Tokyo Drifting

I feel a little bad playing off of the name of a movie I have no interest in for the title of my new blog post, but it seemed like a pretty good fit, so forgive me. It's been an extremely busy time since my last entry, so, barring a creative meltdown, you should have some interesting things to read about.

So, my last entry ended with us just about to head off to Mt. Takao with Roger and the guys, so I'll just start from there. First off, Mt. Takao is a great place off the beaten path in Tokyo. It's only about an hour away by train and the fares are extremely reasonable. Roger told us about it; it is one of his favorite places. I was happy that he was willing to share with us like that and we were all excited to go. Once we'd arrived we were immediately struck with how different this part of "Tokyo" was. Although vending machines were still everywhere, much of the traffic and noise of the city was lost. Instead, trees, small shops and shrines dominated our view. After taking a moment to get acquainted with our surroundings, Roger took the lead and we started up the beginner trail. It was a surprisingly tough climb up the mountain for me. The first third of the journey, although beautiful, is somewhat obscured in my memory by the massive effort required for me to continue walking. Still, the air was fresh and the people were friendly.

After a while, we finally reached an area where the grade was less steep and I began to enjoy myself a little more. Roger and I had good conversations about history and our lives as we enjoyed the beauty of the countryside. Akira and Andrew took a lot of grand photographs and kept us entertained with their antics. There were several places where the view of the city below was breath-taking. Finally, we reached the shrine. The first thing you see when you approach the shrine area is a massive Torii gate and a long path lined with Japanese style lantern boxes. As you progress, you eventually reach a grand stone staircase, all the while catching glimpses of the shrines above you through the trees.

The shrine buildings were certainly a site to behold - the detail and thought that was put into the architecture is readily apparent, and the many statues surrounding the building create an aura of mysticism that I have seldom experienced. Eventually, Roger had to leave us to meet his wife and we began the final leg of our journey: the climb to the summit. It wasn't so bad, but by the time we reached the top we were extremely thirsty, so we stopped at a vending machine and got drinks. After downing our drinks, we went out to the overlook to see if we could spot Mt. Fuji in the distance. Unfortunately, it was obscured by the mist...but it was a grand view anyway.



And so, feeling victorious, we headed down the mountain, stopping for ice cream along the way. By the time we got halfway down, there were absolutely no lights and night was upon us, so we proceeded carefully in the dark. It was a lot of fun. The train ride home was quiet; we were all quite tired.

The next day was slightly less strenuous, but did see us heading out on another adventure. We went to a Japanese clothing store to attempt the dye our own towels and handkerchiefs with natural indigo dye. It was especially challenging because the store owner only spoke Japanese and we had no translator. However, we made it through alright and our cloth came out quite nicely. Went to Shibuya with our friends from Taiwan afterwords to do some shopping. I left a little early because I was tired and we had all kinda split up anyway.

Friday was set to be another big day because I was meeting my language partner in Harajuku after walking through Meiji-Jingu with Roger. Meiji-jingu is a park dedicated to the memory of the Emperor Meiji and is a most excellent place for a walk indeed. It also has a incredible Torii and shrine along with a peaceful tree-lined paths. Apparently, it has a distinct sort of beauty in every season. I'd like to go back to see it in each of its forms. I've unfortunately lost my videos concerning it, but since I plan on going back it is okay. If I had to choose one place to visit in Tokyo, it would probably be there. I feel like it just resonated with me, somewhat like Ueno did. Also, I really enjoyed talking with Roger...not to mention reaping the benefits of his knowledge of Japan. I give him my heartfelt thanks.

After our walk, I went to wait for my language partner, Tomoko, while Roger went home. Tomoko is another one of the excellent people I have been fortunate enough to be introduced to while in Japan. We met up, walked around Harajuku, and talked about all sorts of things. For example, she thought it was funny that I knew that Japanese word for right (directional) but not left. Here's kinda how the conversation went:

T: So you know the word for right...why not left?
J: Right is just easier to remember...
T: Left is easy too!
J: Hmm, humph. みぎ and...
T: ...ひだり It is easy to remember.
J: Hahaha, okay, I think I've got it now.

I haven't forgot it since. Another funny story is when I explained to her what the English phrase "pull it off" meant using a hypothetical bank robbery scenario.

J:"Do you think we can pull it off?"
"We're smart and are quick. We can pull it off."

We ended up settling in a cafe and talking about a play. I also had the opportunity to share some of my favorite music with her, i.e., Flogging Molly and Modest Mouse. She was kind enough to listen and seemed to enjoy it. It was an excellent evening.

Saturday was another day of constant motion. I left the apartment early in the morning to meet with Robert, Kurt, and Tyler, the co-ops from UC currently working in Japan, in Shinjuku for a trip to Enoshima and Kamakura. They are all truly excellent individuals and I learned a lot about what living in Japan for an extended period is like from them. Robert was gracious enough to provide me with a ton of useful information about places to go too. Anyway, after reasonable train trip we stepped out, much to my (ignorant as I am) surprise, into a bay-side area. I was overwhelmed by the wonderful sea-breeze.

The short walk to the island of Enoshima was dominated of tales for Robert of climbing Mt. Fuji and hiking through Hokkaido. Upon reaching the island, the adventure really began as we climbed up the steps leading us around the island. Please enjoy this video of Robert explaining the legend behind the island.



On the island I took a lot of great videos of the sea, the cliffs, and the grand buildings. We also ended up inside a cave on the far side of the island where the dragon in the story of the island is supposedly enshrined and then took the path less traveled along the far side of the island to get back. Inside the cave we walked with candles and saw supposedly naturally neon florescent rocks...that really just looked spray-painted. It is a tough call though. The cave was great because it was so cool and there was water dripping everywhere. There were also a ton of old statues lining the paths.

After our island experience we went to Kamakura. We several shrines both big and small and hiked all around following the hiking path. I enjoyed both the company and the architecture. It was great exploring a new place so rich with culture and an array of impressive sites. Perhaps I'll go into a bit more detail later, but I'll at least talk about the Daibutsu now but it was my favorite. This was maybe the third place we went to and it was surrounded by a wall. I paid my two dollars to get in and saw a sight unlike any other.

Here is the video of the Daibutsu 大仏 we saw. When I first saw it appear through the trees I truly realized I was in a foreign land. I must emphasize how very impressed I was by it - I was awestruck.



For those of you who don't want to watch the video I'll say that the Daibutsu is a gigantic statue of Buddha that towers over you while sitting in a peaceful pose.

I'm afraid this entry has gone on too long. But I'll have to do another one soon because there is so very much left to tell. I hope you all enjoyed this one though. Thank you for reading so far! Here's wishing you all the best.

**BONUS VIDEO**



A video of a small amount of the cheering that occurs nearly constantly at Japanese baseball games. Cheers.

The Second Update

Well, I heck of a lot has happened since my last update. The videos I'm posting today though are only about one of them though. Perhaps the coolest thing I've seen so far in Japan is the Kaminarimon and Sensou-ji. That is, the Gate of the Thunder God and the temple Sensou-ji. My goodness was that some amazing architecture. It was a great visual and culture experience and I was certainly happy to be able to take it all in.

For those of you who wanted souvenirs (and some of you who didn't), it is worth mentioning that I picked up some really great things at the Tokyo National Museum. I hope that they meet with your approval. Speaking of the Tokyo National Museum, we went there yesterday (Sunday 16th). It was a generally great time and was comparable to a top notch museum in the states. The one crucial dilemma was that there weren't English translations for some of the objects on display (not that I'd expect there to be, really), but, honestly, they provided a lot more English descriptions than I expected...it was more than enough to give me a feel of what I was looking at. I saw exhibits on Japanese archeology, swords, art, and Buddhism, among others. We also took the English language tour (by volunteers). That was really nice, but I think I liked going on my own more.

After the museum, my friend Akira's father took us out for an authentic Japanese meal. I had so much food! He ordered us tons of great things like, sashimi, tofu, fried tofu, mackerel, roasted miso paste and nuts, cow tongue, and Japanese salad. Of course we also had a round of beers and then Akira's father and I got to drinking sake. We each had three tokkuri in traditional Japanese style. I was pretty much done at that point and we left to go on a walk through Ueno's famous park...that's when he saw an Irish pub. So, I learned how to drink like a Japanese business man and about the interesting life of Akira's father. I must say he was very, very kind to us all. Surprisingly enough I made it home with little trouble and woke up (after sleeping for 10 hours) feeling rested and ready for class. Amazing! Class really did go well today too. We learned how to talk about our families. Good stuff.

Well, I'm doing well here in Japan. We're going to a Tea Ceremony tomorrow, out with our friend Roger on Wednesday, to a clothing making event in Kamagome on Thursday, and then on Friday I am meeting up with my Japanese language partner in Harajuku. Busy times, but good times. I hope you all are going very well back home...or wherever you may be. Cheers.

Here's a video of the Bon Festival we went to over the weekend. I absolutely loved the dancing and stayed after other people had left.

The biggest event of the night was yet to come. Since the festival was far away in Yokohama we took a long time getting back on the train. We arrived Iidabashi station at 12:13AM and made a mad dash, 480m, to catch our train at 12:15. Although I ended up falling down the stairs, hurting my knee, and ripping holes in both of the knees of my pants, we made it...and were promptly kicked out 8 stops into our 16 stop journey since the train's last stop was in Toyocho. That began an adventure of epic proportions: a four hour, >9 mile walk, crossing three rivers, that finally saw us all falling into bed at 4:30 in the morning. My right leg was shot and I had blisters like you wouldn't believe, but it was an experience unlike any other. There is no better way to learn a city than to walk it, and let's just say we got to know a good bit of Tokyo and Ichikawa that night. Good times and lots of good stories. Cooper got a lot of it on film with my HD video camera...I'm sure he'll have something worth sharing in the future.

Well, just a short update tonight. I hope you all are well!