Shibuya (Part 3)

Next, I visited Shibuya, a section of Tokyo known for its vibrant night life and popularity among young Japanese people. The tall, lit up buildings with their large projector screens were really impressive to watch, especially amidst the dense crowd of people in this area.

Shibuya 109 is a huge clothing department store in the heart of Shibuya, which is supposedly very popular amongst teenage girls. Outside of the store, they were holding a small scale fashion show, modeling the clothes you could buy inside the store. I find it funny how some of the even the ultra modern aspects of Japanese culture have a seemingly retro feel to them, like having a live fashion show. Something seems quaint and old fashioned about the idea of it, even though it’s done in a few modern and cool way, in the middle of an incredibly fast-paced, urban area.

The father of the Canadian family that I briefly traveled with commented on the fashion of the people in Tokyo. He said he loved how bold it was compared to the relatively conservative Western style. This is definitely true – just walking through the train stations you can see a huge variety of styles. I know the bold fashion choices don’t always translate well when Asian people move to America (fobby clothes?), but in the context of Tokyo it makes a lot of sense and looks great.

When I first came to Japan, I summed up Tokyo as “a whole lot of people crammed into a tiny space.” On my trip so far, I feel slightly differently. I think that it’s a whole lot of people crammed into a whole lot of space. Every area of the city that I visited was incredibly crowded, with swarms of people pouring out of the train and subway stations every few minutes. There truly is no comparison in the United States, not even New York or Los Angeles. It seems like it would be hard to live in such a crowded place, but I guess the people here get by just fine.

Ah! The Colonel! It was like meeting an old friend. Except he was trying to sell me “Krushers,” and although they appear to be a delightful blended smoothie, that name is just too creepy.

Shibuya seems like an odd place to be thanking nature.

I just had to visit the Shibuya Yamaha store. There was a Michael Jackson manikin in front store window, wearing a single, sequined glove. They really love Michael over here, it seems. Inside, it was mostly just pretty ordinary looking keyboards and sound equipment. Except for one thing…

A Japanese take on the electric guitar! Near the bridge, the strings are physical, so you can pluck or pick them normally. However, the fret board is made up of a series of buttons, which you push down instead of fretting the strings. It was a lot of fun to play with and the buttons were very easy to push down and felt very natural. One big problem though is that you can’t do string bending on this type of guitar. So much for the blues.

That didn’t stop me from trying though!

The picture doesn’t do it justice, but this was the most delicious katsudon I have ever eaten. I wanted to eat at the department store in Shibuya, but I couldn’t find it. I went to a smaller side street and found this small restaurant, and for only about 5 dollars had this incredible meal. It could be because I was tired from walking around all day and hadn’t eaten much, but I was so happy after I ate this that I almost felt like crying.

Shibuya, all lit up at dusk.

Shinjuku, my home for three nights, and my first stop in Japan. I will miss walking around shady Kabukicho.

Ueno Park and the Toyko National Museum (Part 2)

Next, I visited Ueno Park, where the cherry blossoms were just starting to bloom. Today was the first clear day since I got to Japan, and I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to go to the parks because of the weather. In certain parts of the park, people were picnicking under the sakura trees. It was a lot of fun just walking through the park and enjoying the beautiful scenery. It’s hard to believe that this huge, open park is in ultra urban Tokyo.

More sakura in bloom. This one tree was really starting to open up.

I visited the Tokyo National Museum in Ueno Park as well. In college, I took a course in Japanese history, which covered Japanese pre-history to the 1980’s. It was really interested to be able to see actual artifacts from the periods I studied in that class. I even brought my old book and notes, and I read them on the plane to refresh my memory.

When I asked to buy a ticket, the woman at the counter noticed I was holding a Tokyo Metropolitan pamphlet, and she told me there was a coupon for a discount in it! After the discount, entry to the museum was only about 5 dollars. That was very nice of her.

There were many beautiful kimonos on display. The ones in the picture are over 800 years old, from the Kamakura period

There was an entire section dedicated to the weapons and armor of the Edo period. It was amazing to see up close the intricate patterns on the armor.

A painted Japanese screen. Very beautiful!

Imperial Palace, Asakusa (Part 1)

I went around Tokyo today, trying to see some of the major tourist points. Going by myself without a guide, I think it’s taking me twice as long to get places, but I guess getting lost is part of the fun! I’ve been able to get by using Japanese pretty well. About half the time I get the general gist of what they said, a quarter of the time I completely understand ,and another quarter I have no idea.

First I rode on a double decker tour of the Imperial Palace and Ginza.

A picture from the bus, of the sakura trees just starting to bloom. If I had come to Tokyo a few weeks later, they would be at their peak. I didn’t get any good pictures of the Imperial Palace, because I was sitting on the wrong side of the bus. When I asked the tour guide to move to an empty seat on the other side, she didn’t let me. Look at all those empty seats on the left side, please explain the logic of that to me!

My handy English mechanical tour guide. She had a British accent. I think I was the only non Japanese speaker on the bus.

A big ol’ building near the Imperial Palace. I think it is a government building of some sort. I forgot… but it looked really impressive from the tour bus!

This was taken from the JR station. There were a lot of girls today dressed in kimonos - it seemed like they were all going to some kind of special event. They were really beautiful, like the girl on the left of this picture. I tried to take a few pictures of the girls like a creeper, but none of them came out very well. I was trying to be inconspicuous, and pretend I was taking a picture of… food.

So much delicious food in the subway station! I couldn’t resist and bought one of the green cookies. It crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside, and had an amazing cream filling. I want to eat another one right now just thinking about it.

Next, I visited the small part of Tokyo called Asakusa, a place where “time has stopped since the Edo period”, according to my Toyko Metropolitan Government pamphlet.

There were a lot of cute, old fashioned stores like this in the town.

I’m not sure what this guy’s sign says, but it seems like it’s important. Could he be warning me not to enter Asakusa?

The street leading up to Asakusa’s main temple is lined with almost a hundred stores. It looked pretty cool, but it seemed most of the stores were selling mostly touristy stuff. There were a whole lot of white tourists here, more than I saw anywhere else in Tokyo! I heard an old man mutter something about “hakujin,” and he did not sound very happy.

It’s really strange how much white people stand out in a crowd in Japan, it’s the complete opposite of America. Personally, I’ve found I get excited when I see white people, I feel like they’re a familiar face in a strange country. On the other hand, it’s also weird how much I feel like I blend in with the crowd in Japan, whether or not I actually do. I’m better understanding how conscious of my race I am in America. In Japan, I don’t really worry about not looking like the person next to me like I do in the US (outside of Monterey Park). However, in Japan, I do have to worry everytime I open my mouth to speak, so there you go.

The main temple in Akasuka, called Sensoji Tera. It was also very beautiful and impressive. As you enter the temple, there is a large slatted box where people throw in yen as donations. There were monks inside conducting a Buddhist ceremony, accompanied by chanting and pounding drums. I saw older Japanese people approach the shrine, bow their heads and clasp their hands and pray. It made me remember the excited, spiritual feeling I experienced when I visited temples in Japan ten years ago. There is something about the sense of history of the temple, the beauty of the surroundings, the sounds of traditional drums and the smells of incense that is all very moving.

I ate all day long. I bought this apple pie in a small store off to the side of the main temple walkway, and it was delicious!