A Saturday night in Harajuku

Whenever first timers ask me what Tokyo is like, I give them the same answer. It’s like landing on the moon. It doesn’t just feel like you’re in another country, it feels like a different planet entirely. When you’re first thrown into the bright lights, the cacophony of street sounds, and apparent chaos of the city it can be completely overwhelming. You more than likely can’t read anything except the subway lines, city blocks stretch on and on for miles, and the people move in waves, making going against the tide almost impossible.

But to label Tokyo as chaotic is doing it an injustice. It’s not a hard city to live, interact, and to thrive in once you get the hang of it. There’s an established flow to the city, and common behaviours that highlight a courtesy for each other I’ve not seen anywhere else in the world.

It’s a place where you can be yourself; there’s a community for every sub-culture, and whatever you’re into, you can get further into it here. It’s a city for expression, not rebellion. The types of crime usually committed by bored youths are rare here.

The Japanese are fanatical about running, and by almost any measure are one of the greatest running nations in the world. The city of Tokyo however, is categorically not set up for running. Aside from a handful of well-worn parks and paths, any run is going to involve way too many intersections, and in typical Japanese fashion, jaywalking is simply not done.

Compared to a city like Seoul, where there are literally dozens and dozens of run crews (the largest being the guys and girls from PRRC). Tokyo is best represented by Athletics Far East, or AFE as most people know them (we’ll be sharing more with AFE soon). There are however a number of new crews popping up, emboldened by what they’ve seen online and in other cities, and wanting to create something they can call their own.

I caught up with a young crew from Tokyo called 080TOKYO for a Saturday night run around two of Tokyo’s more popular neighbourhoods, Shibuya and Harajuku. They’ve been running together since early 2017, generally on Monday nights from Yoyogi Park.

Most of the group are in their early 20’s and students at local universities. As Yuna Park explained to me “The focus is on running slower and longer, not running too fast. And even though Japanese culture is to not stand out, and it’s quite rude to be loud, we always play music and have fun when we run together”.

That’s not to say there’s not some pace in the group. 25 year old Kansuke Morihashi turns up to the run in a cut-off t shirt, and proudly exclaims that he has been to my home country of Australia recently for the Gold Coast Marathon. It turns out he came 13th, in a time of 2:17:16, some 3 minutes behind his PR. It takes me at least 15 minute to pick my jaw up off the ground, Morihashi has the face of a teenager and the youthful enthusiasm to match.

Morihashi explains that running with this group is about balancing out his training.

“I run with a business team called Raffine (a chain of running stores in Tokyo). I have a lot of friends at 080TOKYO, so I run here for relaxation”.

I don't know how many other 2:14 marathoners give up their usual Saturday night in bed to come and run through crowded city streets with their friends, but it's refreshing to see. Tomorrow, Morihashi will be back on the grind, as he regularly pushes out up to 200km per week in marathon training.

On a Monday night run the group swells to around 20 regular runners, some high level athletes and many just occasional runners. One of the group’s core members is Yaji Tsubasa, a 22 year old student at Kanagawa University, who also does some work with the Nike Run Club. He says 080TOKYO is important to him because it allows him to meet new people, and brings together many different backgrounds and walks of life.

“We are aiming for a community where people gather beyond the borders of nationality, occupation, favourite brands, and anything else”.

The group was founded by two friends, Koichi and Toshin. Koichi was inspired by time spent abroad in Seoul, where he observed a more social side of running that he hadn't experienced before.

At odds with the traditional Japanese pursuit of perfecion, Koichi wanted to create an atmosphere of enjoyment and friendship in the youth running community. Toshin, inspired by a desire to make a positive impact on the community, has been there from the start.

As for the name? 080 is the newest prefix for phone numbers in Japan, a clever cultural tie-in that reinforces the youthful nature of the group.

As we snaked our way through the crowded sidewalks and the famous Shibuya Crossing, it suddenly struck me that Tokyo isn’t as bad for running as I first thought it may have been. I had just been wanting it to fit my definition of good running; no traffic, peaceful, quiet paths. Instead I was witness to some real-life Mario Kart, the busiest intersection in the world, and running through one of the hottest spots in the world for youth fashion and culture.

When we finished the run in Yoyogi Park, another beautiful quirk of Japanese culture, and surely designed for the running community, presented itself to me; omnipresent vending machines.

080TOKYO run on Monday nights from Yoyogi Park. Get amongst them if you’re in Tokyo.