I wanted to make his first time in Tokyo epic; so I tuned my inner-perfectionist and made the most detailed itinerary known to man. Every tiny factor was accounted for: train arrival and departure times, transfers, hostel reservations, local attractions, walking tours, good places to eat, and a budget. We may not have stayed within the budget (Tokyo is very expensive after all), but we did have an epic time.
I jumped on the Super Hitachi train down to Ueno early Saturday morning. 3 hours and a couple transfers later, I arrived at Narita. The airport is HUGE! Luckily, he found me first J. We trained it to Asakusa (Tokyo’s oldest geisha district), spotted the identifiable “golden carrot”, and checked into the Khaosan Hostel for an early night. This was the first hostel I had ever stayed in, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. It was pretty cool and didn’t feel very Japanese-like at all. There was a lounge with a TV (in English) and free computers to surf the internet, the staff was friendly and also spoke English, and the beds were capsule-style, which allowed for a bit more privacy. Kirby said he felt like he was sleeping in a wooden coffin. They weren’t very comfortable, but no Japanese beds are, so no surprise there.
*Interesting Fact: in Japan, hotel rooms are charged per person, not per room like The States. So, if a double queen room is listed as \10000 per night. It is actually \10000 per person per night. Spendy!
The next morning we traveled farther south to visit the Hamarikyu Gardens. It is the site of a villa for the Shogun Tokugawa family in the 17th century. We had these crazy English audio devices that hung around our necks. As we walked through the park, it would tell us interesting facts and historical references. Along with viewing a 300 year old pine tree, serene ponds and manicured shrubbery, we stopped at a traditional Japanese teahouse. This was Kirby’s favorite part of the trip. We drank cold matcha (powdered green tea) and ate Japanese sweets in tea ceremony style:
Guests remove their shoes before entering the room, then sit seiza-style on the tatami floor (except Kirby, who can’t bend that way haha). The confectionary is placed on special paper in front of the tea bowl. Cut the sweet into smaller pieces and eat a piece. Then lift the tea bowl with your right hand and set it on the palm of your left; while still holding the bowl, rotate it clockwise twice. After taking a few sips, the guest wipes the rim clean and passes it to the next guest (in our case, we each had our own bowls). Then repeat the process until all the foam is gone. Mmm..mmm…delicious!
Afterward touring the garden, we took a 40 minute boat cruise up the Sumida River back to Asakusa. As we were disembarking, we heard somebody yell, “GO DUCKS!” Spinning around to catch the blasphemous antagonists, we spotted a crew of U of O fans. Insults were thrown, but everybody walked away unhurt. Just makes you realize how small the world really is...
We walked under Kaminarimon gate (the “Thunder Gate”), through Nakamise Dori (a street of vendors selling traditional Japanese knick-knacks) to Sensoji Temple. Kaminarimon gate has four statues (the Shinto gods: Fujin, the god of wind, and Raijin, the god of thunder and lightening – hence the nickname, “Thunder Gate”, and the Buddhist god Tentryu and goddess Kinryu). In the center, underneath the gate, hangs a giant red lantern that is 4 meters tall and weights 1,500lbs! Obviously we had to be big foreign tourists and take a picture with it.
Nakamise Dori is a crazy, crowded, narrow, covered ally, but down an adjacent street we found a hole-in-the-wall ramen shop. It was small. I mean the place could only sit maybe 10 people (so like 5 Japanese and one Kirby). But he was finally happy with the portion sizes. A giant bowl of mystery ramen for \300, such a steal! Not to mention it was delicious! Sensoji is a Buddhist temple dedicated to bodhisattva Kannon, and the most famous temple in Tokyo. According to legend, a golden statue of the Kannon was found in the Sumida River in 628 by two fishermen brothers. Recognizing the sanctity of the statue, the town built Sensoji Temple in its honor. The statue still resides within the temple but is never shone to the public.
The original temple was built in 645, which makes it the oldest temple in Tokyo. However, during World War II, the temple was bombed and mostly destroyed. It was rebuilt later and is considered a symbol of rebirth and peace to the Japanese people. At the temple we got to “consult the oracle” by shaking a metal container until a labeled wooden stick came out, then finding the matching labeled drawer gives you a fortune. Our first fortune was awful! Thankfully, you can tie the fortune around a tree branch to negate it. Our second fortune was much better. We celebrated our good fortune by trying green tea and black seseame soft cream (Japanese ice cream). Yumm!
After Sensoji, we booked it across Tokyo to catch the Harajuku girls at Yoyogi Park. Harajuku is a fashion capital of the world and is renown for its unique street fashion. Every Sunday, young people (not only girls as we found out) meet on the bridge that connects downtown Harajuku to Yoyogi park, dressed in a variety of styles including gothic lolita, ganguro, visual kei, as well as cosplay. Not every Harajuku “girl”, dresses in these main styles. When we were there we saw a girl in a rabbit costume and a homeless man dressed like a ballerina. You never know what you’re going to find in Harajuku. But the one thing I didn’t expect to find were missionaries.
As Kirby and I were walking by, some boys asked us if we liked gospel music. I was more surprised they spoke to us, than about what they asked. So to continue the conversation, I replied yes. They energetically invited us to come listen to their friends sing gospel music. Sounded good to me! Little did I know this would be the most awkward moment of our entire trip.
They led us to a nearby building, up three flights of stairs, into a tiny nurse office – I mean, beds, bandages, the whole nine yards. This was weird. It was just Kirby and I sitting in this room with two girls and an iPod player. Then they started singing…obviously we don’t understand a word they’re saying, but wait, did they just say my name? Are they singing about me?! OH YEAH, straight up trying to save our souls. Invited us to church and everything. We made an excuse about catching a train and booked it. Kirby will never let me live that down.
We spent the rest of the afternoon wandering Omotesando Hills in Harajuku. Omotesando is like the Rodeo Drive of Japan: Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Prada. Window-shopping heaven for a poor English teacher. Although there were a couple stores with reasonably priced goods (Nike, etc). And the stores are just as weird as the fashion, like Condomania – a brightly colored tiny condom store on one of the busiest intersections in Omotesando. I mean where else can you find a condom store next to Gucci except Japan?
We would have liked to spend the entire afternoon in Harajuku just shopping and people-watching but we had a train to catch. So we raced across town to pick up our luggage in Asakusa and got back to Ueno in time to catch our Super Hitachi home. We barely made it too, just 10 minutes to spare.
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