tokyo busk or bust: surviving the cold with empty pockets

okay, so i'm in tokyo, and let me tell you, it's not all neon dreams and sushi rolls. i'm here busking, which means i'm trying to make enough yen to not sleep in a park tonight. first off, the weather. the air is so cold it feels like someone's pouring liquid nitrogen on your fingers. i checked my app: 4.46°c, but feels like 3.13°c - yeah, that's a thing here. hope you enjoy that kind of misery. the humidity's at 48%, so it's dry cold, which is worse. sea level pressure 1018 mb? all i know is my ears pop when the trains go underground.

i set up my spot near shibuya crossing originally. big mistake. tourists take photos but rarely tip, and the security guards hustle you every twenty minutes. i lasted two days before moving. someone told me that shinjuku's east exit gets sketchy after midnight, so i avoid it. but where else? harajuku? maybe, but the fashion kids don't tip unless you play the latest k-pop, and i'm more of a folk guy with a beat-up acoustic.

looking at the map, i'm smack in the middle of tokyo. pressure's at 1018 mb, humidity 48% - not bad, but the cold is dry and biting. if you get bored, yokohama's just a short train hop away, but i'm too busy scraping together cash for a hostel bed. kamakura's another option for a day trip, but that's for when i have spare time, which is never.

this image reminds me of the backstreets near asakusa. less crowded, but the tips are crap. i heard from a local that the best busking spot is near the imperial palace, but cops are strict there. another rumor: some guy on yelp said that akihabara's good if you play video game themes, but i don't know those. i tried playing a star wars theme once, and a guy threw a 100-yen coin. progress.

i heard that the buskers in ueno park form a weird hierarchy, and newcomers get shunned until they prove themselves. sounds like high school all over again.

someone warned me that the humidity drops at night, so my guitar strings go out of tune faster. i now carry a tuner everywhere. worth every penny.

a drunk salaryman told me that the best time to busk is during rush hour when people are stressed and desperate for a distraction. but then you have to compete with train announcements. not ideal.

i've been checking tripadvisor for tips. this forum post says that friday nights in roppongi are lucrative but rowdy. i might try it, but my ears can't take the noise. also, yelp's tokyo page has some reviews on live music venues, but not busking spots. still, worth a browse. for local gossip, i check tokyo cheapo but it's mostly deals, not busking. and japan-guide.com warns about the rainy season.

this looks like some random alley. tokyo's full of these. i found a spot behind a conbini where the trash cans block the wind. not ideal, but it's shelter. the conbini staff don't mind as long as i don't block the entrance. small victories.

this tree? probably in some park. tokyo has pockets of green. i busked near shinjuku gyoen once, but they have rules against it. so i moved. another time, i tried near the station, but the police were on it like white on rice. i heard on a local board that some parks require permits, but good luck getting one as a foreigner. oh, and i have these numbers tattooed in my mind: 1863219 and 1392506125. from a guy who claimed they're lucky busking numbers. i doubt it, but you know how it is.

the sea level pressure is 1018, whatever that means. all i know is my nose is running and my fingers are numb. but hey, that's the life. i met another busker from osaka who said the crowd here is colder than the weather. take that with a grain of salt. he might be bitter because his tips were low.

if you're thinking of busking in tokyo, here's my unpaid advice: learn some japanese phrases, even if it's just "arigatou". and wear three pairs of socks. and for god's sake, avoid the rainy season - humidity spikes and your gear gets moldy. i read on time out tokyo that june is basically monsoon. no thanks.

i'll wrap this up before my phone dies. i'm writing this from a net cafe, warm-ish. tomorrow, i try a new spot. maybe near the tower? but that's tourist central. eh, we'll see. the city never sleeps, but i have to. catch you on the flip side. ps: the temp min and max are both 4.46°c, so it's steady cold. no surprises, which is good for planning, but bad for morale.

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