Tokyo and a Genki Sort of Matsuri

Pictures shown: Flower in Nishi-Muko, Mikoshi in Fushimi, Host Mom singing Chinese poetry, Enterprise toy from Akihabara,crossing in Harajuku, bunny sundae from Madi Cafe in Akihabara, Mt. Fuji from Kamakura, Jenna and Nellie jumping at the Daibutsu in Kamakura, Daibutsu at Kamakura, Bay in Kamakura after the typhoon, Jenna Nellie and Julia on the Shinkansen.

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.

Longest Entry Yet pt. 1

Pictures: Moon from Daikakuji, Screen inside temple, traditional women's Heian dress, temple at Daikakuji, train stapler!, maiko>geiko fans in cafe in Gion, crossing the Kamogawa!

So the past few weeks since writing my last blog entry (which are roughly a week longer than I’m willing to admit!) have been somewhat dull, and blissfully so. Due to rain on both Wednesday and Friday, we were unable to make our weekly field trip in The History of Kyoto and instead watched an…interesting movie (re: glorified slash fan fiction) on the Shinsengumi, the police force of the Bakufu during the Edo period. Interestingly enough, they were actually stationed at Komyouji temple, where Jenna, Kyle and I went not a few weeks ago! It was completely unbeknownst to us—this is not a fact the temple likes to promote—and so we fully intend to return in the spring and take appropriate photos! Interestingly enough, the steps we walked on were actually in the film. The three of us were excited to say the least.

Friday held the usual lazy festivities. We went to a restaurant called Donguri, which has mostly okonomiyaki (Japanese “pizza”) but I ended up having sukiyaki, which was equally delicious! I suggest this restaurant to anyone going to Japan simply for tourism, especially if you don’t really speak Japanese. Though Kyoto is a tourist city, not every restaurant is English friendly (obviously, and why would we expect them to be?). Anyway, their staff doesn’t speak English, but they have an English menu!

Afterwards, our group headed off to Lipton, a tea and cake restaurant somewhat further down Karasuma, but Becky, Patrick and I went to the Kamogawa River and sat on tarps (it had rained considerably that day) until we got tired and went home! Nice and relaxing.

Saturday was incredibly busy once more! Sometimes I wonder if I’m doing too much, but I always feel fine after a relaxing Sunday afternoon at home. Anyway, first stop was the Cosmopolitan Club, a club run by Doshisha students who want to make international friends. Unfortunately for their international friends who want to make Japanese friends, there are far more international students than Japanese students. The club proves to be fun anyway!

Before adventuring, we all got lunch at the convenience store by the Kamogawa River near the Keihan railway and hopped across the river stones to the middle for some tasty food! I was wearing tights but stood for a while with my feet in the river. It was an absolutely gorgeous day and the water felt wonderful!

Anyway, so the Cosmo-Club explores cool places in Kyoto and yesterday we went to Sanjusangen-do, a temple which houses one thousand and one statues of Kannon Buddha. On paper it sounds impressive, sure, but not nearly as impressive as actually being in their awe-inspiring presence! They stand in an equally impressive temple, which is nearly as old as they are. The original collection was built in the 1100s, during the decline of Buddha. Buddhism has three stages and the decline happened in the Kamakura period of Japan (this is after the Heian period and before the Ashikaga Muromachi period). Kyoto especially felt the wrath of this decline, experiencing earthquakes and devastating fires throughout the period. In one such fire, the majority of the collection was either damaged or fully burned away and was rebuilt or restored in the 1200s along with the temple. The temple, too, is impressive. Built like any other temple or pagoda in Japan, the slats of the roof are built to slide and rock with the motion of an earthquake, thus protecting the national treasures within.

But what is most fascinating yet is that I did not learn any of this from the pamphlets or plaques, but from an ojii-san (old man) who called us over while we were walking through the temple! He has been studying English for five years and he told us all about the temple, it’s reconstruction, the Kannon Buddha’s, etc. Firstly he urged us to remember, if anything, two facts. The first is that the name of the god is Kannon Buddha. The second is that the oldest of the collection—the ones which survived the fire—are eight hundred and fifty years old. They are made out of Japanese cypress and were constructed separately. He told us that because some of them are hollow, more than a few carry sutras, hidden away inside their stomachs. I am constantly amazed at what you can learn if you really pay attention!

I had to jet out not forty minutes after arriving, however, because I was to meet up with Lizzy, a friend of mine from Smith who is studying at Nanzan University in Nagoya—about an hour by bullet train from Kyoto—to attend the Onshukai in Gion. This event is held once a year, each year with a different theme, and mirrors the Maiko Odori in the Spring. Maiko and Geiko perform a number of dances or plays. Unfortunately English separates the two and so it can be difficult to imagine, but in Japanese theater, the two are very closely related. If you know anything about Noh, Kabuki, Bunraku, Kyogen, Bon Odori, or a combination of any of these, you know that there is at least a little bit of dancing, if not dance movement in them, as well as elements of plays and ancient stories.

Part Two--details of the Onshukai-- can be found here:http://agingerinwonderland.blogspot.com/2009/10/longest-entry-yet-pt2.html

After attending this performance there’s no way I can’t at least try to get tickets for the Maiko Odori in spring! There are seriously juicy tidbits regarding the invention of that particular event, so I suppose…look forward to it?

Anyway, since doing only two cultural things in one day is clearly not enough, Lizzy and I met up with Carolyn and Julia and headed off to Daikakuji Temple near Arashiyama for the Tsukimi Matsuri (moon viewing festival). The temple has a large lake on which they have boats with little red lanterns for moon viewing. Very Heian period. Anyway the line for the boat was way too long so we instead explored the temple. First we grabbed some takoyaki (octopus inside a dough ball…mmm), yakisoba (pan fried soba noodles with meat), and dango (sweet chewy dough balls). All were absolutely delicious!! After that we explored the temple complex, which is absolutely gorgeous and dates back to 876AD. It was the palace of Emperor Saga and he eventually designated it as a temple for the Kobo Dashi sect of Buddhism. The building itself has actually been moved to its current location. The complex is absolutely gorgeous at night, especially lit up at night during a special festival!

It took us a while, but we eventually found the moon! It was a perfect night for moon viewing with somewhat mysterious clouds covering it up once in a while. The air was cool, but not brisk, and I managed to find some nice gifts for my host family, which they really seemed to like.

Overall it was a wonderful but absolutely exhausting day. I ended up sleeping until 11:45 the next day, today, that is. So far my current plan for the day has been holding fast: DO NOTHING. I’ve been sitting here writing my blog and soon I’ll get some studying in if I feel like it! Other than that, I’m going to be as much of a lump as I can.

Thursday we are heading off to Tokyo so there will most likely be another large post the following Monday if I’m not too exhausted to actually write it!

Also, still famous. A woman at the little café Lizzy and I went to in Gion recognized me from NHK. HAHA.