Today was our last day in Japan (we leave tomorrow). I really have mixed emotions about leaving. I love Japan so much that it is never easy to leave. But here are some positives of going home:
1. On Tuesday when we get home (our flight gets in pretty early in the morning), we are just going to spend the whole damn day lounging around and watching TV. And playing with Jack and Moxie.
2. There's a bottle of Black Rabbit Red in the wine rack (that sounds pretentious -- it's just a little six-bottle rack on our microwave cart). I'm opening that bad boy.
3. Real Diet Coke!
4. Everybody speaks English! And those who don't are statistically likely to speak Spanish, a language in which I can get by!
5. American TV! I'll admit it, I like TV. I like to unwind with it in the evening. And the TV in our hotel gets like 12 channels (one of which I swear is a math teaching channel), and of course it's all in Japanese. It was cool a couple of nights when there was sports on it (American football played in Japan one night, and another night, figure skating). I don't want to give the impression that I wanted to watch a lot of TV here ... I was just looking for 30 minutes of mindless entertainment at the end of the day.
Anyway ... today we mostly shopped, and we were just about 100% successful in that. We started out at a fantastic little shop called Blue and White. Seriously, if you are ever in Tokyo, go. The lady who owns it, Amy, is super cool. The stuff she has ... it's all handcrafted, and it's all beautiful. I got a gorgeous (cashmere?) woven shawl that was a splurge and is not the kind of thing I would normally buy for myself. But it's so soft and beautiful ...
We were also hunting for some manga books for Charlie. Not only did we (eventually) find everything we were looking for, but it was even just 105 yen a book. (We were looking for the Japanese editions of "Chobits" and "Outlaw Star." Thank you, Book Off -- that's where we found everything, in two different branches. None of the manga shops was at all helpful.)
We made our third attempt to visit the Tokyo Skytree, but it has only been open since May and it's still super popular. When we got there, they were no longer selling tickets for today at all. You can make a reservation online, but only if you have a Japan-issued credit card. Sigh. We did find a Totoro shop in the mall there, and I bought a couple of adorable Totoro chopstick rests.
After that, we went back to the hotel to regroup, and then headed out for dinner at a shabu-shabu place. It was yummy. We went back to pack (which was kind of daunting, honestly), and then out to wander around and find the Zenkoji Temple, which is especially beautiful at night when all of the lanterns are lit. Apparently at midnight on New Year's Eve, the Buddhist temples ring their bells 108 times, for the 108 sins of mankind (I have no idea what those would be, but I hope talking at the movies is one of them). We didn't last long enough to find out.
We went to Taito Game Station and played the arcade version of Mario Kart (complete with steering wheels and gas pedals). It was fun. We were back at the hotel before midnight, because we're old. :-)
Overall, it was an amazing trip. I'm so glad we got to come. I really don't want it to be another seven years before we can get back.
Monday, December 31, 2012
Sunday, December 30, 2012
Stuff we did
This is going to be a miscellany of stuff we did, that I don't necessarily remember what day we did it.
- Went roller skating at the new rink at Tokyo Dome (baseball stadium). It was fun but the rental skates absolutely sucked ass. For starters, the boots had a 1-inch heel. Then, the rear wheels were a larger diameter than the front wheels. I am used to skating with Bont boots, which have no heel elevation -- and, needless to say, all of my wheels are the same diameter. So this was a huge adjustment. Also, the toe stops were set so high that when I tried to do a turn-around toe stop, I felt like I was going to pitch forward and go ass-over-teakettle. Oh, and they were too narrow for my wide-ass feet, even though I went up a size.
That said, it was still a cool experience. I got to meet the captain of a Japanese men's roller derby team and talk derby with him (he speaks some English). He was a very nice guy. I got someone to take a picture of me with him, but it's on my phone so it will have to wait until I get somewhere with free wi-fi.
What else? We tried twice to go up the Tokyo Sky Tree but it was soooooo crowded. We will probably try one more time tomorrow. There is a cool mall there, too, and I did have some fun shopping there.
Today we went to Harajuku. You've probably heard about it. Everything you have heard is true. It was crowded today, and the rain was steadily worsening, but it was still fun.
Tonight, we ate dinner at the hotel (it was still pouring, and our coats were still very wet). Later on this evening, the rain slowed down to hardly anything, and we walked to Disk Union and bought a bunch of used J-pop CDs.
I can hardly believe tomorrow is our last day here. Ten days can go by really fast, sometimes.
- Went roller skating at the new rink at Tokyo Dome (baseball stadium). It was fun but the rental skates absolutely sucked ass. For starters, the boots had a 1-inch heel. Then, the rear wheels were a larger diameter than the front wheels. I am used to skating with Bont boots, which have no heel elevation -- and, needless to say, all of my wheels are the same diameter. So this was a huge adjustment. Also, the toe stops were set so high that when I tried to do a turn-around toe stop, I felt like I was going to pitch forward and go ass-over-teakettle. Oh, and they were too narrow for my wide-ass feet, even though I went up a size.
That said, it was still a cool experience. I got to meet the captain of a Japanese men's roller derby team and talk derby with him (he speaks some English). He was a very nice guy. I got someone to take a picture of me with him, but it's on my phone so it will have to wait until I get somewhere with free wi-fi.
What else? We tried twice to go up the Tokyo Sky Tree but it was soooooo crowded. We will probably try one more time tomorrow. There is a cool mall there, too, and I did have some fun shopping there.
Today we went to Harajuku. You've probably heard about it. Everything you have heard is true. It was crowded today, and the rain was steadily worsening, but it was still fun.
Tonight, we ate dinner at the hotel (it was still pouring, and our coats were still very wet). Later on this evening, the rain slowed down to hardly anything, and we walked to Disk Union and bought a bunch of used J-pop CDs.
I can hardly believe tomorrow is our last day here. Ten days can go by really fast, sometimes.
Saturday, December 29, 2012
Nagano and Jigokudani
Thursday morning and early afternoon, we wandered around Tokyo. We finally found the Loft store in Ikebukuro, and it was well worth searching for. (It was also easy to find, once we knew it occupied the top floors of the Seibu department store.) Stationery, kitchen stuff, home goods ... an Aranzi Aronzo shop (if you don't know what it is, Google it) ... Loft is just a lot of fun.
Later in the afternoon, we took the Shinkansen (aka bullet train) to Nagano. We dropped our stuff at the hotel and set out in search of food. The search didn't take long, because there was a yakitori place right across the street. (Thank you, Charlie, for learning to read kana!) The yakitori was delicious, except the chicken gizzard (I didn't like it; Charlie did). Our favorite was tsukune, which are chicken meatballs grilled at high temperature and brushed with a sweet soy-based sauce. Yum.
Friday morning we had breakfast at the hotel (we normally wouldn't do that, but the restaurant was on the 16th floor, with a 180-degree view of Nagano, and it was gorgeous. Also, a big breakfast was a good idea, since we were about to climb a mountain. Well, maybe more of a tall hill) and then got on the train to Yudanaka. From there, we caught a bus that took us to a parking lot about 2 kilometers from the Jigokudani Wild Monkey Park.
Later in the afternoon, we took the Shinkansen (aka bullet train) to Nagano. We dropped our stuff at the hotel and set out in search of food. The search didn't take long, because there was a yakitori place right across the street. (Thank you, Charlie, for learning to read kana!) The yakitori was delicious, except the chicken gizzard (I didn't like it; Charlie did). Our favorite was tsukune, which are chicken meatballs grilled at high temperature and brushed with a sweet soy-based sauce. Yum.
Friday morning we had breakfast at the hotel (we normally wouldn't do that, but the restaurant was on the 16th floor, with a 180-degree view of Nagano, and it was gorgeous. Also, a big breakfast was a good idea, since we were about to climb a mountain. Well, maybe more of a tall hill) and then got on the train to Yudanaka. From there, we caught a bus that took us to a parking lot about 2 kilometers from the Jigokudani Wild Monkey Park.
The hike to the park was not difficult, but I was thankful for the leg strength derby has given me. It was a bit of a climb! It was also gorgeous and quiet and white.
We spotted our first monkey maybe 400 meters from the actual park entrance. It was a big male (I think), digging in the snow for something that, when he found it, appeared to be pretty tasty. It was really exciting to see him -- a wild snow monkey! Of course, what was to come was even more amazing. So many monkeys! Mothers, babies, juveniles, all ages, enjoying the hot spring together.
I took about 200 pictures, but I am not going to post the rest until I have a chance to get home and edit them. Anyway, I'm pretty sure the monkeys above are a dad, a mom and a baby.
We stayed for about an hour. The monkeys took absolutely no notice of us. You are not supposed to look them in the eye. I confess, I did a few times, and even then, the monkeys didn't seem to really notice or care. They would walk right past us, or sit on a fence right next to us. Many times, I was close enough to a monkey that I could have reached out and stroked its fur. And oh, man, how I wanted to. I had to remind myself that the monkey is probably much faster than I, and could have its teeth in my hand before I had a chance to withdraw it. Plus, the rules are very clearly posted: don't touch the monkeys (hee hee), don't feed them, don't scare them.
As we arrived back in Nagano, it was starting to snow. We watched the snow on the first part of our Shinkansen trip, and then it turned into rain by the time we got back to Tokyo. We went out for sushi, and I tried sea urchin for the first time. And the last. Yuck. Everything else was pretty good, though.
Wednesday, December 26, 2012
Day 3
Monday (Christmas Eve) was an interesting day.
First, we were both up at 5 a.m. This is incredibly unusual for me. We got up and headed out, because there wasn't anything to do in the room. I would guess it was 6:30 or so when we left. Turns out, there's not much to do in Shinjuku at that hour. We found a little cafe that opened at 7:30, and had breakfast. We found the craft store (Okadayu) that we wanted to visit. It didn't open until 10 a.m., but at least now we knew we could find it. And then we wandered around killing time.
We tried to go to Citibank and use the ATM to get some more yen. The ATM rejected our cards, but didn't say why. That was scary. By this time, it was almost 9, and the Citibank branch's sign said it opened at 9. We waited. Nine o'clock came and went, and the bank didn't open. There was a security guard in the ATM lobby. I asked him if the bank was going to open. The poor man didn't speak English, but he gamely tried to explain to us in Japanese that the bank wasn't going to open that day, because it was a bank holiday (Sunday had been the Emperor's birthday). We didn't get that from him -- we didn't understand what he was saying, except that it was clear that the bank wasn't going to open.
We went to Okadayu, which was awesome. Six stories of craft supplies (including a wig floor for some reason). One whole floor of yarn. I wanted to roll around in it. I got some awesome Japanese craft books, and some cute little needle felting kits. I also bought a new needle felting needle. Adorably, one of the clerks before ringing up my purchases went over and got one of those foam blocks for needle felting -- if I was buying the kits and the needle, I would certainly need it! I explained that I had one at home. But it was really sweet of her to want to help me with that!
Next we went to the Okadayu annex -- four stories of fabric. FOUR. STORIES. OF. FABRIC. There was some amazing stuff. They had a great selection of stretchy shiny spandex (I didn't buy any, though -- it was pretty spendy). I was only interested in cool stuff that I couldn't get at home. I bought a little fabric. It was cool buying it by the meter.
After that, we went back to the hotel to see if we could get some help with our ATM cards. The desk clerks speak beautiful English, and they explained about the bank holiday. (Ironically, the banks would be wide open on Christmas day.) We made an international call to our credit union, and let them know we were in Japan. We thought that was the problem, that we had not done that. It turns out the only problem was that we were trying to withdraw more than our daily limit. Duh!!
We spent this day just wandering around Shinjuku (which really is a huge and fascinating district ... there is a lot to do and see here).
One weird thing we saw was a cabaret/bar with giant robots. Here's an article about them. It was absolutely bizarre. I don't think we will actually go in -- the cover charge is about 3500 yen (approximately $50) and it's just not worth that, to us.
First, we were both up at 5 a.m. This is incredibly unusual for me. We got up and headed out, because there wasn't anything to do in the room. I would guess it was 6:30 or so when we left. Turns out, there's not much to do in Shinjuku at that hour. We found a little cafe that opened at 7:30, and had breakfast. We found the craft store (Okadayu) that we wanted to visit. It didn't open until 10 a.m., but at least now we knew we could find it. And then we wandered around killing time.
We tried to go to Citibank and use the ATM to get some more yen. The ATM rejected our cards, but didn't say why. That was scary. By this time, it was almost 9, and the Citibank branch's sign said it opened at 9. We waited. Nine o'clock came and went, and the bank didn't open. There was a security guard in the ATM lobby. I asked him if the bank was going to open. The poor man didn't speak English, but he gamely tried to explain to us in Japanese that the bank wasn't going to open that day, because it was a bank holiday (Sunday had been the Emperor's birthday). We didn't get that from him -- we didn't understand what he was saying, except that it was clear that the bank wasn't going to open.
We went to Okadayu, which was awesome. Six stories of craft supplies (including a wig floor for some reason). One whole floor of yarn. I wanted to roll around in it. I got some awesome Japanese craft books, and some cute little needle felting kits. I also bought a new needle felting needle. Adorably, one of the clerks before ringing up my purchases went over and got one of those foam blocks for needle felting -- if I was buying the kits and the needle, I would certainly need it! I explained that I had one at home. But it was really sweet of her to want to help me with that!
Next we went to the Okadayu annex -- four stories of fabric. FOUR. STORIES. OF. FABRIC. There was some amazing stuff. They had a great selection of stretchy shiny spandex (I didn't buy any, though -- it was pretty spendy). I was only interested in cool stuff that I couldn't get at home. I bought a little fabric. It was cool buying it by the meter.
After that, we went back to the hotel to see if we could get some help with our ATM cards. The desk clerks speak beautiful English, and they explained about the bank holiday. (Ironically, the banks would be wide open on Christmas day.) We made an international call to our credit union, and let them know we were in Japan. We thought that was the problem, that we had not done that. It turns out the only problem was that we were trying to withdraw more than our daily limit. Duh!!
We spent this day just wandering around Shinjuku (which really is a huge and fascinating district ... there is a lot to do and see here).
One weird thing we saw was a cabaret/bar with giant robots. Here's an article about them. It was absolutely bizarre. I don't think we will actually go in -- the cover charge is about 3500 yen (approximately $50) and it's just not worth that, to us.
Day 2
What the hell did we do on day 2? I'm pretty sure that was the day we went to Ginza for the first time (well, first time this trip), and Shibuya.
Ginza was awesome once we managed to get there. We had to re-learn how to navigate the Tokyo subway system. It can be kind of arcane -- there are at least two different rail companies, and then within those, many different lines. We figured it out, and got to Ginza ... and then we had to find Itoya. Itoya is an amazing 8-story stationery and art supply store. I was sure I knew how to find it from Ginza Station. I got us to the right area, but it turns out my seven-year-old memory of the district wasn't as good as I thought, and we promptly got lost. Eventually we found it (I spotted the giant orange paper clip on its sign). Ah, Itoya. We spent about an hour in the main store and the new, six-story annex. I bought a cool new pencil, some awesome teacher rubber stamps (for my Math 20 classes), and other neat stuff.
Shibuya was crowded as hell. The main thing that happened there is that we went to the Shibuya Tokyu Hands, which is even bigger and more confusing than the one in Shinjuku. At the Shibuya store, each floor is divided into three sub-floors, so you have Fifth Floor center, Fifth Floor south, and Fifth Floor north (not what they call them, but close enough). North is half a floor above center, and south is half a floor below it.
Somehow Charlie and I got separated at Tokyu Hands. I couldn't find him at all in the area I had last seen him. I went all the way upstairs and then went all the way down, trying to check all of the floors (this was made very difficult by the weird layout, and the fact that there's more than one staircase). Finally I went back to the entrance where we had come in, and waited there. And waited. And waited. I stood there about 15 minutes, getting increasingly scared (not like there was really anything bad that could happen to Charlie in the afternoon in Shibuya). Finally I asked a clerk if an announcement could be made over the store's loudspeaker. They got me an English speaker, and the announcement was made ... but Charlie still didn't show up until about 10 minutes later.
It turned out he had gone to the restroom, and then when he came out, I had already gone (looking for him). So he was looking for me. Did I mention this particular store has THREE DIFFERENT ENTRANCES? Yeah. It does. And he had forgotten about the one we came in, so he didn't check it. He caught the tail end of the announcement, and assumed it was for him since it was in English and he was searching for me ... but he couldn't understand where it was telling him to go.
Anyway, he came to where I was standing. As soon as I saw him, I burst into tears. Silly, really. Tokyo is a very safe city, and the odds of Charlie's having met with foul play in Tokyu Hands are so small as to be ridiculous. Oh well. What can I say.
We also headed to Nippori, where Fabric Street is. Except, we took the wrong subway line to get there, and we couldn't find Fabric Street (where there are many fabric stores) at all from the station where we arrived. But we didn't know there was another station, so we were just frustrated. The upside is that we found a tiny little noodle house where a Japanese grandmother who looks like a character from a Miyazaki film served us steaming bowls of delicious soba (buckwheat noodles). It was so good. Other than that, Nippori was a bust, but it turns out that nothing there would've been open on a Sunday anyway, so it's OK.
Ginza was awesome once we managed to get there. We had to re-learn how to navigate the Tokyo subway system. It can be kind of arcane -- there are at least two different rail companies, and then within those, many different lines. We figured it out, and got to Ginza ... and then we had to find Itoya. Itoya is an amazing 8-story stationery and art supply store. I was sure I knew how to find it from Ginza Station. I got us to the right area, but it turns out my seven-year-old memory of the district wasn't as good as I thought, and we promptly got lost. Eventually we found it (I spotted the giant orange paper clip on its sign). Ah, Itoya. We spent about an hour in the main store and the new, six-story annex. I bought a cool new pencil, some awesome teacher rubber stamps (for my Math 20 classes), and other neat stuff.
Shibuya was crowded as hell. The main thing that happened there is that we went to the Shibuya Tokyu Hands, which is even bigger and more confusing than the one in Shinjuku. At the Shibuya store, each floor is divided into three sub-floors, so you have Fifth Floor center, Fifth Floor south, and Fifth Floor north (not what they call them, but close enough). North is half a floor above center, and south is half a floor below it.
Somehow Charlie and I got separated at Tokyu Hands. I couldn't find him at all in the area I had last seen him. I went all the way upstairs and then went all the way down, trying to check all of the floors (this was made very difficult by the weird layout, and the fact that there's more than one staircase). Finally I went back to the entrance where we had come in, and waited there. And waited. And waited. I stood there about 15 minutes, getting increasingly scared (not like there was really anything bad that could happen to Charlie in the afternoon in Shibuya). Finally I asked a clerk if an announcement could be made over the store's loudspeaker. They got me an English speaker, and the announcement was made ... but Charlie still didn't show up until about 10 minutes later.
It turned out he had gone to the restroom, and then when he came out, I had already gone (looking for him). So he was looking for me. Did I mention this particular store has THREE DIFFERENT ENTRANCES? Yeah. It does. And he had forgotten about the one we came in, so he didn't check it. He caught the tail end of the announcement, and assumed it was for him since it was in English and he was searching for me ... but he couldn't understand where it was telling him to go.
Anyway, he came to where I was standing. As soon as I saw him, I burst into tears. Silly, really. Tokyo is a very safe city, and the odds of Charlie's having met with foul play in Tokyu Hands are so small as to be ridiculous. Oh well. What can I say.
We also headed to Nippori, where Fabric Street is. Except, we took the wrong subway line to get there, and we couldn't find Fabric Street (where there are many fabric stores) at all from the station where we arrived. But we didn't know there was another station, so we were just frustrated. The upside is that we found a tiny little noodle house where a Japanese grandmother who looks like a character from a Miyazaki film served us steaming bowls of delicious soba (buckwheat noodles). It was so good. Other than that, Nippori was a bust, but it turns out that nothing there would've been open on a Sunday anyway, so it's OK.
Day 1
Our first day in Japan was mixed. Our plane arrived about 90 minutes earlier thanks to a tailwind: awesome. We had some trouble figuring out where to stow our bags on the train from the airport: frustrating. (Also, my carry-on bag weighed about two metric tons. Not fun.)
When we arrived in Shinjuku, we had a little trouble finding our hotel at first, and overshot by about three blocks. Not a huge deal, except that we were rolling big suitcases along a crowded sidewalk. Still, we made it.
Our room is very small, but comfortable. It's a double bed (I think it's bigger than the basic double beds in the U.S., but maybe not), a desk, a TV, a bathroom, and that's it. No drawers; no place to unpack a suitcase. There is a little alcove closet that has four hangers. So we're living out of the suitcases. On the upside, we were able to get a nice, clean, comfortable room for about $120 a night. In Tokyo. So, really: win.
We wandered Shinjuku for quite a while, trying to get our bearings, and also trying to find Tokyu Hands (an insane, 7-story, hardware/craft/everything store). We had ramen for dinner, at a little place just down the street from our hotel. We eventually managed to find Tokyu Hands. The irony: it is just across from our hotel (but kind of kitty-cornered -- it's not like you can see it from the hotel. Still, we felt pretty silly when we finally found it).
We went to bed early that night. I had not slept on the plane, so it had been a very long day for me.
When we arrived in Shinjuku, we had a little trouble finding our hotel at first, and overshot by about three blocks. Not a huge deal, except that we were rolling big suitcases along a crowded sidewalk. Still, we made it.
Our room is very small, but comfortable. It's a double bed (I think it's bigger than the basic double beds in the U.S., but maybe not), a desk, a TV, a bathroom, and that's it. No drawers; no place to unpack a suitcase. There is a little alcove closet that has four hangers. So we're living out of the suitcases. On the upside, we were able to get a nice, clean, comfortable room for about $120 a night. In Tokyo. So, really: win.
We wandered Shinjuku for quite a while, trying to get our bearings, and also trying to find Tokyu Hands (an insane, 7-story, hardware/craft/everything store). We had ramen for dinner, at a little place just down the street from our hotel. We eventually managed to find Tokyu Hands. The irony: it is just across from our hotel (but kind of kitty-cornered -- it's not like you can see it from the hotel. Still, we felt pretty silly when we finally found it).
We went to bed early that night. I had not slept on the plane, so it had been a very long day for me.
Tuesday, December 25, 2012
Christmas in Tokyo
I don’t know where or when I will post this online, but here it goes.
Today was Christmas. In Japan, Christmas is observed about the same way we do Valentine’s Day in the U.S. Very few people take it seriously as a religious holiday, but a lot of people enjoy it as a fun holiday and gift-giving occasion. I read that it was considered a romantic holiday, but I hadn’t seen a lot of that until tonight (lots of couples kissing near the Christmas lights).
We started at 7:30 with a trip to the Tsukiji fish market. They were not letting tourists in the market itself, but we were free to explore the outer market (which is stalls where merchants sell products including dried fish, fruit and vegetables, tea, cleaning supplies, and even toilet paper and paper towels for some reason). The outer market was fascinating. I took lots of pictures. One thing that particularly caught my eye was the guys driving the fish carts back and forth. It was all men -- I didn’t see a single woman working the fish market (though several had stalls in the outer market). It was fun to watch them careening around the corners on their little carts.
Next we stopped at the Tsukiji Denny’s for breakfast, then went to Ginza for a second trip to Ito-ya, and to look for a chopstick shop that was listed in our Lonely Planet book but seems to have gone out of business. Charlie has gotten really good at interpreting Japanese addresses (no small feat) and can often get us to a place as long as we have an address and can find a neighborhood map (all of the neighborhoods have them -- they would have to, or you could never find anything).
One sweet, weird little encounter: a chubby Japanese man saw us looking at a map, and could clearly tell we were American. Here is our dialogue, in its entirety:
Man: Merry Christmas!
Us: Thank you! Merry Christmas to you too!
Man: I am Christian!
Us: That’s great! (Nodding and smiling)
Man: I love Jesus!
Us: Nodding, smiling.
Man: I love the Holy Spirit!
Us: Nodding, smiling.
Man: God bless you!
Us: God bless you, too!
It might sound like he was proselytizing, but he really wasn’t. He came across to me as just a sweet, enthusiastic guy. I wasn’t about to respond to his “I love Jesus” with “That’s great. I don’t.” See, I do have some manners.
We got on the subway and headed to Ikebukuro, which is a really cool district that has a Tokyu Hands branch (meaning that we have now been to all three on this trip) with something unique: on the top floor, there is a business called Nekobukuro. It is a set of rooms that houses 12 or so cats in an environment designed for them. You can pay 600 yen (about $8) to go in and visit the cats. This sounds more fun than it actually turned out to be. The cats are not particularly friendly. When I went in, an attendant gave me a few pieces of kibble and showed me how to hold them out to the cats in my open palm. The cats were willing to eat the treats I offered, but they had no interest in being petted or held. I tried to pet a few and they only grudgingly accepted it, walking away or leaning their little bodies so that I touched them as little as possible. Not one to force my attention on an unwilling cat, I left pretty quickly.
After that, we headed to a different part of the district, looking for lunch and then for a couple of stores. Lunch was a success: we walked along a street until we found a kaiten-zushi (sushi on a conveyor belt; you take the plates you want, and at the end the waiter totals up your plates and gives you a bill) place. It was excellent sushi -- and kind of ridiculously inexpensive. Each plate was only 135 yen (about $2). The chef and the hostess were really nice, too. It was a great experience.
It’s a good thing, because without that sushi place, our trip to Ikebukuro would have been kind of a bust. We were looking for the Japanese Traditional Craft Center, which our book (which, in fairness, is the 2009 edition, which was the only edition of this pocket-sized Lonely Planet guide we could find) said was in Ikebukuro. Nope. It moved to Aoyama. The local signs said it was in Ikebukuro too, in a particular building. We couldn’t find it at all. Finally we walked into a nice hotel across the street and asked an English-speaking staff member, who told us it had moved. D’oh!
We were also looking for a cool-sounding store called Loft, which we were sure was in a particular building. All we could find in that building was a department store called Seibu. We Googled it later and found out that Loft occupies Seibu’s 9th-11th floors. It would have been nice if Seibu’s signage had indicated that!
We’ll probably go back to Ikebukuro. There was a lot more there that we didn’t get to see.
Next we went to Aki-Hibara (electronics district), wasted $40 on a Pokemon game that won’t run on my US 3DS (we’re going to take it home in the hopes that it might run on Charlie’s regular DS), and then found a really fun little place called Akihabara Gachapon Kaikan. It’s crammed full of the little capsule-vending machines (gachapon) that sell little toys and trinkets in plastic capsules. We spent 20 minutes and probably $20 there. The capsules will make good little presents to bring home to people. Plus, it was just fun getting random goodies out of machines.
After that, it was a long trek by train back to the hotel, where we regrouped for a bit and then went out for some dinner and photography.
Today was Christmas. In Japan, Christmas is observed about the same way we do Valentine’s Day in the U.S. Very few people take it seriously as a religious holiday, but a lot of people enjoy it as a fun holiday and gift-giving occasion. I read that it was considered a romantic holiday, but I hadn’t seen a lot of that until tonight (lots of couples kissing near the Christmas lights).
We started at 7:30 with a trip to the Tsukiji fish market. They were not letting tourists in the market itself, but we were free to explore the outer market (which is stalls where merchants sell products including dried fish, fruit and vegetables, tea, cleaning supplies, and even toilet paper and paper towels for some reason). The outer market was fascinating. I took lots of pictures. One thing that particularly caught my eye was the guys driving the fish carts back and forth. It was all men -- I didn’t see a single woman working the fish market (though several had stalls in the outer market). It was fun to watch them careening around the corners on their little carts.
Next we stopped at the Tsukiji Denny’s for breakfast, then went to Ginza for a second trip to Ito-ya, and to look for a chopstick shop that was listed in our Lonely Planet book but seems to have gone out of business. Charlie has gotten really good at interpreting Japanese addresses (no small feat) and can often get us to a place as long as we have an address and can find a neighborhood map (all of the neighborhoods have them -- they would have to, or you could never find anything).
One sweet, weird little encounter: a chubby Japanese man saw us looking at a map, and could clearly tell we were American. Here is our dialogue, in its entirety:
Man: Merry Christmas!
Us: Thank you! Merry Christmas to you too!
Man: I am Christian!
Us: That’s great! (Nodding and smiling)
Man: I love Jesus!
Us: Nodding, smiling.
Man: I love the Holy Spirit!
Us: Nodding, smiling.
Man: God bless you!
Us: God bless you, too!
It might sound like he was proselytizing, but he really wasn’t. He came across to me as just a sweet, enthusiastic guy. I wasn’t about to respond to his “I love Jesus” with “That’s great. I don’t.” See, I do have some manners.
We got on the subway and headed to Ikebukuro, which is a really cool district that has a Tokyu Hands branch (meaning that we have now been to all three on this trip) with something unique: on the top floor, there is a business called Nekobukuro. It is a set of rooms that houses 12 or so cats in an environment designed for them. You can pay 600 yen (about $8) to go in and visit the cats. This sounds more fun than it actually turned out to be. The cats are not particularly friendly. When I went in, an attendant gave me a few pieces of kibble and showed me how to hold them out to the cats in my open palm. The cats were willing to eat the treats I offered, but they had no interest in being petted or held. I tried to pet a few and they only grudgingly accepted it, walking away or leaning their little bodies so that I touched them as little as possible. Not one to force my attention on an unwilling cat, I left pretty quickly.
After that, we headed to a different part of the district, looking for lunch and then for a couple of stores. Lunch was a success: we walked along a street until we found a kaiten-zushi (sushi on a conveyor belt; you take the plates you want, and at the end the waiter totals up your plates and gives you a bill) place. It was excellent sushi -- and kind of ridiculously inexpensive. Each plate was only 135 yen (about $2). The chef and the hostess were really nice, too. It was a great experience.
It’s a good thing, because without that sushi place, our trip to Ikebukuro would have been kind of a bust. We were looking for the Japanese Traditional Craft Center, which our book (which, in fairness, is the 2009 edition, which was the only edition of this pocket-sized Lonely Planet guide we could find) said was in Ikebukuro. Nope. It moved to Aoyama. The local signs said it was in Ikebukuro too, in a particular building. We couldn’t find it at all. Finally we walked into a nice hotel across the street and asked an English-speaking staff member, who told us it had moved. D’oh!
We were also looking for a cool-sounding store called Loft, which we were sure was in a particular building. All we could find in that building was a department store called Seibu. We Googled it later and found out that Loft occupies Seibu’s 9th-11th floors. It would have been nice if Seibu’s signage had indicated that!
We’ll probably go back to Ikebukuro. There was a lot more there that we didn’t get to see.
Next we went to Aki-Hibara (electronics district), wasted $40 on a Pokemon game that won’t run on my US 3DS (we’re going to take it home in the hopes that it might run on Charlie’s regular DS), and then found a really fun little place called Akihabara Gachapon Kaikan. It’s crammed full of the little capsule-vending machines (gachapon) that sell little toys and trinkets in plastic capsules. We spent 20 minutes and probably $20 there. The capsules will make good little presents to bring home to people. Plus, it was just fun getting random goodies out of machines.
After that, it was a long trek by train back to the hotel, where we regrouped for a bit and then went out for some dinner and photography.
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