How about a bird that lives in a temple - that BARKS like a DOG!
I swear to you, I swear on my life there is a Crow,
a BIRD living in the tree next to a small shrine next to Shin-Okubo Station that "barks" exactly like a dog.
I don't mean "kinda like" a dog - I mean EXACTLY like a 50lb Rotwiller man!
Loud - fearsome BARKING! It's crazy, its interesting - make it THE event of your week in Tokyo!
Its just plain weird! And No, I wasn't intoxicated, I've confirmed this with the Monk working at the Shrine,
He's buddy buddy with this freaky bird!
I couldn't quiet exactly understand what the Monk said,
I don't know the story in detail but I'm guessing their used to be a dog that lived at the shrine
- many many crow generations ago...
There was an orphaned crow, a single - parent-less sad crow that grew up in the bushes surrounding
this little shrine in Shin-Okubo. He was raised all his life around a "temple dog" and as nature be...
the crow actually thought he WAS a dog. (I swear to you not, this is no BS the monk TOLD me!)
He learned how to BARK!
This crow then passed his skills on down through the generations to the current resident bird.
No lie man, you gotta go see it for yourself!
