tokyo ain’t far enough
Spent last weekend in Tokyo. I hadn’t been back since the insane days of job orientation I vaguely recall from when I first arrived in Japan. From out here in the middle of nowhere inaka, north of Osaka on the Sea of Japan, it’s a 10-hour overnight bus ride.
Ever more the master of sleeping in transportation, I fell asleep at 8 pm when the bus departed, and woke up in the parking lot of my destination around 6 am, both ways.
I stayed with my friend R-chan, originally from Tokyo but married to a man from this most rural of areas, at her parents’ house. In Chidori, for those in the know, which is still Tokyo proper, I believe, but more like a suburb (or another Canadian province) as far as travel times go.
Because–as statistics indicate but I never fully appreciated until becoming acquainted with the hairball of a subway/train system–Tokyo is f$%@ing enormous. And really full of people.
My friend’s parents kindly offered to drive us around the first day, so we checked out the Tokyo Tower, the Imperial Palace Garden and Asakusa Temple–three major tourist spots, but I have to say the garden was quite beautiful, especially as an island of green in the middle of metal-and-glass downtown. I was hoping for a glimpse of the Japanese royal family, but no luck. I guess the Imperial Household Agency was keeping them in their cages that day.*
At my request we also stopped at Yasukuni Shrine, the infamous war memorial honoring Japanese war dead, including recognized war criminals. Prime Minister Koizumi visited this shrine on New Year’s Day in a symbolic gesture (Japan doesn’t care what the neighbors think? What Japan does is nobody else’s business? Japan doesn’t owe anybody anything? Still mad about losing the war? Extreme right wing plans to rebuild the empire? theories abound) that threw yet another wrench in the workings between Japan and its angry neighbors, China and Korea.
There was a strong nationalistic theme to the shrine, complete with flags, a loudspeaker reciting wrongs done to Japan during the war, and a museum which houses artifacts such as letters from kamikaze pilots (according to a friend who visited the shrine, who can read Japanese). Needless to say, none of this was translated for the benefit of gaijin visitors. As we left R-chan remarked that seeing the shrine in person only confirmed her distaste for the conservative LDP party.
In the afternoon we had our hair done, and set off for Roppongi to check a couple of swanky nightclubs, the kind they write about in those scene magazines; the Absolut Ice Bar, locations in Stockholm, New York and Tokyo, reservation only, 3500 yennies cover, ice walls, bar, tables. Drinks served in glasses made of ice, hot bartenders in fuzzy hats, next; a samba party in honor of Carnaval with the peacock-like Samba dancers, after which we hit up a diner for food and coffee to wait for the first train.
After 24 hours awake I got 3.5 hours of sleep, then got up again Sunday morning in time for my friend’s in-house flower-arranging lesson (our beds were in the living room). Afterwards we braved the seething masses (and pouring rain) to marvel [watch me marvel at] the “sku-ram-buru” crossing in Shibuya, the one with 5 different crosswalks leading in odd directions, a sea of bobbing heads (or in this case, umbrellas).
On the walk from Shibuya to Harajuku I marveled at the shopping I badly, badly wanted, but held my self back from, alas. At the brand spanking new Omotesando indoor shopping promenade (you just can’t call it a mall) I marveled again at the 2.5 million yen (that’s $US 25 grand, for those who think in greenbacks) watches at the Roger Dubuis boutique.
Finally I peeped the crazy dressed people on Takeshita street in Harajuku, and, marveling accomplished, we turned towards home.
The next day I was on my own, so I braved the crowds and the spaghetti-like trains to visit the Ghibli Museum, coveted by fans worldwide and in order to be the envy of my peers. It was cool, but maybe a little overrated.
Nice displays on the making of animation, of course all in Japanese and therefore complete gibberish to the functionally illiterate, but it all had a nice technicolor-by-way-of-Lord of the Rings feel to it, very Ghibli. And nice God Soldier on the rooftop garden.
After Ghibli, feet dragging, feeling eaten alive by Tokyo and the ravaging hordes, I braved the trains one last time and found my way home in time for dinner. R-chan’s parents very kindly dropped me at the bus station, where we said goodbye and I deposited myself in my seat, where I passed out immediately.
In summary: Japan: still pissing me off, reading back over this post. Tokyo: clean, orderly, fast-paced and a slow grate on the nerves, but cannot fail to impress. The people I met, this time mostly R-chan’s family: unfailingly kind and generous (her mother makes my awesome people list, first for complementing my outfit, and then for asking me to get something off a high shelf because I’m tall. I love a country where I’m considered tall!)
So, pissing me off, exhaustingly fast and impressively huge, and unfailingly kind…why do these three manage to go together?
*For an interesting set of articles on the imperial family and its figurehead role in Japan historically and currently (not nearly as boring as I’m making it sound!) go here.
4 Comments
Comments RSS TrackBack Identifier URI
Leave a comment
2,500,000 million yen is 25 grand in $.
Oh right. Thanks.
Great post! You’ve captured Tokyo beautifully. I feel exhausted reading it and wonder how I actually manage to get through a day! I guess coz it’s also invigorating.
Shame, we could have caught up for a beer…
Yeah, too bad! I thought of it while in Tokyo, but didn’t have a computer to email you with. Next time for sure.