Failtastic at updating my blog as usual. Last week AKP as a group headed off for our fall field trip. It was touch and go as far as actually going to Tokyo due to a large and rather forceful typhoon that clung heartily to Japan from Kyushuu all the way up to Hokkaido. The night before we were to leave, the typhoon hit Kyoto. Even with the metal storm blinds covering up my windows, I could hear the wind howling and the house shook! It really was quite an impressive show. The next morning I awoke bright and early in order to make it to the shinkansen (bullet train). However, my host family was as pessimistic as they had been the night before, telling me that the trains would most likely not be running and we’d never make it to Tokyo. HA! I showed them. Prepared to brave the crazy winds we felt at the Kyoto Disaster Prevention Center, I lugged my suitcase out the door to discover that the typhoon was all bark and no bite!
The Shinkansen eventually left—only ten minutes late, actually—and we were off not only towards Tokyo, but towards a weekend of impeccable weather, which I hear generally follows a typhoon. As soon as we left Kyoto we were privy to gorgeous fluffy clouds, clear blue skies, and a whole lot of sunshine. Exiting the shinkansen, we got on a group bus and headed—very slowly—to Kamakura to see the daibutsu, the third largest statue of Buddha in Japan (the largest is in Nara). Afterwards we headed off on our bus to Yokohama for dinner in Chinatown before finally getting to our hotel in Ikebukuro, which is right by a very large and convenient train station in Tokyo. The station also boasts the two largest department stores in the world.
The first night there mirrored our very first night in Kyoto. We arrived in the evening and were to go find dinner for ourselves, however this time we all knew each other and were, somehow, much more ready for bed than when we arrived in Kyoto after nearly twenty hours of travel! Tokyo feels very much like New York. It’s crammed full of people who all know where they need to be in the next ten minutes but have thirty minutes left to get there. It’s much dirtier than Kyoto and the fashions are most notably different. It was also, interestingly enough, much more difficult to find a Family Mart or Lawson convenience store!
So to tell the truth, I spent the entirety of my time in Tokyo shopping! While many people went off to see the historical sites such as shrines, temples, and museums, I opted for the modernity Tokyo offers and had a great time! The first day I went off to a small department store in Shinjuku with an entire floor devoted to Gothic Lolita style. There I purchase a beautiful pair of pink combat boots from a famous designer label Baby, The Stars Shine Bright.
The second day Elspeth, Kyle, and I headed off to Akihabara to be a little creepy. We first went into Yodobashi Camera, a somewhat famous nerd emporium. This store has almost anything you can think of. Cameras, dishwashers, computers, everything. This includes an entire floor devoted to things of the nerdy persuasion. After emptying our purses of coins at the gashapon (small capsule toys) machines, we went off in search of a maid. They stand on the streets and hand out advertisements for the cafes they work at. So yes, Elspeth, Kyle, and myself, went to a maid café. For me at least it was a little creepy, but when we entered the café and found that it wasn’t chock full of gross old men there to be pervy at the super adorable maids, I got a bit more comfortable. It’s hard to exactly describe what a maid café is other than it’s a café…with cute maids! They take care of your every need and pay close attention to your likes and dislikes. The maid that lead us to the café had been talking to Elspeth about Evangelion and thus played the theme song from the show as soon as we sat down! At first a large group of friends were a little wary of we foreigners, but warmed up to us the moment they realized the song was for us. Anyway so I ordered a coffee and a bunny sundae. When the coffee came, our maid poured in the milk and sugar and had us sing a song to make it delicious! They do this with everything you order.
Afterwards we went to Shibuya for some quick shopping before having to hop back on the subway to make it in time for the Shinkansen back to Kyoto. We only had a day and a half to explore Tokyo so I’m hoping to get a chance to head back there and actually historical. I had a chance to go up in the Tokyo tower, but the elevator freaked me out, haha.
Anyway so the next day, despite my exhaustion, I went to see my host mother sing Chinese poetry. She’s incredibly good and looked so pretty in her kimono! The event was a neighborhood event for people to show off what they’ve been practicing, but she’ll be in a competition next month, which I’m looking forward to. As I emailed my friend during the event, our old people in sit around playing bingo and in Japan, they sing poetry! Ok, so that’s not true of everyone. In fact, my old people (hi grandpaaaa) are pretty BA and travel the world. But, hey.
After her event, I hurried to the train and met Julia, Mamiko, and Kyle for a matsuri (festival) in Fushimi. It’s the first night festival I’ve been to and I absolutely loved it! We walked around a bunch, purchasing random foods. First I had half a corn, slathered in butter and grilled to perfection. Next up were candied strawberries. Then a chocolate strawberry crepe and some takoyaki! It’s a wonder I’ve lost 5 lbs. We then headed off to see the mikoshi. A mikoshi is a large wooden structure which houses kami-sama (god). Every festival, lots of genki (energetic) men work to carry the mikoshi, which weighs a ton—literally—from on place to the other, chanting the whole way. The mikoshi is a huge procession of those switching off carrying it, those chanting and dancing, and those watching. All walk towards the temple, where they then replace kami-sama until the next festival! The mikoshi is covered in bells so when they walk and jostle it, it makes a wonderful loud rhythm to chant to. The energy of the crowd is absolutely electrifying and most definitely contagious. We then went for dinner at Julia’s house, which was delicious!
On Wednesday we went off on our usual weekly field trip to a few temples and a gravesite which I have of course forgotten the names or significances of…One was a shrine of the Hata Clan which has a possible Christian relation due to the three Tori connected in a triangle. At that shrine I prayed to Inari and not two minutes later found a pretty little bracelet on the ground. My host mother says it’s a gift from Inari and whether or not that’s the case, I’ve been wearing it every day!
The rest of this week I’ve been trying to get in some relaxation and I’m still sleeping quite a bit, recovering from Tokyo adventures! Yesterday was lazily spent getting a haircut and then watching movies with Mamiko. Getting a haircut was certainly a harrowing experience. I hardly speak hairdresser in the United States, let alone in Japan! The hairdresser is only four houses down from here and it’s so homey that despite walking by it every day, I had no idea it was there! It is run by a older couple who, after considerably mental stress, I decided know what they’re doing, even though Western hair seems to have perplexed them! The woman was absolutely lovely and really knew how to handle a customer. She didn’t even blink an eye at me when I entered with my host mother. Her husband on the other hand was somewhat taken aback by seeing a foreigner in his shop, which I can totally understand. How many foreigners can they possibly get in a small shop like that? After chatting with the husband about Japanese food in the US and how I had been to the Onshukai, he disappeared into the back before appearing once more with an absolutely gorgeous red lacquered fan in hand, which he then offered to me as a gift! Every so often I find myself getting annoyed with the somewhat awkward treatment of foreigners in Japan and then someone will do something so surprising… Not to say that gifts are necessary to make amends, but I suppose the gesture was the same as chatting with the couple at Daikakuji a week or so ago.
This week we’re supposed to be climbing Daimonji AFTER our usual field trip around Kyoto, so there are sure to be some adventures to write about next weekend! Plans for next weekend are tentatively: Nijo Castle, Nara, The Tale of Genji museum in Uji, Fushimi Inari.
Baby, that picture of the flower is so frakking beautiful, it is being used as my desktop background right now :)
ReplyDeleteWheeee yaaaay!
ReplyDelete