As I sit making my final blog entry from my month in Japan, I know already that I will miss this country very much. The people that I have met and the places that I have been fortunate enough to visit will stay with me for my lifetime. It's been a life-changing experience, and the final days have been nothing short of extraordinary.
On Tuesday evening before setting out for Mount Fuji, I took an opportunity to set out for the futuristic man-made island of Odaiba. After a transfer from the Tokyo Metro onto the exceptionally pleasant Yurikakomome line, the monorail takes you right under the Rainbow Bridge into the island city. Once at Odaiba, the line completes a loop around several key sections of the island, including the Fuji TV building and Telecom Center. My first stop was initially to try out the famous O-Edo Onsen Monogatari, a natural hot spring Onsen on Odaiba. However, I have learned that in Japan, there are many cultural differences ranging from the polite to the taboo. In my case, I have a small tattoo on my left shoulder and, in Japan, tattoos are traditionally indicators that the person is a member of the Yazuka, or Japanese mafia (regardless that I am obviously a foreigner). Although the folks at the Onsen were very polite about it, I was unable to enter. Fortunately, I was able to experience a private Onsen at the hotel that I stayed at over my three day Mt. Fuji excursion.
The real jewel of Odaiba is the breathtaking Stream of Starlight ferris wheel that is part of Palette Town. At night, the entire structure becomes a big fiber-optic masterpiece and takes patrons high above the city to enjoy exceptional views of Tokyo. Passing through Palette Town, I went to the Stream of Starlight through the Toyota Showcase Room, which highlights new versions of the cars as well as prototypes of future designs. As an interesting footnote, there are many different makes of cars from manufacturers like Toyota or Honda that I've never even seen let alone heard of in America. In-car GPS also seems to be a staple here - and who could argue against one in an auto labyrinth like Tokyo? After purchasing my ￥900 ticket, I opted to wait 20 minutes in line for a special completely clear (from floor to ceiling) car to get a really good view of everything. Indeed, it was a pleasant way to spend my last late night in the city as I took a moment to take in the views one last breathtaking time.
On Wednesday, our class set out for Mount Fuji. One should know, however, that the Japanese do not call Mount Fuji as its literal translation, Fujiyama (フジヤマ) but rather by the name Fuji-San (富士山). The suffix -san denotes personhood, specifically of closer of familiar kinship like that of a friend. The Japanese call the mountain Fuji-san out of respect for the nature of the mountain, as many believe that the mountain has a uniqueness and a type of indwelling spirit. Truly, upon viewing Fuji as we arrived up the mountain, it's easy to see why.
We arrived at checkpoint five, which is slightly below half way up the base of the mountain. Traditionally, this is where everyone starts their climb up to the top at 3,776 meters (13,388 feet). We started up the Kawaguchiko route as a class from checkpoint five to checkpoint six and took a rest. Because we were already starting above the first cloud line, the oxygen was already a little thin. Thankfully, packing a lot of water, snacks and a small O2 tank, I was ready to climb with our small group of four friends. Without hesitation, the climb up Mount Fuji was exceptionally difficult. The path from checkpoint six to seven was especially difficult and winding. After brief rests in between for snacks and water breaks, we continued our climb another 400 meters to checkpoint eight. At this point, with about 1,000 meters to go, we reached the hardest and most heartbreaking stage. Many people who climb the mountain never make it past checkpoint eight and to continue on past this point also means the end of the major checkpoint rest areas. As we set out, I admit that there were points where we didn't think we would make it as the fatigue quickly turned into exhaustion and the air became less dense. However, knowing that we couldn't stop, there comes a point when you have to turn your thinking away from "conquering the mountain" and into "working with the mountain" and, in a quiet way, asking it to help you along. Thankfully, after over seven hours of direct ascent, we reached the top Torii gates of the mountain and arrived to the top camp at the final checkpoint. To reach the very top of the mountain was an amazing and wonderful feeling as, quite truly, I was on top of the world. After about 40 minutes for lunch and a quick purchase of a wooden branded plank certifing my ascent, we started for our way back down the mountain through a different descent path. As we rounded past checkpoint eight, exceptionally thick fog followed by a heavy rain hastened our descent down the mountain. But, after a three-hour descent, I made it back to the bus soaked, exhausted and very sunburnt. The hotel Onsen never felt better.
The next day, our class made a quick stop into the Fuji Q Highland amusement park. Fuji Q, which is home to the world record holder for the tallest roller coaster in the world, also featured the scariest haunted house in all of Japan. Admittedly, I was more up for the Gundam Ride instead.
And so, tonight as I have packed the last of my things and said my goodbyes, I know that I will miss this place very much. Someday I hope to return for certain, but for now, I come away knowing a good amount of Japanese, new friends, and some unforgettable memories. Truly, I am deeply thankful to have lived out one of my life's dreams of visiting Japan and only hope that I am fortunate in my life enough to possibly return. In Japanese, sayonara (さよなら）is left as a type of goodbye when you are not going to see someone for a long time, unlike other goodbyes like "mata ashita (see you tomorrrow)" or "ki o tsukete (take care)." Indeed, sayonara nippon, sayonara.
- Matt
p.s.: I have many more photos, stories and videos to share with everyone upon my return. I hope to be able to share them with you in person! Until then - take care!
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Monday, July 28, 2008
Takai, Takai.
こんいちわ！
I know that it has been one week from my last blog entry, but it's been for all good reasons. The days have been exceedingly packed full of sightseeing, interesting activites and exciting things and interactions. Fortunately, as I settle down into my favorite internet cafe in Suidobashi and a cup of coffee, I'm ready for some serious updating.
The good news is that I have been well, for those of you wondering - especially as Anna pointed out in her comment the recent earthquake last week. Skipping to that evening for a moment, it was certainly an unusual moment. Living in New England for my whole life, I have (fortunately) never experienced the sensation of an earthquake. Japan, however, sits above three different tectonic plates, making it one of the most earthquake prone areas in the world. On the evening of July 24th, I remember that I was having a little trouble falling asleep. Normally here, I have been getting into bed and asleep by 11:00pm, but that night I wasn't in bed until 11:40 and still tossing and turning. Just as I was about to fall asleep, I felt what I can only describe as the bed mildly vibrating at first. In my head, I was convinced that I was in the plane between dreaming and consciousness, but when the shaking became very pronounced, I realized that this was no dream. The earthquake in the Tokyo area was mild, only registering somewhere in the 3.0 range. Nevertheless, having never experienced the sensation of an earthquake before, I have to say that it was unusually disconcerting. About two minutes after the earthquake could be felt, I sat up to the sounds of various sirens and Japanese being spoken over some type of PA system. A little surreal, but it is an all too common occurence in this country - so much so that everything, buildings, traffic light posts, etc. are very earthquake resistant.
On lighter notes, my days have been filled with various activities seated with the goal of soaking up as much of the culture as possible. Last week, our class took a field trip to Shin-Kiba on the eastern area of Tokyo to a glass artisan's workshop. There, we had the opportunity to make our own glass beads, which was a very cool experience. Although all the instructions were in Japanese (like, well, everything else here) the artisans were more than helpful in showing us all how to bend the glass and add color and dimension. The beads will be ready on Wednesday, which is exciting as I hope that mine didn't end up as some misshapen blob. If it did, I'll just call it "artistic expression" right? That sounds nicer than "accident."
After class, a few of us set off to the Shibuya and Harajuku areas of town for some clothes shopping. As I had joked with some people before, it's unusual for me to be having to choose size medium and large sized clothing being a smaller guy. However, the clothes here are certainly much different in some aspects than American clothing. For example, you could say that much of the younger clothing preferences and styles in American tend to lean toward a hip-hop influenced style of baggier clothing and baseball caps. In Tokyo, the trendy look seems to be somewhere in the vicinity of surfer-turned-salaryman / club host, termed onii-kei . It's admittedly very different from American ideas of what's trendy, but it is Japan, after all. After that was done, I opted to sit in the very famous Starbucks that sits right above Shibuya crossing for a cappuccino and people watching that was unparalled to anything than I've ever seen. For your entertainment, I captured a minute of a started crossing at Shibuya from the Starbucks so you can see the sheer volume of people that cross here every minute and a half:
Later in that same day, I took a trip on the Tokyo Metro to Roppongi Hills. Roppongi, many years ago, was disreputably known as being some type of expat red light district where you really only went to Roppongi for all the wrong reasons. Today, Roppongi is home to some very upscale areas, the crown jewel of which is Roppongi Hills - a massive shopping, entertainment and restaurant area. Roppongi is very close to Tokyo Tower, and the view from the area is quite nice as you overlook the city. However, what particularly caught my eye was the ability to get to the top of Roppongi Hills at the SkyWalk: an open air observatory and helipad that sat on top of the 60-story building. Naturally, it was worth the ￥1,500 to get to the top. There, I waited as the sun went down as I had an unrivaled 360 degree view of Tokyo. The views were particularly impressive as I stood there enjoying the wonderment that is this amazing city. Truly, it was not to be missed.
As a small side note, everytime I ride on the Tokyo Metro, walk down Omotesando-dori or even use the washlet, I can finally answer one question: I know where Cameron Diaz has been hiding. She's practically everywhere here. Strange? Yes, I think so.
On Thursday, Ide-Sensei took our class on a small field trip to the famous Budokan that is a 10 minute walk from our class in Kudanshita. The Nippon Budokan is an extraordinarily famous rock concert venue (as mostly known by westerners). You may be familiar with it when the Beatles played here or from many other bands and their respective "live from the Budokan" albums. Originally, the Budokan was designed for the 1964 Olympic games in Tokyo, hence why 部土管 in English translates to "martial arts hall." Later that day, we had the opportunity for some one on one Japanese language exchange with some local students who came in to speak with us. It was fun as Ayako and I talked about our hometowns, what we like to do for fun and hobbies as well as share funny stories. It was pretty nice to have the opportunity to use my Japanese in conversations aspects, although I am lucky that I do get to use a lot of it back at the guesthouse when I talk to my friends like Yuta-san, Fumi-san and Yuu-san. 楽しかった! (it's very enjoyable)
One of my classmates, Stanley, was also lucky enough to celebrate his birthday while in Japan. However, we we asked him what he was doing for his birthday, he muttered "oh, well, nothing really." To that, we decided it would be good to take him out for his birthday on Friday night - which turned out to be a lot of fun! We met up and set off for an Izakaya for plenty of food and fun. Afterward, however, came the real treat: kareoke. As we walked along the streets of Shibuya at night, we came across what I can only describe as the most opulent kareoke bar that I've ever seen. Inside, we had a private room for our party, touch screen panels to order food, drinks and other panels to cue up songs. We sang plenty of Japanese songs but didn't pass up the opportunity to belt out American classics from Journey to Michael Jackson. Although not one person could solidly carry a tune, it is that very point that made it so much fun!
On Saturday, our class took a most unusual and highly enjoyable trip to Disneyland. We each had the choice of going to either Disneyland (which is more or less exactly like the one in Anaheim) or to the Japan-exclusive Disney Sea. Having been to Disneyworld many times with my mom and brother, I opted to try the new experience and go to Disney Sea. Although uniquely Disney, it was certainly very Japanese right down to hearing Chip and Dale or Mickey Mouse sing along in the native language. The attractions were larger than life for certain!
My friends and I first set out for the center of the park at the "Journey to the Center of the Earth" ride based on the H.G. Wells novel. It was highly enjoyable and the attention to detail was excellent! Afterward, we set out for Ariel's castle, based on "The Little Mermaid" film. The inside here was like stepping into the movie, full of rides, music and the kind of branded fun that only Disney can deliver. Moving around the park, we stopped into Agrabah from "Aladdin" for some curry and then moved on to the "American Waterfront." Like many Disney things, interpretations of ideas for attractions can be often over the top - such as when we wound our way into a distinctly and highly-stereotypical colonial Cape Cod type town, complete with a (yes, you're reading this right) a Japanese Irish-immigrant style band playing on top of a boat. Actually, they sounded great!
Afterward, the heat was really beating down heavy on everyone and we decided to wait in the 45 minute line for a very enticing water ride. However, after waiting over a half an hour in line, the ride broke down! Our feelings of being slightly heartbroken were quickly remedied, however, when they handed out fastpasses to any ride in the park, allowing the bearer to completely skip the line for any given ride. With such a gift in hand, three of us made a quick dash to the 110-minute lined Tower of Terror. Unlike the Tower of Terror in Disneyworld, which is themed around old Hollywood and The Twilight Zone, the Japanese Tower of Terror's mythology centered around "Harrison Hightower-san," a purveyor of tribal artifacts who stole a cursed figurine. Ridegoers were cast into a detective-like role to try and uncover the mystery of Hightower-san's death and to put the idol to rest. Incidentially, I like the American version a little better.
One of the funnier moments at Disney Sea was the aptly named "Yes Water! More Please." Here, crowds would gather around the lagoon as a boat came around with singing and dancing characters and people. Then, in a flourish of music, they literally unleashed fire hoses to the delight of the crowd as they jumped in time with the music:
Lastly, I was surprised to come across the last major ride in the park: The Indiana Jones and the Kindgom of the Crystal Skull attraction! Although impressive considering the movie is still in theatres here, we just couldn't stand to wait in the 130 minute waiting line. Alas, Dr. Jones, another time.
Finally, after a full day at Disney Sea, we arrived back to Suidobashi in time to make our way to this very famous Sumida-gawa Hanabi 墨田ー側 花火 (Sumida river fireworks festival). The Hanabi takes place in the last Saturday of July and it one of the most famous and most popular events in all of Japan as it is the largest fireworks display of the year in the entire country. The Hanabi lasts from 7:00pm until 8:30pm with an almost continual stream of fireworks. As we disembarked the train at Asakusabashi to get to the Sumida river, the people and vendors that flooded the streets was overwhelming to say the least. We wound our way through the crowd for 45 minutes and found a spot where we could see enough of the fireworks (keep in mind to gain an unobstructed view of the fireworks, it's not uncommon for people to begin setting up their ideal spot five or six hours in advance). Nevertheless, the experience of being among all the people watching the Hanabi was a tremendously rewarding and fun experience as we ran through the streets and enjoyed the festival.
Lastly, I'll leave you with an interesting story: on my way back to Narimasu on the Yurakucho line, I felt my throat start to become a little irritated from all the yelling and exhaustion of the day. Although I wasn't coughing or anything, I could feel that I was quite worn down and needed to sit. After a few stops, I noticed a woman start to reach into her husband's suitcase for something, not realizing that I was occupying the seat right next to him. Although I was tired, I got up and offered her the seat with the limited Japanese that I could speak and understand:
"どぞ、どぞ。 (please do, please do)"
"大丈夫、大丈夫。ありがとう (It's ok, it's ok, thank you anyway)"
"すみ舞えん、著音。大丈夫。(Don't worry, it's ok. Please.)"
"あの、ありがとうございます！(ahh, thank you very much!)"
As I moved to go stand on against on of the rails, she approached me two stops later offering me some type of candy to say thank you. Strangely, it was a cough drop. Although I am sure that I didn't show any signs of needing one, it was oddly enough exactly what I needed. I smiled and thanked her for the gift. I suppose that was I'm really trying to say here is that I find it more than coincidental that, despite a heavy language barrier, that some type of cycle was completed and that, in that moment, I somehow ended up with more than what I started with. Somethings, truly, are universal.
On Wednesday, I depart for Mount Fuji in an attempto to climb to the very top! I will probably not be able to write again until after the trip, so until then I'll take lots of pictures and enjoy it to the fullest.
Ja ne!
I know that it has been one week from my last blog entry, but it's been for all good reasons. The days have been exceedingly packed full of sightseeing, interesting activites and exciting things and interactions. Fortunately, as I settle down into my favorite internet cafe in Suidobashi and a cup of coffee, I'm ready for some serious updating.
The good news is that I have been well, for those of you wondering - especially as Anna pointed out in her comment the recent earthquake last week. Skipping to that evening for a moment, it was certainly an unusual moment. Living in New England for my whole life, I have (fortunately) never experienced the sensation of an earthquake. Japan, however, sits above three different tectonic plates, making it one of the most earthquake prone areas in the world. On the evening of July 24th, I remember that I was having a little trouble falling asleep. Normally here, I have been getting into bed and asleep by 11:00pm, but that night I wasn't in bed until 11:40 and still tossing and turning. Just as I was about to fall asleep, I felt what I can only describe as the bed mildly vibrating at first. In my head, I was convinced that I was in the plane between dreaming and consciousness, but when the shaking became very pronounced, I realized that this was no dream. The earthquake in the Tokyo area was mild, only registering somewhere in the 3.0 range. Nevertheless, having never experienced the sensation of an earthquake before, I have to say that it was unusually disconcerting. About two minutes after the earthquake could be felt, I sat up to the sounds of various sirens and Japanese being spoken over some type of PA system. A little surreal, but it is an all too common occurence in this country - so much so that everything, buildings, traffic light posts, etc. are very earthquake resistant.
On lighter notes, my days have been filled with various activities seated with the goal of soaking up as much of the culture as possible. Last week, our class took a field trip to Shin-Kiba on the eastern area of Tokyo to a glass artisan's workshop. There, we had the opportunity to make our own glass beads, which was a very cool experience. Although all the instructions were in Japanese (like, well, everything else here) the artisans were more than helpful in showing us all how to bend the glass and add color and dimension. The beads will be ready on Wednesday, which is exciting as I hope that mine didn't end up as some misshapen blob. If it did, I'll just call it "artistic expression" right? That sounds nicer than "accident."
After class, a few of us set off to the Shibuya and Harajuku areas of town for some clothes shopping. As I had joked with some people before, it's unusual for me to be having to choose size medium and large sized clothing being a smaller guy. However, the clothes here are certainly much different in some aspects than American clothing. For example, you could say that much of the younger clothing preferences and styles in American tend to lean toward a hip-hop influenced style of baggier clothing and baseball caps. In Tokyo, the trendy look seems to be somewhere in the vicinity of surfer-turned-salaryman / club host, termed onii-kei . It's admittedly very different from American ideas of what's trendy, but it is Japan, after all. After that was done, I opted to sit in the very famous Starbucks that sits right above Shibuya crossing for a cappuccino and people watching that was unparalled to anything than I've ever seen. For your entertainment, I captured a minute of a started crossing at Shibuya from the Starbucks so you can see the sheer volume of people that cross here every minute and a half:
Later in that same day, I took a trip on the Tokyo Metro to Roppongi Hills. Roppongi, many years ago, was disreputably known as being some type of expat red light district where you really only went to Roppongi for all the wrong reasons. Today, Roppongi is home to some very upscale areas, the crown jewel of which is Roppongi Hills - a massive shopping, entertainment and restaurant area. Roppongi is very close to Tokyo Tower, and the view from the area is quite nice as you overlook the city. However, what particularly caught my eye was the ability to get to the top of Roppongi Hills at the SkyWalk: an open air observatory and helipad that sat on top of the 60-story building. Naturally, it was worth the ￥1,500 to get to the top. There, I waited as the sun went down as I had an unrivaled 360 degree view of Tokyo. The views were particularly impressive as I stood there enjoying the wonderment that is this amazing city. Truly, it was not to be missed.
As a small side note, everytime I ride on the Tokyo Metro, walk down Omotesando-dori or even use the washlet, I can finally answer one question: I know where Cameron Diaz has been hiding. She's practically everywhere here. Strange? Yes, I think so.
On Thursday, Ide-Sensei took our class on a small field trip to the famous Budokan that is a 10 minute walk from our class in Kudanshita. The Nippon Budokan is an extraordinarily famous rock concert venue (as mostly known by westerners). You may be familiar with it when the Beatles played here or from many other bands and their respective "live from the Budokan" albums. Originally, the Budokan was designed for the 1964 Olympic games in Tokyo, hence why 部土管 in English translates to "martial arts hall." Later that day, we had the opportunity for some one on one Japanese language exchange with some local students who came in to speak with us. It was fun as Ayako and I talked about our hometowns, what we like to do for fun and hobbies as well as share funny stories. It was pretty nice to have the opportunity to use my Japanese in conversations aspects, although I am lucky that I do get to use a lot of it back at the guesthouse when I talk to my friends like Yuta-san, Fumi-san and Yuu-san. 楽しかった! (it's very enjoyable)
One of my classmates, Stanley, was also lucky enough to celebrate his birthday while in Japan. However, we we asked him what he was doing for his birthday, he muttered "oh, well, nothing really." To that, we decided it would be good to take him out for his birthday on Friday night - which turned out to be a lot of fun! We met up and set off for an Izakaya for plenty of food and fun. Afterward, however, came the real treat: kareoke. As we walked along the streets of Shibuya at night, we came across what I can only describe as the most opulent kareoke bar that I've ever seen. Inside, we had a private room for our party, touch screen panels to order food, drinks and other panels to cue up songs. We sang plenty of Japanese songs but didn't pass up the opportunity to belt out American classics from Journey to Michael Jackson. Although not one person could solidly carry a tune, it is that very point that made it so much fun!
On Saturday, our class took a most unusual and highly enjoyable trip to Disneyland. We each had the choice of going to either Disneyland (which is more or less exactly like the one in Anaheim) or to the Japan-exclusive Disney Sea. Having been to Disneyworld many times with my mom and brother, I opted to try the new experience and go to Disney Sea. Although uniquely Disney, it was certainly very Japanese right down to hearing Chip and Dale or Mickey Mouse sing along in the native language. The attractions were larger than life for certain!
My friends and I first set out for the center of the park at the "Journey to the Center of the Earth" ride based on the H.G. Wells novel. It was highly enjoyable and the attention to detail was excellent! Afterward, we set out for Ariel's castle, based on "The Little Mermaid" film. The inside here was like stepping into the movie, full of rides, music and the kind of branded fun that only Disney can deliver. Moving around the park, we stopped into Agrabah from "Aladdin" for some curry and then moved on to the "American Waterfront." Like many Disney things, interpretations of ideas for attractions can be often over the top - such as when we wound our way into a distinctly and highly-stereotypical colonial Cape Cod type town, complete with a (yes, you're reading this right) a Japanese Irish-immigrant style band playing on top of a boat. Actually, they sounded great!
Afterward, the heat was really beating down heavy on everyone and we decided to wait in the 45 minute line for a very enticing water ride. However, after waiting over a half an hour in line, the ride broke down! Our feelings of being slightly heartbroken were quickly remedied, however, when they handed out fastpasses to any ride in the park, allowing the bearer to completely skip the line for any given ride. With such a gift in hand, three of us made a quick dash to the 110-minute lined Tower of Terror. Unlike the Tower of Terror in Disneyworld, which is themed around old Hollywood and The Twilight Zone, the Japanese Tower of Terror's mythology centered around "Harrison Hightower-san," a purveyor of tribal artifacts who stole a cursed figurine. Ridegoers were cast into a detective-like role to try and uncover the mystery of Hightower-san's death and to put the idol to rest. Incidentially, I like the American version a little better.
One of the funnier moments at Disney Sea was the aptly named "Yes Water! More Please." Here, crowds would gather around the lagoon as a boat came around with singing and dancing characters and people. Then, in a flourish of music, they literally unleashed fire hoses to the delight of the crowd as they jumped in time with the music:
Lastly, I was surprised to come across the last major ride in the park: The Indiana Jones and the Kindgom of the Crystal Skull attraction! Although impressive considering the movie is still in theatres here, we just couldn't stand to wait in the 130 minute waiting line. Alas, Dr. Jones, another time.
Finally, after a full day at Disney Sea, we arrived back to Suidobashi in time to make our way to this very famous Sumida-gawa Hanabi 墨田ー側 花火 (Sumida river fireworks festival). The Hanabi takes place in the last Saturday of July and it one of the most famous and most popular events in all of Japan as it is the largest fireworks display of the year in the entire country. The Hanabi lasts from 7:00pm until 8:30pm with an almost continual stream of fireworks. As we disembarked the train at Asakusabashi to get to the Sumida river, the people and vendors that flooded the streets was overwhelming to say the least. We wound our way through the crowd for 45 minutes and found a spot where we could see enough of the fireworks (keep in mind to gain an unobstructed view of the fireworks, it's not uncommon for people to begin setting up their ideal spot five or six hours in advance). Nevertheless, the experience of being among all the people watching the Hanabi was a tremendously rewarding and fun experience as we ran through the streets and enjoyed the festival.
Lastly, I'll leave you with an interesting story: on my way back to Narimasu on the Yurakucho line, I felt my throat start to become a little irritated from all the yelling and exhaustion of the day. Although I wasn't coughing or anything, I could feel that I was quite worn down and needed to sit. After a few stops, I noticed a woman start to reach into her husband's suitcase for something, not realizing that I was occupying the seat right next to him. Although I was tired, I got up and offered her the seat with the limited Japanese that I could speak and understand:
"どぞ、どぞ。 (please do, please do)"
"大丈夫、大丈夫。ありがとう (It's ok, it's ok, thank you anyway)"
"すみ舞えん、著音。大丈夫。(Don't worry, it's ok. Please.)"
"あの、ありがとうございます！(ahh, thank you very much!)"
As I moved to go stand on against on of the rails, she approached me two stops later offering me some type of candy to say thank you. Strangely, it was a cough drop. Although I am sure that I didn't show any signs of needing one, it was oddly enough exactly what I needed. I smiled and thanked her for the gift. I suppose that was I'm really trying to say here is that I find it more than coincidental that, despite a heavy language barrier, that some type of cycle was completed and that, in that moment, I somehow ended up with more than what I started with. Somethings, truly, are universal.
On Wednesday, I depart for Mount Fuji in an attempto to climb to the very top! I will probably not be able to write again until after the trip, so until then I'll take lots of pictures and enjoy it to the fullest.
Ja ne!
Monday, July 21, 2008
Daijoubu?
Let me start by saying that this past weekend has been full of so much excitement and sightseeing that I have opted to take today's national holiday of Marine Day and do what many of the locals do: absolutely nothing! With so many things and all that walking, I find that each of my days are full but can often be tiring. Accordingly, a nice day to just take it slow, write a little and enjoy the beautiful weather on this Marine Day is exactly what was well needed. Incidentially, Marine Day is not an old holiday at all. 海の日(umi no hi) was only established in 1995 as a day of gratitude for the blessings of the oceans and for hoping for the prosperity of the maritime nation that is Japan. Originally held on July 20, in 2003 it was changed to the third Monday of July in accordance with the Happy Monday System - which literally was a move by the Japanese government to move a number of national holidays to Mondays to promote a nice, long and "happy" weekend. Thanks, Japan - it has indeed been a good weekend!
I was lucky enough (let me say that a different way - exceptionally fortunate) to attend a birthday party at the Izakaya in Itabashi on Friday night with our friend Yuuske, his friends and my pals Dave and Nick from school. To say that it was a feast would be to understate the sheer magnitude of the amount of food and drink present. Although it is customary to order a lot of food at the Izakaya, this was a special occasion as we were celebrating three birthdays of people that were present. Accordingly, they pulled out all the stops, including a private reserved room for us to dine in. As guests of Yuuske, we were also equally part of the celebration and my chance to talk and meet many new Japanese friends was a great highlight of the evening. The party was quite funny and we laughed and talked and joked for several hours in both English and Japanese. All of the food, of course, was thoroughly Japanese: the main course featured a pot of oil that we would boil various meats and vegetables in as well as entire trays of fresh sashimi, sushi, maki, teriyaki, tonkatsu and more! The most bizzare part of the night, however, came when the restaurant offered to us a plate of it's most unusual delicacy: live prawns. Yes, live. They had taken the back tail, split the shell off and left the upper part (and head) on the prawn shrimp. I could not take myself to take a photo as it was, well, still moving. However, as Yuuske delightfully pointed out much to his amusement, we simply had to eat it as guests of honor. Looking at my two classmates, we took a hefty swig of our beer and politely asked how we go about doing this. Kyo, one of the other guests, showed us how as you twist off the top and, quickly, eat the tail meat. Without being then too graphic or gratuitous about the experience for those that are a little squeamish, I will simply say that I ate it and that, indeed, it was surprisingly delicious. I guess that's about a fresh as it gets, huh?
On Saturday, our class set out for Kamakura, Japan - which is about a two hour bus ride outside of Tokyo. Kamakura is a coastal town sitting in the Kanagawa prefecture just east of Tokyo. It is a delightfully older city and once, for a period of time, sat as the capital of Japan before the capital moved to Kyoto. During Kamakura's height as the center of government founded by Minamoto Yoritomo in 1192, Kamakura became the host of many old and varied Buddhist and Shinto temples and shrines. Today, Kamakura is mostly a simple coastal town, but the original shrines and temples still exist.
Our first stop in Kamakura was to the Hasedera temple in Kamakura. Hasedera is home to the Kannon-do, the Shinto goddess of mercy (although, strictly speaking, it is without gender). The statue shows Kannon with eleven heads, each representing a characteristic of the goddess. The tall, gilded wooden statue is regarded as the largest wooden sculpture in Japan, and can be viewed in the temple's main building. With impressive views of the bay below, the temple is known as being one of Japan's most sacred areas.
The next stop was to the impressive Daibutsu (Great Buddha) in Kamakura. The statue towers over the entire site, which is also home to several other shrines and temples. The Daibutsu of Kamakura was built in 1252 and still stands today with only the original base being destroyed in the great Kanto earthquake. It was an incredibly impressive area and absolutely worth getting outside of the city to view and enjoy.
After a wonderful lunch in Kamakura, it was time to head out and back for the frenetic pace of Tokyo, but not without rounding out the temple experience on Sunday with a visit to Ueno in Tokyo with some friends. Ueno, which is home to the expansive Ueno Park, houses a number of temples and sights to enjoy. We first set out for the pond in Ueno Park, made famous for renting a small boat, canoe or paddle boat to sail across the pond for an hour under the sun. After some rest and relaxation (as well as a small canoe race) we settled town for a light lunch at a tea house on the other side of the pond which was overrun by thousands of lillies on the water in Ueno. It was an excellent experience to enjoy the majesty of the tea house, which only opens for two months of the year in Ueno, for an authentic tea experience.
After a quick detour to the Ueno shops (notorious for cheap wares) we went and visited some of the other Shinto shrines in the area, largely dedicated to the Shogunate of ancient Japan that ruled the land for centuries. It was an unusual and humbling experience to walk along some of the original tiles, stones and areas that centuries of Japanese people, samurai and others have undoubtedly walked along. All in all, a day in Ueno was quite tiring, and it was nice to come back to Narimasu and hang out with some of the others as they played guitar and enjoyed the open night air.
Although class resumes tomorrow, I for one will be blissfully enjoying my holiday catching up on some much needed rest and relaxation!
Mata Ashita!
I was lucky enough (let me say that a different way - exceptionally fortunate) to attend a birthday party at the Izakaya in Itabashi on Friday night with our friend Yuuske, his friends and my pals Dave and Nick from school. To say that it was a feast would be to understate the sheer magnitude of the amount of food and drink present. Although it is customary to order a lot of food at the Izakaya, this was a special occasion as we were celebrating three birthdays of people that were present. Accordingly, they pulled out all the stops, including a private reserved room for us to dine in. As guests of Yuuske, we were also equally part of the celebration and my chance to talk and meet many new Japanese friends was a great highlight of the evening. The party was quite funny and we laughed and talked and joked for several hours in both English and Japanese. All of the food, of course, was thoroughly Japanese: the main course featured a pot of oil that we would boil various meats and vegetables in as well as entire trays of fresh sashimi, sushi, maki, teriyaki, tonkatsu and more! The most bizzare part of the night, however, came when the restaurant offered to us a plate of it's most unusual delicacy: live prawns. Yes, live. They had taken the back tail, split the shell off and left the upper part (and head) on the prawn shrimp. I could not take myself to take a photo as it was, well, still moving. However, as Yuuske delightfully pointed out much to his amusement, we simply had to eat it as guests of honor. Looking at my two classmates, we took a hefty swig of our beer and politely asked how we go about doing this. Kyo, one of the other guests, showed us how as you twist off the top and, quickly, eat the tail meat. Without being then too graphic or gratuitous about the experience for those that are a little squeamish, I will simply say that I ate it and that, indeed, it was surprisingly delicious. I guess that's about a fresh as it gets, huh?
On Saturday, our class set out for Kamakura, Japan - which is about a two hour bus ride outside of Tokyo. Kamakura is a coastal town sitting in the Kanagawa prefecture just east of Tokyo. It is a delightfully older city and once, for a period of time, sat as the capital of Japan before the capital moved to Kyoto. During Kamakura's height as the center of government founded by Minamoto Yoritomo in 1192, Kamakura became the host of many old and varied Buddhist and Shinto temples and shrines. Today, Kamakura is mostly a simple coastal town, but the original shrines and temples still exist.
Our first stop in Kamakura was to the Hasedera temple in Kamakura. Hasedera is home to the Kannon-do, the Shinto goddess of mercy (although, strictly speaking, it is without gender). The statue shows Kannon with eleven heads, each representing a characteristic of the goddess. The tall, gilded wooden statue is regarded as the largest wooden sculpture in Japan, and can be viewed in the temple's main building. With impressive views of the bay below, the temple is known as being one of Japan's most sacred areas.
The next stop was to the impressive Daibutsu (Great Buddha) in Kamakura. The statue towers over the entire site, which is also home to several other shrines and temples. The Daibutsu of Kamakura was built in 1252 and still stands today with only the original base being destroyed in the great Kanto earthquake. It was an incredibly impressive area and absolutely worth getting outside of the city to view and enjoy.
After a wonderful lunch in Kamakura, it was time to head out and back for the frenetic pace of Tokyo, but not without rounding out the temple experience on Sunday with a visit to Ueno in Tokyo with some friends. Ueno, which is home to the expansive Ueno Park, houses a number of temples and sights to enjoy. We first set out for the pond in Ueno Park, made famous for renting a small boat, canoe or paddle boat to sail across the pond for an hour under the sun. After some rest and relaxation (as well as a small canoe race) we settled town for a light lunch at a tea house on the other side of the pond which was overrun by thousands of lillies on the water in Ueno. It was an excellent experience to enjoy the majesty of the tea house, which only opens for two months of the year in Ueno, for an authentic tea experience.
After a quick detour to the Ueno shops (notorious for cheap wares) we went and visited some of the other Shinto shrines in the area, largely dedicated to the Shogunate of ancient Japan that ruled the land for centuries. It was an unusual and humbling experience to walk along some of the original tiles, stones and areas that centuries of Japanese people, samurai and others have undoubtedly walked along. All in all, a day in Ueno was quite tiring, and it was nice to come back to Narimasu and hang out with some of the others as they played guitar and enjoyed the open night air.
Although class resumes tomorrow, I for one will be blissfully enjoying my holiday catching up on some much needed rest and relaxation!
Mata Ashita!
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Five Things That I've Learned So Far
At long last, I have finally made it to the virtual oasis that is the local internet cafe in the area around Tokyo Dome near one of the close railway stations, Suidobashi. As I sit in a tiny cubicle no bigger than enough room for the chair and console, I can find some peace and quiet to write a nice long blog entry. At the guest house that I am staying at, the computer is situated in the living area and kitchen area; while free, it's often very busy with people cooking, talking, hanging out or other people who need to use the computer as well. In Tokyo, internet cafes are seemingly everywhere, but being the foreigner that I am, the language barrier prevents me from finding them all. Fortunately, I've met some great friends who pointed me in the direction of the internet cafe. The nice part about this program has been the ability to meet people from all over the world. Right now, I've been hanging out with a great group of about six people mostly from America but one is from Thailand - Ben. Another member of the group that I have been hanging out with, Dave, has a friend who lives in Japan named Yuuske. It will be an added bonus that, tomorrow, Yuuske has invited us to hang out with his Japanese friends in Kabuki-cho at an Izakaya. A Japanese Izakaya is most closely related to a pub in western culture, although it's different in many ways. At the Izakaya, you're expected to order a lot of food for people to share and sample and people often will be at the Izakaya for two to three hours standardly. It will be a very fun experience to be invited to this kind of evening and, no doubt, there will be lots of pictures.
I was fortunate enough to go to the famous Ghibli Museum that I mentioned in my last entry. The train ride, which was covered by the academy, took us an hour outside of the city to a town called Mitaka. After a twenty minute walk, we arrived at the curious museum, which felt like we stepped into one of Miyazaki's works. While we were not permitted to take photos of the inside, the outside exhibits and buildings were amazing. The large statues, items and surroundings were truly extraordinary. Inside, I was able to browse through some of Miyazaki's actual original sketches and drawings. Part of the museum was also going to the small theatre inside to view an original production that Miyazaki did just for the Ghibli Museum! As a special token, each person received a limited original film cell from a Miyazaki film. I got a rare film cell of "no-face" a principle character in the film Spirited Away. If you have never seen the movie Spirited Away or any of Miyazaki's works, I highly recommend doing so; all of the major films are readily available and in English in the United States.
Class lately has been very fun! Right now, we've been focusing on various verb forms, adjectives and helpful phrases as well as learning the various characters. I'm able to fluidly read Hiragana, but still have work to do on my Katakana and certainly my Kanji! In Japanese, there are three types of alphabets: Hiragana for words that are natively Japanese (such as mizu みず, which means water); Katakana for words that are not native to Japanese (such as kohi, which means coffee) and Kanji, which is imported from the Chinese and are characters that represent both words and concepts. I do enjoy going to class every day and each class reveals something helpful and new as I roam the city, as if each day I get something new to try out as I go through my daily routine.
This week, I hope to chronicle in detail my routine in picutures from the streets that I pass and the Tokyo Metro ride to the classroom environment and the local lunch eateries that I am now beginning to frequent in the Kudanshita area.
However, I'll leave you with a fun entry: five things that I have learned about Tokyo thus far:
5) Timing is everything. The trains come every two minutes and depart so as to not be late. If you're one minute late for class, you're just late, period. Lunch is exactly from 11:30 until 2:00 and it's a little weird to do anything differently. When you finish your meal in a local ramen shop, you better be moving quickly - it's impolite to just hang around and chat after you're done with your meal. Because keeping an efficent schedule is so vital to the Japanese, everything does lapse into certain predictable patterns, but it also means that you better be part of that system!
4) English is happy friend lots let's speak! I'm surprised at how much English you can find on things like signs, the metro, menus and more, which makes navigating Tokyo much better than I had envisioned. Sadly, unless it's from a big established company with native speakers to check grammar and sentence structure, much of the English has a tendency to get a little...sloppy. Many things have unusual, gratuitous descriptions that don't really make all that sense, such as "gold is premium coffee with a radiant like beauty perfected with premium beans. For a radiant life, let's drinking!" Then again, I can not be too critical: the other day when asking Ide-Sensei if I could use the bathroom, I said "watashi-wa toire-te tabetai desu ka" instead of "watashi-wa toire-ni ikitai desu." The latter meaning "may I to go to the toilet?" and the former meaning "may I eat the toilet?" Oops.
3) Everyone smokes. Restuarants, bars, coffee houses, reading rooms, internet cafes - you name it and there's a good chance you'll find someone smoking. Fortunately, the city does a good job of making options for people, but unlike in America smoking is much more prevalent here. Even the word for tobacco is written in Hiragana and not in Katakana and literally pronounced also as toubako (とうばこ）.
2) When in doubt, go the local route. Although Tokyo is in no short supply of options for food, I've found that some of the most flavorful and, incidentially, cheapest food is by far the local fare. Yesterday, I had the choice between getting a subway sandwich or fresh market sashimi (さしみ) for about the same price. The difference is almost indescribable. Eating local is not only delicious (oishii おいしい) but also quite cheap (yasui やすい).
1) Go green or go home. Don't even think about just throwing your trash away, because you just won't find a normal trashcan here. Everything, everything, here breaks down into three general categories: combustibles (for paper, most wrappers, etc), non-combustibles (plastics, food products, etc) and recycleable bottles (glass, cans, plastic bottles). Throwing your waste away just isn't an option. Also, the most popular methods of travel, incidentially, are bikes, the Tokyo Metro and walking. I don't think that I've ever walked as much daily ever before, but it's a great way to get to where I need to go both physically and environmentally. It's a huge social faux pas to throw away your garbage or to be needlessly wasteful, which is remarkably (and yet not all that surprisingly) why Tokyo is so very clean even with such a dense population.
I'll keep everyone posted as I am able! Mata Ashita!
I was fortunate enough to go to the famous Ghibli Museum that I mentioned in my last entry. The train ride, which was covered by the academy, took us an hour outside of the city to a town called Mitaka. After a twenty minute walk, we arrived at the curious museum, which felt like we stepped into one of Miyazaki's works. While we were not permitted to take photos of the inside, the outside exhibits and buildings were amazing. The large statues, items and surroundings were truly extraordinary. Inside, I was able to browse through some of Miyazaki's actual original sketches and drawings. Part of the museum was also going to the small theatre inside to view an original production that Miyazaki did just for the Ghibli Museum! As a special token, each person received a limited original film cell from a Miyazaki film. I got a rare film cell of "no-face" a principle character in the film Spirited Away. If you have never seen the movie Spirited Away or any of Miyazaki's works, I highly recommend doing so; all of the major films are readily available and in English in the United States.
Class lately has been very fun! Right now, we've been focusing on various verb forms, adjectives and helpful phrases as well as learning the various characters. I'm able to fluidly read Hiragana, but still have work to do on my Katakana and certainly my Kanji! In Japanese, there are three types of alphabets: Hiragana for words that are natively Japanese (such as mizu みず, which means water); Katakana for words that are not native to Japanese (such as kohi, which means coffee) and Kanji, which is imported from the Chinese and are characters that represent both words and concepts. I do enjoy going to class every day and each class reveals something helpful and new as I roam the city, as if each day I get something new to try out as I go through my daily routine.
This week, I hope to chronicle in detail my routine in picutures from the streets that I pass and the Tokyo Metro ride to the classroom environment and the local lunch eateries that I am now beginning to frequent in the Kudanshita area.
However, I'll leave you with a fun entry: five things that I have learned about Tokyo thus far:
5) Timing is everything. The trains come every two minutes and depart so as to not be late. If you're one minute late for class, you're just late, period. Lunch is exactly from 11:30 until 2:00 and it's a little weird to do anything differently. When you finish your meal in a local ramen shop, you better be moving quickly - it's impolite to just hang around and chat after you're done with your meal. Because keeping an efficent schedule is so vital to the Japanese, everything does lapse into certain predictable patterns, but it also means that you better be part of that system!
4) English is happy friend lots let's speak! I'm surprised at how much English you can find on things like signs, the metro, menus and more, which makes navigating Tokyo much better than I had envisioned. Sadly, unless it's from a big established company with native speakers to check grammar and sentence structure, much of the English has a tendency to get a little...sloppy. Many things have unusual, gratuitous descriptions that don't really make all that sense, such as "gold is premium coffee with a radiant like beauty perfected with premium beans. For a radiant life, let's drinking!" Then again, I can not be too critical: the other day when asking Ide-Sensei if I could use the bathroom, I said "watashi-wa toire-te tabetai desu ka" instead of "watashi-wa toire-ni ikitai desu." The latter meaning "may I to go to the toilet?" and the former meaning "may I eat the toilet?" Oops.
3) Everyone smokes. Restuarants, bars, coffee houses, reading rooms, internet cafes - you name it and there's a good chance you'll find someone smoking. Fortunately, the city does a good job of making options for people, but unlike in America smoking is much more prevalent here. Even the word for tobacco is written in Hiragana and not in Katakana and literally pronounced also as toubako (とうばこ）.
2) When in doubt, go the local route. Although Tokyo is in no short supply of options for food, I've found that some of the most flavorful and, incidentially, cheapest food is by far the local fare. Yesterday, I had the choice between getting a subway sandwich or fresh market sashimi (さしみ) for about the same price. The difference is almost indescribable. Eating local is not only delicious (oishii おいしい) but also quite cheap (yasui やすい).
1) Go green or go home. Don't even think about just throwing your trash away, because you just won't find a normal trashcan here. Everything, everything, here breaks down into three general categories: combustibles (for paper, most wrappers, etc), non-combustibles (plastics, food products, etc) and recycleable bottles (glass, cans, plastic bottles). Throwing your waste away just isn't an option. Also, the most popular methods of travel, incidentially, are bikes, the Tokyo Metro and walking. I don't think that I've ever walked as much daily ever before, but it's a great way to get to where I need to go both physically and environmentally. It's a huge social faux pas to throw away your garbage or to be needlessly wasteful, which is remarkably (and yet not all that surprisingly) why Tokyo is so very clean even with such a dense population.
I'll keep everyone posted as I am able! Mata Ashita!
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Weekend Adventures
Sorry about the lack of entries of late! It's been a few days since I've really had some time to sit down and write down about all of my adventures over the last few days. I've been taking a lot of time for sightseeing and for various activities with the academy, often finding myself getting into the guest house without a lot of time to sit at the computer. However, the good news is that I have plenty of updates on some of the things that I've been up to. Ideally too, I hope to be able to update a little more frequently in the various weeks.
This weekend on Saturday we had a wonderful trip around Tokyo on a bus tour. Unfortunately for me, I had been so tired from all of the sightseeing and walking around that I accidentally woke up at 9:00am - about half an hour from when I needed to be in Kudanshita. Darn! So, trying to make the most of the day, I woke up, ate my asagohan, and set off to see the Imperial Palace myself. After an hour ride on the Tokyo Metro into Tokyo Station, a short walk suddenly took me into the area of the Imperial Palace gardens. Much of the Imperial Palace is actually restricted from the public, like many of the palaces, castles and government houses of the world. Finally, after making my way through the gardens I came to the Sakura Gate of the Imperial Palace, which is the closest you can get to the actual palace itself. Japan is still ruled by an emperor, Emperor Akihito, but mostly as a figurehead. It's interesting how, at the continual frenzied storm of Toyko, the Imperial Palace sits silent as a type of eye of the storm and set apart by its natural enclosure of walls and trees.
After checking out much of the outer palace, I decided to make the walk to Tokyo Tower, which is part observatory and mostly broadcasting tower. Also unfortunately, I underestimated the distance from the palace to the tower as it took me almost an hour to get to the Tokyo Tower on foot. Even more unfortunately, I got caught in a very severe thunder / rain / hail storm and finished my walk to Tokyo Tower completely drenched. Finally, at long last, my luck turned around when I suddenly heard from behind me a familiar "...Matt?" It was one of my classmates, Steve, as he showed up saying "hey, I thought that it was you! What are you doing here? We wondered what happened to you!" After explaining my situation, I was happy to learn that, out of all the chances that could have been and places in the vast city of Tokyo, that I had met up with my class. Accordingly, I was able to finish the Tokyo tour with the class and make it to the top of the tower (for free, I might add). The following photos are from the top of the tower in a 360 degree view so you can see just how vast the city truly is:
Tokyo Tower I
Tokyo Tower II
Tokyo Tower III
Tokyo Tower IV
Tokyo Tower V
Tokyo Tower VI
Tokyo Tower VII
Tokyo Tower VIII
Tokyo Tower IX
The next day, I set out for Harajuku with some classmates of mine to explore the area a little more and to check out the madness that occurs on Sunday. There were many people out and about in the market areas, browsing shop to shop for sales and for the coolest t-shirt, shoes, books and more. Even among the clothing, I was occasionally reminded that, even half way around the world, I'm never too far from home it seems.
You may have read about the craze in Tokyo for the new iPhone 3G, the first incarnation of the iPhone to be released in Japan since the entire mobile network is on a 3G band (versus the standard 2G / GSM network in the States). At the flagship store for Softbank, the mobile company that secured the Apple contract, people were lined up for days to get their hands on the iPhone, which was available in America over one year ago for the first time. Needless to say, it was funny to see it on CNN and to think "hey, I walked right by that today!"
I'll admit that this entry hasn't been my most inspiring blog entry to date, but with so much that has happened in the last few days, it's hard to capture it all into a single post. However, there are a lot of things happening this week alone, including a special visit tomorrow to the Ghibli Museum, which was set up through the school and normally requires months of special reservations for tickets into the Studio Ghibli! For those of you that are unfamiliar with Studio Ghibli, Hayao Miyazaki - the creator behind such films as Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle and My Neighbor Totoro - is easily Japan's premier animator and a true genius of his craft. The collection of his works and animation studio, Studio Ghibli, is housed in the famous Ghibli Museum. I'll be certain to take a lot of photos tomorrow.
Ideally, I hope to be able to get to an internet cafe in the near future to write a longer and more inspired entry. But for now, things are indeed going well and are only getting better!
Mata Ashita!
This weekend on Saturday we had a wonderful trip around Tokyo on a bus tour. Unfortunately for me, I had been so tired from all of the sightseeing and walking around that I accidentally woke up at 9:00am - about half an hour from when I needed to be in Kudanshita. Darn! So, trying to make the most of the day, I woke up, ate my asagohan, and set off to see the Imperial Palace myself. After an hour ride on the Tokyo Metro into Tokyo Station, a short walk suddenly took me into the area of the Imperial Palace gardens. Much of the Imperial Palace is actually restricted from the public, like many of the palaces, castles and government houses of the world. Finally, after making my way through the gardens I came to the Sakura Gate of the Imperial Palace, which is the closest you can get to the actual palace itself. Japan is still ruled by an emperor, Emperor Akihito, but mostly as a figurehead. It's interesting how, at the continual frenzied storm of Toyko, the Imperial Palace sits silent as a type of eye of the storm and set apart by its natural enclosure of walls and trees.
After checking out much of the outer palace, I decided to make the walk to Tokyo Tower, which is part observatory and mostly broadcasting tower. Also unfortunately, I underestimated the distance from the palace to the tower as it took me almost an hour to get to the Tokyo Tower on foot. Even more unfortunately, I got caught in a very severe thunder / rain / hail storm and finished my walk to Tokyo Tower completely drenched. Finally, at long last, my luck turned around when I suddenly heard from behind me a familiar "...Matt?" It was one of my classmates, Steve, as he showed up saying "hey, I thought that it was you! What are you doing here? We wondered what happened to you!" After explaining my situation, I was happy to learn that, out of all the chances that could have been and places in the vast city of Tokyo, that I had met up with my class. Accordingly, I was able to finish the Tokyo tour with the class and make it to the top of the tower (for free, I might add). The following photos are from the top of the tower in a 360 degree view so you can see just how vast the city truly is:
Tokyo Tower I
Tokyo Tower II
Tokyo Tower III
Tokyo Tower IV
Tokyo Tower V
Tokyo Tower VI
Tokyo Tower VII
Tokyo Tower VIII
Tokyo Tower IX
The next day, I set out for Harajuku with some classmates of mine to explore the area a little more and to check out the madness that occurs on Sunday. There were many people out and about in the market areas, browsing shop to shop for sales and for the coolest t-shirt, shoes, books and more. Even among the clothing, I was occasionally reminded that, even half way around the world, I'm never too far from home it seems.
You may have read about the craze in Tokyo for the new iPhone 3G, the first incarnation of the iPhone to be released in Japan since the entire mobile network is on a 3G band (versus the standard 2G / GSM network in the States). At the flagship store for Softbank, the mobile company that secured the Apple contract, people were lined up for days to get their hands on the iPhone, which was available in America over one year ago for the first time. Needless to say, it was funny to see it on CNN and to think "hey, I walked right by that today!"
I'll admit that this entry hasn't been my most inspiring blog entry to date, but with so much that has happened in the last few days, it's hard to capture it all into a single post. However, there are a lot of things happening this week alone, including a special visit tomorrow to the Ghibli Museum, which was set up through the school and normally requires months of special reservations for tickets into the Studio Ghibli! For those of you that are unfamiliar with Studio Ghibli, Hayao Miyazaki - the creator behind such films as Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle and My Neighbor Totoro - is easily Japan's premier animator and a true genius of his craft. The collection of his works and animation studio, Studio Ghibli, is housed in the famous Ghibli Museum. I'll be certain to take a lot of photos tomorrow.
Ideally, I hope to be able to get to an internet cafe in the near future to write a longer and more inspired entry. But for now, things are indeed going well and are only getting better!
Mata Ashita!
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Placid among the haste
As I woke up this morning, I found myself a little more tired than usual as the final trails of jet lag leave my body and I no longer wake with the Tokyo crows. For once, I was actually still a little sleepy at 6:30am, which is a far cry from my normal pattern in the United States of staying up until about 1:00am and waking at around 8:00pm. With a quick bowl of cereal (furosatado furuekies), yogurt and an orange, I`m out the door and onto my twenty minute walk to the Chikatestu-Narimasu station through the neighborhoods and bridges. Finally, as I arrived on the train with all of the other Tokyoites bound into the city, I put on my headphones and am beginning to blend in...only a little; I`m still the only one wearing a bright green shirt and plaid shorts contrasting to the business suits and skirts.
Today`s lesson centered around verbs! Tabimasu, Nimasu, Kikimasu...I`m quickly seeing how these classes put the "intense" into intensive. I feel like I have learned more in three days than I have learned with self-study over the last month. It`s certainly been great so far.
After a quick lunch of tempura shrimp, sweet potatoes and squid, the entire academy organized a trip to Harajuku and Shibuya. After departing from Omotesando station, I decided to trek on foot down Omotesando Hills. This section of town is quite glamourous and haute-couture, with shops catering to the discerning Tokyo fashionista. As I took some photos of the architecture in Omotesando, I was stopped by three Japanese people; fairly young and neatly dressed. The overly-and-truly-never-can-be-too-cautious traveler in me immeadiately put one hand on my wallet and kept a little bit of guard up as they approached me. The two women asked for a picture, and I thought that they would like me to take a picture of their group. However, what they really wanted was a picture with me, Mr. American Tourist. After obliging their request, they were very eager to speak to me in English, asking if it was my first time to Tokyo and if I needed any help. They pointed me in the way of the Meiji-Jingu shrine and Yoyogi park. They wished me well on my adventure and were very happy to have helped me out. Incidentially, this hasn`t been an uncommon experience here. Many residents are eager to help out, answer questions or take time out of their day to assist one another. If you drop your wallet, three strangers will bend down to help you pick it up. If you get lost on the train, many would even pay your fare to help you get to the right line. In a city of so many people, it`s a refreshing feeling to know that no one is a total stranger in a communal sense.
As I crossed the bridge over Harajuku and beyond the station, I arrived at the Meiji Shrine. The original Meiji Shrine was constructed in the 1920`s as a tribute to the much beloved Emperor Meiji, who all but ended Japan`s long history of isolation and began to expand Japan culturally and economically. Although the original shrine was destroyed during the bombings at the end of World War II, it was painstakingly restored over many years. As I crossed into the shrine, the pace of Tokyo slows down considerably, almost coming to a halt once you enter the environs of the forest. It`s hard to believe that this area is inside the same city and but a short walk away as the shrine almost exists outside time and the electric beat of the metropolis.
As I made my way through the Torii gates, I came to the heart of the Shinto shrine. First, I came to a well of water with a number of ladles. In order to enter, you have to cleanse your body and your soul by dipping the ladle into the water and washing your left hand first, then your right. Next, you pour some water from the ladle into your cupped left hand and take a drink or two (but not directly from the ladle). Finally, you then tip the ladle vertically to let any remaining water drain into the trough below and set the ladle back down. Freshly cleansed, I went to the prayer box, where I wrote down my prayers and hopes into an envelope and placed a small offering into the box. Lastly, as I approached the very center of the shrine, where the Shinto believe the kami is housed, you make a small prayer, throw a 5 yen coin into a well, clap your hands twice and bow. It was an amazing experience to go to a Shinto shrine as everything really slowed down to a halt; a drastic difference from the last five days of nothing but moving, going and running. Afterward, a cup of coffee and reading a book in a Harajuku cafe did the trick for certain.
On my way back on the Tokyo Metro, I still find myself in awe of how beautiful the entire network is. The stations are colorful and the entire thing from point to point is meticulous. It`s an entirely pleasant experience to go from point to point for about 400 yen a day.
It`s hard to believe that tomorrow is Friday already and the weekend is around the corner. Nevertheless, tomorrow is a new day, another commute and another chance to experience the cultural richness of this city.
Today`s lesson centered around verbs! Tabimasu, Nimasu, Kikimasu...I`m quickly seeing how these classes put the "intense" into intensive. I feel like I have learned more in three days than I have learned with self-study over the last month. It`s certainly been great so far.
After a quick lunch of tempura shrimp, sweet potatoes and squid, the entire academy organized a trip to Harajuku and Shibuya. After departing from Omotesando station, I decided to trek on foot down Omotesando Hills. This section of town is quite glamourous and haute-couture, with shops catering to the discerning Tokyo fashionista. As I took some photos of the architecture in Omotesando, I was stopped by three Japanese people; fairly young and neatly dressed. The overly-and-truly-never-can-be-too-cautious traveler in me immeadiately put one hand on my wallet and kept a little bit of guard up as they approached me. The two women asked for a picture, and I thought that they would like me to take a picture of their group. However, what they really wanted was a picture with me, Mr. American Tourist. After obliging their request, they were very eager to speak to me in English, asking if it was my first time to Tokyo and if I needed any help. They pointed me in the way of the Meiji-Jingu shrine and Yoyogi park. They wished me well on my adventure and were very happy to have helped me out. Incidentially, this hasn`t been an uncommon experience here. Many residents are eager to help out, answer questions or take time out of their day to assist one another. If you drop your wallet, three strangers will bend down to help you pick it up. If you get lost on the train, many would even pay your fare to help you get to the right line. In a city of so many people, it`s a refreshing feeling to know that no one is a total stranger in a communal sense.
As I crossed the bridge over Harajuku and beyond the station, I arrived at the Meiji Shrine. The original Meiji Shrine was constructed in the 1920`s as a tribute to the much beloved Emperor Meiji, who all but ended Japan`s long history of isolation and began to expand Japan culturally and economically. Although the original shrine was destroyed during the bombings at the end of World War II, it was painstakingly restored over many years. As I crossed into the shrine, the pace of Tokyo slows down considerably, almost coming to a halt once you enter the environs of the forest. It`s hard to believe that this area is inside the same city and but a short walk away as the shrine almost exists outside time and the electric beat of the metropolis.
As I made my way through the Torii gates, I came to the heart of the Shinto shrine. First, I came to a well of water with a number of ladles. In order to enter, you have to cleanse your body and your soul by dipping the ladle into the water and washing your left hand first, then your right. Next, you pour some water from the ladle into your cupped left hand and take a drink or two (but not directly from the ladle). Finally, you then tip the ladle vertically to let any remaining water drain into the trough below and set the ladle back down. Freshly cleansed, I went to the prayer box, where I wrote down my prayers and hopes into an envelope and placed a small offering into the box. Lastly, as I approached the very center of the shrine, where the Shinto believe the kami is housed, you make a small prayer, throw a 5 yen coin into a well, clap your hands twice and bow. It was an amazing experience to go to a Shinto shrine as everything really slowed down to a halt; a drastic difference from the last five days of nothing but moving, going and running. Afterward, a cup of coffee and reading a book in a Harajuku cafe did the trick for certain.
On my way back on the Tokyo Metro, I still find myself in awe of how beautiful the entire network is. The stations are colorful and the entire thing from point to point is meticulous. It`s an entirely pleasant experience to go from point to point for about 400 yen a day.
It`s hard to believe that tomorrow is Friday already and the weekend is around the corner. Nevertheless, tomorrow is a new day, another commute and another chance to experience the cultural richness of this city.
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Yukata? But I don`t even know you!
Now into my second day of class, I`m feeling much more acclimated to life and a daily routine. I secured my monthly pass between Ichigaya and Kudanshita and feel good about finding some really good restaurants for lunch in Chiyoda-ku. As each day passes, I`m learning more and more about the city itself and how to navigate it.
After class, I headed out with two of my classmates / housemates to the Tokyo Dome. The Toyko Dome, home to Tokyo`s major baseball team, is also part amusement park, part shopping area, part dining, and all awesome. We rode the "Thunder Dolphin" roller coaster, which took us all around the Tokyo Dome and provided for some great 360 degree viewing of the city. We also checked out some of the shops and surrounding areas.
One of the things that you really become accustomed to is the idea of "when in Rome" when it comes to social customs, etiquiette, and - of course - dining. While at Tokyo Dome, I had the option of stopping for several different kinds of food: American, Italian, Fast Food, etc. However, I decided to try octopus dumpling balls for a snack today. Incidentially, it was pretty good! That and a Suntory melon soda, and I found myself pretty satisfied. I don`t know that I would have reached for that kind of snack one week ago, but it felt like the right choice today!
I also went to get my Yukata (summer kimono) after class today in preparation for the big summer festival on the 21st - Marine Day. The Yukata is mine to keep and wear around the guest house, after a shower, or even around town if I felt really brave. I`ll be sure to take a photo the next time that I have it on, although it can be very complex at first to tie all of the required knots.
Tomorrow, we head out as a group after class to Harajuku and Shibuya. Having walked around once before, I hope to explore it a little more thoroughly and take plenty of photos of the adventure.
Ja ne!
After class, I headed out with two of my classmates / housemates to the Tokyo Dome. The Toyko Dome, home to Tokyo`s major baseball team, is also part amusement park, part shopping area, part dining, and all awesome. We rode the "Thunder Dolphin" roller coaster, which took us all around the Tokyo Dome and provided for some great 360 degree viewing of the city. We also checked out some of the shops and surrounding areas.
One of the things that you really become accustomed to is the idea of "when in Rome" when it comes to social customs, etiquiette, and - of course - dining. While at Tokyo Dome, I had the option of stopping for several different kinds of food: American, Italian, Fast Food, etc. However, I decided to try octopus dumpling balls for a snack today. Incidentially, it was pretty good! That and a Suntory melon soda, and I found myself pretty satisfied. I don`t know that I would have reached for that kind of snack one week ago, but it felt like the right choice today!
I also went to get my Yukata (summer kimono) after class today in preparation for the big summer festival on the 21st - Marine Day. The Yukata is mine to keep and wear around the guest house, after a shower, or even around town if I felt really brave. I`ll be sure to take a photo the next time that I have it on, although it can be very complex at first to tie all of the required knots.
Tomorrow, we head out as a group after class to Harajuku and Shibuya. Having walked around once before, I hope to explore it a little more thoroughly and take plenty of photos of the adventure.
Ja ne!
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