Another wonderful trip to Tokyo

Did a little trip to Tokyo last weekend. Here’s the scoop:

Friday Night: First impression, umbrellas and homeless. Was reading Walden on the Shinkansen, where he says that humans need food, shelter, clothing and fuel. In the 2-minute span between the station and the taxi, I noted all but fuel being used in a variety of manners. Also in the news there seems to be a big thing going on about the homeless. See these two links if you’re interested. Next, it is good to note that it was not raining. Now, we were going to leave tomorrow morning [that is, last week's Saturday morning] but it looks like bad weather. Thus we attacked the Eastern Capital preemptively by leaving this evening. This is my third trip having ridden the Shinkansen. Also, we are staying at the Hotel Seiyo Ginza, which doesn’t appear to be very close to the Ginza (see farther down) but does appear a little expensive. However, I haven’t watched news in English in a long time.

Saturday: We whisked around the city, utilizing every popular form of transportation (except bicycle, which would have been very fun) from taxi to train to bus, to our own two feet. First stop was the business stop. 亀戸土神社, or Kameido Shrine, meaning Gate of the Turtle. It is auspicious for 受験生(jukensei) or students preparing to take their college entrance exams to go and pray at that shrine. Later this week my host sister Mari will go to Tokyo for these reasons. Her exams are on the 17th [as in, today, like, as I'm typing]. Then we went to the Tokyo-Edo Museum、which covers the history and society of Tokyo from the Tokugawa shogunate to WWII to modern times. The “big” things were two large buildings inside the building, one a traditional upper class house and the other a western-influenced building, and between the two was one large Japanese bridge (you know, the red ones). After that, we took the train to Mitaka, in which we toured an open-air (and therefore cold, I had left my jacket at the hotel) architectural museum. That was cool because they had taken real buildings from pre-modernized Tokyo and relocated them at this site. So there was an old police box (kouban, as they’re called, are indigenous to Japan, I think, and the reason it is so safe at night) and some old shops and houses, and a public bath house. One of the shops, a stationary shop, if you look at this picture, and love quality anime (I’m NOT talkign about that yaoi otaku crap that Janice and Noni like to watch – weirdos..), then you’ll recognize it, and you’ll know where I’m going next. Those faithful readers who guessed Studio Ghibli, go treat yourselves to some high quality Top Ramen! And who knows the name of the character associated with this room? I’m not telling, but I’ll be proud if someone does! Now for those who are entirely lost: Ghibli was started by 宮崎駿 (Miyazaki Hayao) or as Westerner’s call him, Hayao Miyazaki. He’s the artist who made movie’s such as もののけ姫(Princess Mononoke)、天空の城ラピュタ(Castle in the Sky)、魔女の宅急便(Kiki’s Delivery Service)、隣のトトロ(My Neighbor Totoro), ハウルの動く城 (Howl’s Moving Castle), 千と千尋の神隠し(Spirited Away), and most recently 崖の上のポニョ, or Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea, although I don’t know if it’s available in the US yet. He’s made movies wel known around the world, and many are based on stories and places, for instance he made a Wizard of Earthsea movie. In Mitaka there is an Art Museum of Ghibli, which is the coolest, oddest building you will ever see on the edge of a forest in a park. We were welcomed by a giant Totoro [see pictures] and there are no set paths in the museum, contrary to popular custom, and much like the theme of Ghibli. Unfortunately, no picture taking allowed inside (;-_-) But, there is a giant robot from Castle in the Sky on the roof. The final sight of the evening was definitely a sight. Tokyo Tower, a brightly lit orange with the new “2009″ printed on the side, shoots you 150 meters (think, one story is about three meters) for a panoramic view of the city. It was already dark, and the full moon was high, which merely added to the mix of the city and the sky. From the thirty-third floor of the Marunouchi hotel we could watch the Tower’s constant vigil from the opposite perspective. Another thing being seen from our room: The Daily Show, with John Stewart, global edition. Oh how I miss political satire.

Sunday: On the final day of our excursion, we began again with a trip to a Buddhist temple, 浅草寺, or Shallow Grass Temple. We went, along with a few thousand other people. Steve, you were right about one thing in your Youth Group sermons, at least. Seeing as Japan is one of the most secular societies today, why is it that people, nationals and foreigners alike, swarm to places like this? One could write books trying to answer that question. After managing our way through the crowds, we took a walk through the shops around the temple, which were equally full with people. For lunch, we did something I’ve always wanted to do. You know those little shops that barely hold 8 people? Yeah, I had some oishii ramen in one of those. If I ever lived in the city, I would want to live near a little family owned shop (cough, Perellie’s, I miiiisss you) that’s been around for generations, one that is only known by the locals and the food is better than what you find in the gourmet ¥4,000-for-a-steak restaurants. After a wonderful meal we set off for the grand finale, The Lion King the Musical! Hakuna Matata, shimpai nai sa! It was amazing theatrics and singing and dancing, but I especially liked the costumes. As opposed to anthropomorphisms, they used puppets in creative ways to get as close to the actual animal form as possible, with the exception of the the lions. And, with the exception of “the circle of life” line in the opening song, it was entirely in Japanese, of course, and I half understood it, remembering probably 8 years ago when I last saw the film. And that concludes the most recent adventure of my life. I have officially decided that I don’t want to go home. (well, a little, the whole Mufasa dieing scene in the musical made me miss my papa… ) While Tokyo was sunny the whole weekend, it supposedly was a blizzard up north. At the current time of writing, I am on the shinkansen, and the forecast is clear skies. Didn’t mention the ground…

There you go. Current news: school’s started, there’s snow, I watched “L: Change the World” last night, and I start the next Japanese textbook on Tuesday. That would be number II. Also there’s some oddball pictures up on picasa, those are from my good friend Mr. Sakamoto-san. That ‘Mr.’ was redundant. My faithful reader’s of my life, keep reading, and keep well in this beautiful winter weather.