Japan ~ Day 2 Onward

NB: You'll have to scroll down through my blog posts to find my post of day #1 in Japan and subsequent days in Japan as the site is posting them chronologically by the day I am writing about, in this case, Monday, January 12, 2014. Also, I am in Tokyo but this site is insisting I'm elsewhere!

My clock goes off at 6:00 AM because Mamoru and Yoko are picking me up at 7:15 AM. They are taking me on a tour of Tokyo today. Boy am I ever lucky! We catch the train from the Abiko Stn which is about a 4-5 min. walk from Tsu's house. The train station is not very busy at this time of the morning on a Monday as it is a national holiday in Japan: Coming of Age Day for women that are turning 20 years old this year. The 20-year-old's dress up in their kimonos on this day and go about their business with friends and family. The seats on the train are heated! Awesome! Loving the heated seats on a chilly day.

I have no idea what the train ride cost as Mamoru paid my fare. The train is wider and much longer than Vancouver trains. Plenty of sitting and standing room and lots of ceiling straps to hold on to. The trains are quiet and spotless. I immediately take notice of the fact that there is not a spec of trash on the train car we're riding. Amazing! The ride into Tokyo takes about an hour. We find the Hato tour bus station attached to the train station and we sit around for a bit until our 9:00 AM start time. It is an English speaking bus tour and there are only about 20 patrons on the tour.

Our first stop of the day is the Meiji-jingu Shrine. It was built in 1920 and is a sought after wedding venue. We walk past a display of ice carvings which showed no sign of melting because it was THAT cold outside. Brrrr! We followed the protocol of rinsing our hands with the freezing cold water, using a bamboo ladle we first pour the cold water into our right hand, then into our left hand, and then we pour more water into our left hand and drink the water. It was so darn cold I asked Yoko if it was suggested we do the protocol or if we must do the protocol. I really didn't want to pour that freezing water onto my hands. Yoko said it was a requirement so when in Rome you do as the Romans do... We walked to the shrine and were lucky to see a couple getting married outdoors. It was so cold, only about 10:00 AM, I felt sorry for the bride. She was sitting on a chair, dressed in a traditional Japanese bridal gown, with a thick white lovely coat over top. The coat looked like a wedding gown in and of itself. Her "veil" was traditional Japanese. Unlike Western veils, her veil was a thick opaque "hat" like object. I couldn't begin to describe it's style as I have never seen anything like it ever before. I did snap a couple of photos of the bride and groom as they walked in a procession out of the grounds of the shrine. It was a true procession with all the wedding guests walking behind the bride and groom two-by-two. Immediately behind the bride and groom was a man attired in traditional clothing carrying a very huge red "umbrella" on a very long pole. In other words, he wasn't walking on their coat tails but was a few steps behind the bride and groom with the red umbrella shadowing overtop their heads. It was a sight to see. Then the parents followed behind and eventually the wedding guests.

Meiji-jingu Shrine in Tokyo

Traditional Japanese wedding procession at Meiji-jingu Shrine in Tokyo.

The tour had us on a very tight schedule. I think we had 45 minutes to spend at the Meiji-jingu Shrine. We're back on the bus and headed to the Imperial Palace (East Gardens). This area which is a lovely garden area in present day once housed a castle that housed generations of Tokugawa shoguns. Eventually it became the residence and palace of the Imperial Family. Even in winter, the grounds are very nice to walk around on a sunny cold day. The Imperial Palace grounds are kind of similar to Central Park in the middle of Manhattan except I got the sense the Imperial Palace grounds were on a much smaller scale, yet smack dab in the middle of Tokyo. There were plenty of runners getting their exercise around the park. Running seems to be a very popular exercise in Tokyo. We had only about 30-40 minutes here.

Our third stop of the day was to the Senso-ji Temple and Nakamise street which is a very busy shopping area selling Japanese souvenirs such as fans, kimonos and traditional foods such as rice crackers. The Temple was built in the latter part of the 17th century.

We drive through the Ginza shopping area and some patrons get off the bus in this part of the city as they are only taking a half-day tour. (Frankly, I think they missed the best part of the day).

We have an arranged pre-ordered lunch on the 12th floor of a hotel with a view of the harbour and city. Every person gets a window seat. The meal was okay. Beef steak with mushroom sauce. The steak is about 1/2" thick and not the most tender steak by any stretch. Oh well... the view was gorgeous. As we're almost finished our lunch the tour guide stops by our table and speaks to Mamoru. I thought I heard her say we were going to leave in 35 minutes. Mamoru and Yoko use the bathroom facilities and I dawdle and take in the view. Next thing I know they've got their coats on and say we need to head to the bus. What? I thought we had 35 minutes! No, the guide was telling him we were leaving ON 35 (minutes after the hour) not IN 35 minutes. We're the last to arrive to the bus (which seems to be the pattern for the day) and I apologize for holding us up by saying I misunderstood.

We drive less than 5 minutes to the harbour and get on a Symphony Cruise boat. It is very luxurious and there is almost no one on the boat. We cruise around the harbour and under the rainbow bridge. We're out on the water for about an hour. Despite how chilly it's been today we go out on the deck to take photos. The cruise was my favourite part of the tour, hand's down!

The Rainbow Bridge in Tokyo.

Me, Mamoru, and Yoko sailing the Tokyo harbour

It's now approaching 4:00 PM and our last stop of the day is the Odaiba sight-seeing area. They have a small replica of the Statue of Liberty overlooking the water. This Statue of Liberty came about as part of a patronage with France. A patron of the tour, from Columbia, asked me if the Statue of Liberty in New York was only this big and if so he wasn't impressed. I assured him this Tokyo Liberty was miniscule in comparison. The Odaiba area is basically a vantage point to look over to the other side of the Tokyo harbour (the side that we had lunch on). Not much there in terms of sight seeing, in my opinion. We went into the shopping mall to a duty free store and I bought a few boxes of cookies for Mr. and Mrs. Tsugawa.

Yoko and Mamoru

We're back on the bus now and it's getting dark. Now the Columbian is sitting beside me. He and Yoko had been seat mates all day but he was wanting to pick my brain about New York and Vancouver. He is a young guy in university studying architecture. It was nice to share my experience and opinions with him but that meant I was missing out on what the tour guide was telling us as we passed through areas of Tokyo. Darn it. Live and learn.

We return to the train station and the three of us board the train back to Abiko. Now the train is busy and I am the only one who gets to sit down, but we only go one stop and then we transfer trains and we all get a seat for the ride back to Abiko.

Yoko lives in Abiko City but she commutes to Tokyo to her job as a systems analyst. She leaves home at 7:00 AM and gets home from work at 10:00 PM. She works six days a week and gets 14 vacation days a year. She has to buy a train pass for six months at a time. It costs $1348 Cdn for the six months. That's a similar price as Vancouver for those who commute on the Westcoast Express but at least we don't have to come up with six months worth of fare in one shot. Holy toledo!

We arrive in Abiko City and walk from the station to Emiko's home where there is going to be a celebration dinner in my honour! I meet Emiko once again but this time on her side of the world. It had been ten years since her visit to Vancouver. So much has changed in her life since then: She got married to Takihiro four years ago and they have an almost 3-year-old daughter Satsuki and are expecting a baby boy in early-February. I also met Emiko's in-laws and brother-in-law, and Mamoru's dad. We go upstairs to a tatami matted room with a long, short-legged table laden with home cooked Japanese food. I take my seat on the floor at the table. Eating from a seat on the floor is odd to wrap your mind around. At first I kneeled and Yoko told me to put my legs out to the side. That was uncomfortable for me so I stuck them straight out in front of me underneath the table.

Home-cooked Japanese meal at Emiko and Takihiro's home.
 Four generations in this photo.

The food was amazing. Hmmm... lazy sushi. Man that was so delicious I had seconds. Chicken karage; macaroni salad; and I forget all the other food but the table was full. Emiko made a delicious strawberrry shortcake for dessert. The cake is not like the cake we make here. It is very dense and it was delicious. The strawberries were luscious and tasted so much better than the hydroponically grown berries we get here in Canada. I came home with the cake recipe and packages of seasoning for lazy sushi. I'm really looking forward to making it and hope it tastes similar to Emiko's creation. The lazy sushi was served in a lovely wooden bowl that is meant specifically for lazy sushi. It's a flat-bottomed bowl with a metal band holding the wood together. It kind of reminded me of a wine barrel in that way.

I find out that Takihiro leaves home around 7:15 AM to commute to his job as a systems analyst in Tokyo City, returning home at midnight! Yes, midnight! Can you imagine? It's really hard to wrap my mind around the fact they work such long, long hours. But during conversation I can see how they are conditioned to working such hours. Little 3-year-old Satsuki starts kindergarten in April, four hours a day, five days a week.

After dinner Emiko and Satsuki are going to drive me back to Tsu's house. Everyone walks us out to the car and I hug everyone goodbye. I think they're not really into displays of affection but I hug them anyways as I'm a hugger by nature and I just wanna be me. By this time it's almost 10:00 PM. It's been a long jam-packed day.

No clue what's on tomorrow's agenda.