The Faster Lane / Tyler Brûlé
Happy return
A few weeks ago, I decided that it was time to plan a reunion with a dear, old friend. Given various travel restrictions and limited flights, I knew it was going to be complicated at short notice but I was sure that the hurdles would be worth the effort, so I pushed forward with making it happen. For background, this relationship goes back to the early 1990s. And while we didn’t become the fastest of friends, there were enough areas of general interest and platonic attraction to keep in touch and even go the distance to see each other from time to time. Over the years, unexpectedly, things became a bit more intense between us and what used to be occasional visits turned into a near-monthly rendezvous for well over a decade.
On Friday, I boarded Swiss flight LX160 filled with the excitement of reconnecting with a figure that has played such an influential role in my life and re-establishing bonds that simply can’t be maintained digitally. On board I quickly sensed that I wasn’t the only person in the cabin (mostly Italians) experiencing similar feelings of anticipation. Before long, doors were closed, drinks poured and we were heading east on an extended, southerly routing; thank you, Russia.
After 12 hours our 777 dropped through the clouds and the farmland and villages of Chiba came into hazy view. Ninety seconds later the wheels hit Narita’s runway and I was on Japanese soil for the first time in 26 months. Prior to departure I was warned about 1km-long queues and waits of more than three hours to get out of the airport. But I armed myself with a book and some mags, went through an endless maze of checks and double checks (never before have so many people been employed to do a series of tasks that could have been done by a quarter of them) and braced myself for two hours of waiting for the result of a coronavirus test. Much to my surprise, the wait took just over an hour and, with a bit of extra checking and document-stamping, I was through customs and on the way to my reunion.
Just as I was getting that pleasant tingly feeling and fluttery knot in my stomach, the whole point of the exercise suddenly took shape
For the first part of this leg of the journey, I checked messages, read the news and generally caught up on the world. Out of habit, I asked the driver to set the mood for my reunion by switching on the radio and tuning in to J-Wave. Angèle was halfway through her track “Bruxelles je t’aime” (I guess someone has to, non?) and just as I was getting that pleasant tingly feeling and fluttery knot in my stomach, the whole point of the exercise suddenly took shape. In the distance I could see the towers of Nihonbashi, then Marunouchi. In a few minutes the spires of Shinjuku and, in particular, the Tokyo Gas Building, would come into view. As we sped over and under the city, I was already getting reacquainted with my dear Tokyo. Had much changed? Not at first glance. But as I turned from one window to the next to take in everything I’d been missing, I spied little interventions and smaller-scale developments that would require further interrogation over the coming days.
At the entrance of the Park Hyatt, the same team that said goodbye when we all knew that it might be a while till I returned were on hand to say hello. And as I was escorted to my room, I was assured that everything was exactly as I left it in March 2020 – give or take a few staff promotions and number of overseas guests.
My favourite room still smelled the same and the views across Tokyo, with a changing backdrop of stormy skies, couldn’t have been more perfect. Given the long absence, the reunion will be a full week. Up first is a shave and hair chop, drinks with our bureau chief, Fiona Wilson, and dinner with my colleague Noriko – then we’ll see where the evening takes us. There’ll be more thoughts and impressions on today’s edition of Monocle on Sunday (anchored live from Zürich) and much more in the way of tips and observations in next week’s edition of this column. Before I go, a thought: if Brussels can have a poppy anthem by a respected singer, Tokyo needs to get into the recording studio.