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Tokyo travels

Touristing in Tokyo offered the greatest challenge so far to us small town dwellers. It proved to be quite the juxtaposition with its maze of subway systems, crushing crowds, high-rise districts, small, winding neighborhoods, and ancient temples and castles.  The old and the new all crammed together into a vastly sprawling city.  We spent four days exploring as much as we could, from Tokyo Disney to the Imperial Palace.  We were very fortunate to be able to stay with the parents of my Japanese teacher, Reiko and Hisawa Suzuki, and they showed us the utmost in Japanese hospitality.  While in Tokyo, the weather ranged from searing heat, 33^o C, to rain and oppressive humidity.  But, like determined tourists, we forged on and visited many of our selected sites.

The highlights of the trip varied for everyone.  The kids were thrilled with our 50 story hotel near to Tokyo Disney. And, of course, Tokyo Disney, gave them a kick.  They also enjoyed playing state-of-the-art video games at the Sony building in Ginza, and going up to 150m in the Tokyo Tower.  Larry wanted to remember the Japanese version of western toilets, so there was quite a bit of camera work in the bathrooms.  I enjoyed staying with the Suzuki’s and all of the fabulous meals that they shared with us, visiting the Tsujiki fish market, and visiting the Asakusa kannon.

The Suzuki’s took us to dinner one evening and it proved to be the most exotic eating we had done so far.  We sat in a private room at a chabudai (low table) and they ordered the dinner.  We all ate the same meal that consisted of 6 or seven courses.  Besides the number of courses, the food display was awe-inspiring.  There was miso soup in a gourd shaped ceramic bowl with a bamboo leave cover which we poured into tiny bowls, a  course with a peeled cherry tomato in a Chinese lantern flower, a rice ball wrapped in a leaf, a small bowl with tuna, vegetables and shitake mushrooms all beautifully displayed in a bamboo cage, individual grills with a small fish, shredded diakon raddish and some type of green leaf, there was also ginger mouse with one adzuki bean on top, a few other courses that I am forgetting, and of course rice, pickled vegetables, sake, green tea.  It was all exquisitely presented, amazingly filling for the small size of each course, and very enjoyable.

Luckily, we had our fancy dinner with lots of raw fish prior to visiting the Tsukiji fish market.  This market is the central auction and wholesale market for all the seafood in Tokyo.  The market begins operation at 4:30 every morning with the different types of seafood being auctioned off until about 8:30 am.  Then wholesaling and retailing begin.  Tourists used to be allowed to view the auction, however, just this June, due to distractions and too many run-ins with the vendors, that was curtailed.  Despite only being able to view the wholesale operations, it was easy to see that Tsukiji was a throbbing marketplace where tourists come second after the sellers and buyers.  Every sort of sea creature imaginable is available.  I could identify urchin (the Japanese eat the insides – called uni), octopus, squid, eel, shrimp, scallops, clams, roe, and fish of every shape and size.  Seafood is consumed raw, smoked, dried, grilled, boiled and any other way imaginable.  The market, however, deals only in fresh, raw seafood.  Merchants were cleaning, gutting and filleting the merchandise that was displayed in styrofoam containers with paper price tags.  The main form of transportation for the workers was on carts with large, horizontal steering columns.  These guys sped around the market’s tiny isles, and didn’t stop for anyone.

The visit to the Asakusa kannon was very thrilling.  It was my first foray around Tokyo by myself and the boys.  We had to maneuver through numerous subway lines and through unfamiliar neighborhoods.  It was encouraging to be able to make our way given our limited language skills.  The Asakusa kannon, named Sensoji, is known for its large gate (call Thunder gate because it houses images of the god of wind and god of thunder). One walks down a long shopping street crammed with small vendors selling, food, crafts and all sorts of souvenir trinkets.  In front of the temple is a large incense cauldron.  Devotees crowd around the cauldron rubbing the smoke from the incense into their clothes and skin, apparently to bestow good health. While this was certainly not the most beautiful temple that we have visited, it did have the greatest number of tourists, both Japanese and foreign.  

Tokyo proved to be a great trip for all.  We are particularly grateful to the Suzuki’s for the help and generosity that they showed us.  It was a great way to visit this huge city!

cheers

Kobe, Osaka and Kyoto continues

If you read the Kobe, Osaka and Kyoto piece below, you will get the introduction to our Kyoto trip.

Kyoto’s National Art Museum had lovely examples of ancient ceramics, fabric, early books on scrolls, artwork on wall panels, statues of Buddha and guards, and metal works.  Learning about the influence of China on the Japanese language, as well as influences of other Asia countries on early Japan has been fascinating.  I believe that this was our first museum visit in Japan.  Our visit to Eiga-mura, the Japanese version of Universal Studios was another way to view some of the history, albeit somewhat commercialized. According to the studio’s brochure, many of the Japanese movies and day-time shows are actually filmed at this site.  We were able to watch a short play of a samari battle with all of the appropriate sword fighting and drama.  In addition, Nate was able to catch a photo of two geisha actresses in full regalia. 

cheers. 

Kobe, Osaka and Kyoto

A number of short trips have taken place over the last couple of weeks.  We stayed relatively close to home with only one over night.  We explored in Kobe, in Osaka, our neighboring city, and we returned to Kyoto as it is so filled with sights and activities that we needed to continue our exploration. 

Kobe has a suspension bridge, the Awaji Island bridge, which is purported to be the longest suspension bridge in the world.  It has an observation deck that is about 50 meters above the bay.  The observation deck is below the road-bed, so every time trucks would drive over the bridge it would rumble and jump, sounding not unlike an earthquake.  I was a bit nervous being above the bay, but below the highway.  Neither Nate nor I would walk across the glass portion of the walkway.  But Nate did lie on the wooden walkway.



In Osaka, we took a ride on one of Japan’s huge ferris wheel.  The views of the city, a huge, sprawling, relatively uninteresting one, were great, despite the haze.  We also visited the aquarium.  It focused on the ecosystems around the Ring of Fire, and was nicely designed. It boasts having a whale shark in captivity.  It was interesting but sad to see such a beautiful creature in captivity.  The aquarium certainly didn’t rival the Monterey aquarium, but the exhibits were unique and we did see deep ocean flow crabs that were amazingly prehistoric.




Our return to Kyoto included visiting one temple, a museum and Japan’s own version of Universal Studios.  We went to the Nanzenji temple, which is known for its shrines in a forested hollow and a beautiful aquiduct.  We were looking for the waterfall where pilgrims pray while standing underneath.  Unfortunately, due to the lack of rain during this year’s rainy season, the waterfall was a mere trickle.  But the bathing area and all of the shrines in the woods and in caves made the hike worthwhile.




This story will continue above.

Shikoku Continues                                       June 4, 2005

Shikoku Island was shaping up to be thoroughly entertaining.  We had intended to head into the forest to explore and hike.  As we left the main road, the way became considerably more narrow and winding and we realized that our itinerary was going to be blow to bits and we might never make it out the other end.  Luckily, when traveling by car one can change course.  We decided to drive down the coast to one of the capes of the island, Muroto, said to be the doorway to the land of the dead.  Along the way we saw beautiful coastlines, craggy cliffs, smooth sand beaches tucked amid secluded inlets, aquamarine water, crashing waves and myriad surfers.  Luckily, the true identity of the cape did not reveal itself, I guess that only happens during storms. 

After our coast visit we re-entered the forest of the Iya Valley for a shorter, but no less exciting adventure.  We headed to Kazuribashi to visit a replica of a vine bridge that was built (and quickly cut down as protection from marauding invaders) during ancient times.  Crossing the bridge rivals the most exciting amusement park ride.  The bridge was about 40 meter above the river, and was constructed of intertwined vines and wooden slats.  The slats were about 6 cm wide and the spaces between them were about 12 cm.  Of course the bridge swayed, bounced, twisted and lurched as we crossed.  While I held on for dear life, some other tourists walked across as if they were walking along the sidewalk.  

Driving to the bridge and along the Iya Valley gorge was as exciting as walking across the bridge.  The road hugged the slope, was one continuous hair-pin turn, and had unbelievably steep drop-offs.  Its width was frequently no wider than a compact car and there were road-side mirrors to navigate the hair-pins.  Amazingly enough, a full-sized bus traversed the road daily, and local traffic careened down the road, while I was driving a cautious 10 – 20 km/h.  Luckily, we only encountered on-coming traffic on the infrequent straight-aways, which had small turnouts.  Someone was watching over us!!  Nonetheless, the views of the gorge were spectacular and the forest had a wonderful diversity of vegetation. 

The last stop was a small town that boasted a temple that was accessed by climbing 800 steps.  When we arrived at the town, Kotohira, we checked into a minshuku where we were fawned over by our room mother.  She served tea and cakes and explained everything about the minshuku and its onsen.  She was very taken by Nate and kept talking to him despite his clear lack of understanding.  By the time she finished, the heat of the day (30^oC) was abating, although the humidity was still oppressive.  The walk was very enjoyable as most of the tourists had gone, and the way was sprinkled with small, picturesque shrines.  The shrine at the end was very modest, but the views of the valley were terrific, with numerous perfectly shaped cinder-cone mountains.  

We ended our Shikoku visit at a restaurant that had a grill set into the chabudai (low table) where we grilled beef, onions, peppers and cabbage which we ate with rice and drank sake.  Cheers.

Shikoku

The Island of Shikoku                                                            June 3, 2005

 

Our next adventure involved a car trip to the island of Shikoku.  It is one of the larger islands in Japan, is located to the east of Kobe and has some of the country’s larger national forests.  This trip was varied, with a little something for everyone.  I had read that a few of the beaches on the island were famous for attracting nesting loggerhead turtles.  There is even a small museum, partially sponsored by NMFS and other international entities, in a tiny town, Hiwasa, on the west coast.

Fantasizing about seeing turtles nesting in the wild, we headed to Hiwasa, visited the museum, and found ourselves a ratty hotel on the beach.  That evening, while winding down in our room, we were surprised by a loud-speaker from outside.  Given that we could not understand what it was saying and Japan is renowned for political rhetoric spouting from vehicle loud-speakers, we ignored it.  Then the room phone rang three times with no one on the other end.  Finally, a hotel reception staff banged on the door, waving a brochure about a turtle, speaking rapidly, and beckoned us to follow.  We were able to catch something about tomago (eggs), so we knew that he wasn’t telling us that the building was on fire.

He lead us down the dark street where a small crowd had gathered, and as we peered off into the darkness of the beach, I wondered what we were supposed to be seeing.  Finally, we were allowed to enter the beach and we blindly followed the group to a single light on the beach.  There, in a simple enclosure was a loggerhead turtle that had dug her nest and was proceeding to deposit her golf-ball sized eggs.  She was about 84 centimeters long and 64 centimeters wide.  While we watched for over an hour, she kept dropping eggs.  Apparently, they can lay between 100 – 150 eggs in a hole that can range from 20 – 40 centimeter deep.  The turtle biologist who had made the measurements, was answering questions and keeping people from petting the turtle.  People kept streaming onto the beach, having been alerted by the loud-speaker car that kept driving through town. 

This was quite an event.  Young and old alike were watching in quiet awe.  There is a huge respect for turtles in this town.  It is even captured by the local temple which has gold-covered turtles at the base of its turrets. The next morning we saw that two turtles had made their way up the beach to nest.  Having had no expectations about experiencing this, this definitely was a huge highlight.

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