Gotoku-ji is certainly an instagram attraction. The shrine compound itself is beautiful and would be worth the one hour train ride regardless, but the reason why many people come is because of the Maneki-Neko (welcome cats)
You may have seen the happy welcome cats in many different types of Asian restaurants and stores. Although many people think it originated in China, the history as told from the Japanese perspective is that it originated in Japan.
When people come to visit this shrine to pay their respects and pray, they might buy a cat, and then leave it at the shrine as an offering. Once a year, the offerings are cleared out and it starts again. There are different shrines that represent different entities, for example I went to a Daruma shrine when I lived here before. there is one near Osaka, but there is one in Gunma Ken which I visited with my friend Liz who lived on that area. For more info on that temple – here is a quick link: https://www.japan-guide.com/community/mfedley/report-1602. The cats were definitely adorable, and it was cool seeing so many in one spot – all different sizes. Very instagrammable!
I did NOT do that – it just looked like an interesting photo
I really enjoyed my time there – it was very quiet and serene even with the visitors. I also enjoyed taking the train out of the city a bit to experience some towns without the towering sky scrapers, and taking the local two car tram.
I also saw an ad in the station for a kaiten sushi restaurant so I stopped for a quick snack. The conveyor belt wasn’t ready as it was a slow time but you could order directly- Yum!
When I consulted google maps for my trip home, I had to change trains in Shibuya, so I HAD to get out and see how things had changed in 24 years – it has gotten even busier. I will put that in a separate post!
I went to class in the morning having no idea what I was going to do in the afternoon – I thought about going on a kayak tour, but there wasn’t one available. I asked my classmates and teacher for suggestions, but nothing was resonating.
In the end, after a lot of hemming and hawing, I decided to go to Kitanomaru National Garden. It turned out to be a park full of trees and beautiful winding paths right in the middle of the concrete jungle. It was located along Imperial Palace moat. I bought a soft serve matcha ice cream in a delicate waffle cone and strolled the paths. Heaven.
I then looked on the map to see what was around me that would be interesting to explore next. I remembered seeing signs in the station for a shrine called Kanda Jinbosho. I thought I remembered a beautiful vermillion coloured shrine complex that I wanted to see so I set off in that direction. It was about a 25 minute walk from where I was. I wandered through the streets and saw some interesting things.
When I arrived, this was the shrine I found nestled in between an apartment building, and some offices :
So, I set off once again, and actually found the shrine I was looking for – it was another 30 minute walk away. Here are some highlights of some of the things seen on my walk there:
Here are some of the interesting buildings, the one on the right is part of the Meiji University campus.
And then I stumbled upon the best thing of all! A street that is famous for guitar stores. There were more than 20 stores, some being 5 floors tall. There were also other music specialty stores. I couldn’t believe it. What is more unbelievable is that I did not buy anything – even the amazing travel guitar that was a great deal!
I finally arrived at Kanda Myojin Shrine.
There happened to be a ceremonial Noh theatre performance happening as I walked into the compound. Here is a short video:
I then went to Akihabara for the second time (see last blogpost). On my way way back, I came across a place I had walked by at least twice before but never noticed it – it was called “Taiko Lab” – if we get to come back I will try to book a spot for my family to do a Taiko drumming workshop.
When I arrived back in my neighbourhood I was pretty weary so I found by a tiny Izakaya around the corner from my apartment, where I ate some great food! From left to right: hiyyako (chilled tofu), deep freid garlic cloves with miso, stir fried eggplant, and tempura lotus root. Delicious! Another great day!
I am in class every day from 10am until 1:10pm, then I plan an adventure for the rest of the day, usually taking the train to a location to start with, sometime up to an hour away, and then sometimes making my way back on foot, changing my plan as I go. The day I went to the Nippori Fabric town I ended up wandering the area, then headed to Akihabara ( Electric town) and then back home – this whole adventure probably took about 6 hours and I was on foot most of the time. Travelling this way has allowed me to discover interesting places that may or may not be in any tourist guide.
one place I enjoyed was a standing sushi bar.
One place I stumbled upon was a market filled with vendors that sold regional culinary specialties. I bought a bottle of corn tea. Very interesting – it tasted almost exactly like you would expect.
I also noticed someone ducking into an interesting area under the bridge where the train runs. It turns out it was an artisan market. The area underneath the track was pristine, each shop was like an art gallery. I ended up buying a beautiful hand made leather wallet to replace the one I lost a few months ago. I wandered through the area appreciating all of the handmade artisan items – pottery, prints, figurines, hats, leather goods, hand dyed clothing, handmade umbrellas of all different sizes among other things. The work was beautiful.
I was in Akihabara twice this week, so this is a summary of both trips. First off, I have to say that this is not the same Akihabara I visited 28 years ago. It has changed SO much. When I arrived in Japan in 1995, one of the first things on my to-do list was to buy a fax machine. Yes, you read that right, a fax machine. There were no cellphones, or email, and calling was extremely expensive. Having a fax machine meant that I could instantaneously connect with people at home, instead of them having to wait up to three weeks to receive a letter. I also used it to fax friends who were in Japan as well as long distance within Japan was also not cheap.
There was a labyrinth of stalls with everything electronic you could possibly want or need – that part of Akihabara is still there, but it is overshadowed by Anime, Manga, video games and Pokemon. Don’t get me wrong, anime was a thing 28 years ago too, but its popularity has exploded since then. You can’t look anywhere without being inundated with anime character posters. They are everywhere. You can get blue-ray discs, and all kinds of merchandise connected to every anime ever created. The challenge is finding out where your particular show merch is – it is a bit overwhelming, and there are so many anime series to choose from.
There is another addition to the landscape now – Maid Cafes. There are young women every couple of hundred metres dressed up in “maid costumes” handing out flyers to promote their cafe. Apparently there are over 200 Maid Cafes in Akihabara alone. They started in Akihabara in 2001 and have now spread all over the country. Your time slot is usually just over an hour. The “maids” are dressed up in these sort of cosplay costumes that resemble a French maid costume. They role-play as if the clients are the master and\or mistress of the house. You can play games with them, and they serve “cute” food and decorate your food order – for example if you order an omelette – they might draw a picture of a cute bunny with the ketchup squeeze bottle. There are specific rules – you are not allowed to touch the maids, or their clothing, even to shake their hands. It is also forbidden to offer or ask for personal contact information. You also cannot take photos of them with your personal phone, you have to pay for official photos that come as a cute keepsake.
One of the other quirky things about Japan is the vending machines. In Akihabara there are stores just filled with strange vending machines, selling everything from snacks, to collectibles, to stuffed animals, and sometimes it is a game, and you do not always get a prize when you put your money in.
For example, I put 500 yen in a vending machine to try and get a special Pokemon card. There was also a chance you could get a package of 5 cards. I put in the 500 yen and won a card. So got I proceeded to get more change so I could get a couple more cards – one for each of the three boys at home – unfortunately my next two tries were failures I basically got the “sorry try again” card in the plastic bubble that came out of the machine. Here is a photo of the machine with the winning ball
There were also a plethora of extremely weird things you could buy at the stores – a couple are pictured here:
Here a couple of videos of some of the vending/game machines:
Here are some special addition Converse only sold in Japan:
I still have more to write but will put the other places I visited in separate posts even though I saw them on the same day 🙂
So, I still woke up at 4:30, but this is progress!
I had time to work on a yoga teaching related course, do some yoga, do my meditation course, make myself a nice breakfast, and do some research so I can plan the rest of my trip. I left some days purposely open, and I have to start making some decisions about my options.
Class was challenging as usual. I am really at a disadvantage because my writing skills are not great. While learning Japanese, I never really focussed on writing, just reading, listening and speaking. In fact, the last time I did any work on writing was 28 years ago. All of my classmates are taking notes off the board in Japanese, and I am taking FOREVER to fill in my work sheets. I know the answers, but writing them is another thing altogether. I am not discouraged, I am just trying harder. I am finding work-arounds, like taking pictures of the board instead of writing everything down, and then reviewing them at home. The worksheets I cannot complete in class, I have been finishing at home.
In my quest to see parts of Tokyo that I think my family would not be interested in, I decided to start my adventure off with a trip to Nippori Fabric town. I reminded me of the shmate district in Toronto around Spadina. There were over 85 buildings dedicated to fabric and notions. There were stores specifically filled with only buttons, others for embroidered trim, some exclusively sold home deco fabrics, another sold only silk and chiffon. There was a store called Tomato which took up half the block spanning five buildings, one of them had 5 floors. There was another company called And Leather… that had three stores, and specialized in…leather and hardware. I wanted to buy EVERYTHING, but, believe it or not, I did not buy ANYTHING. I only brought a carry-on and there is no room in my bag. Besides, I decided I won’t buy any more fabric unless I have a plan for it. Considering that we may come back in December, I can make a plan and then buy something then. Here are some photo highlights:
miniature dress dummies to showcase fabrics
There were several ladies shopping in full kimono.
In the bead store
Traditional Japanese prints
Sushi, Ramen and Onigiri fabric
I will continue my adventure for the day in the next post…Akihabara…Electric Town
In spite of doing everything right, I am still feeling the effects of jet lag. I went to bed last night at 10:30 but then woke up at 3:30 and couldn’t go back to sleep. Not great because I was starting class this morning at 10. I headed over a bit early because I had to pay for my tuition. Unfortunately my credit cards didn’t work in their machine – they suspected that perhaps the chip wasn’t compatible with their reader. In any case, I had to go to an ATM where I had to do three separate withdrawals from some reason and was charged a service charge for each one…
I have 6 other students in my class: 3 from Taiwan, 1 from Thailand, 1 from China and one from the US. I am the oldest by far, but that doesn’t seem to matter. It was intense, but I enjoyed it. The focus was purely on speaking which was exactly what I need. I really liked the instructor too. I had lunch at the conveyor belt sushi place again – this time with one of the other students who has been there for a month already. He informed me that the teachers change up everyday – not the best news from a consistency perspective, but I am looking forward to the rest of the week nonetheless. Also, the restaurant wasn’t as good as it was last night – fewer choices. But, sushi in Japan is still sushi in Japan.
Erez landed last night and met up with his boss today. He had a long day full of paperwork and touring and challenging red tape at the municipal office, but is slowly unravelling one challenge at time. He is exhausted, but has a good attitude, so he will be fine.
I do not have too much to report as it was pouring rain all day, and I had a lot of homework that took me forever to do. Now I am just trying to stay up until close to 10pm so I can try to kick the jet lag- I do not want to be up at 3:30 again.
When choosing activities for this trip, I wanted to see things that I may have not seen before, but also things that my family might not be a priority for them to do when we come here together. Sure, they might have enjoyed my trip today, but I know there are things they might enjoy more. The beauty of today was that I started with a loose plan, and then I just let the day unfold – it was great!
After doing some research, I decided to go to Nihon Minka-en: The Japanese Open Air Folk House Museum in Kawasaki. It is situated in Ikuta Ryokuchi Park.
I consulted Google Maps and the route said to take two different subway trains and then a bus. The trip would be approximately an hour and a half. Finding the trains was easy, then I got to the bus station and there were no English signs anywhere. I asked for help (In Japanese) from a small group of slightly older people that I thought might be familiar with the attraction I was going to. It turned out that they were taking the same bus as me, so once we got on the bus, we struck up a conversation. I was proud of myself that I was able to make myself understood, even if I couldn’t always understand 100% of what they were talking about. They were going to a rose garden close by. I filed this information away in case I had time to stop by later.
I arrived at the park and quickly realized there was a lot more to do than just the Open Air Folk House Museum. I started the adventure by taking a short hike up the into the hills, surrounded by old growth forest and bamboo. It was incredible. After two days in the concrete jungle in Tokyo, I was craving nature. here are some shots from the hike:
From Conde Nast Traveller: “The sprawling grounds are home to 25 marvelously preserved Edo-era homes relocated from all over the Japanese countryside, spanning an array of styles from farmhouses to samurai houses and includes a shrine, water mill, and kabuki stage. The houses are arranged in five villages according to their places of origin. Most are open to the public, allowing you to step back in time and wander through the various rooms. Placards describe the structure of the house and give background on how the previous owners lived.”
The museum was truly fascinating. the details of the construction methods were mind-blowing – what they were able to do with the technology they had and didn’t have was incredible. The craftsmanship was second to none. I was truly impressed.
Video of the Mill:
The Kabuki theatre:
One of the highlights was a soba noodle restaurant that my friends on the bus told me about. I was able to eat a delicious bowl of hot soba noodles in soup while looking out at a spectacular view while sitting on a traditional tatami mat floor in a historically accurate building with a thatched roof 🙂
Because it was Sunday, they had people giving workshops in some of the traditional cultural arts: thatch roof making, sandal making, bamboo basket making, and weaving. They have an indigo dying studio as well. One of the bamboo craft crew was handing out bamboo rings:
Video of the roof thatch preparation:
After the Open Air Folk House Museum. I stumbled upon a beautifully designed art gallery dedicated to the art and memory of Taro Okamoto. For more information about him click here: https://taro-okamoto.or.jp/en/
He was a multi-disciplinary artist. He was a painter and sculptor, did ceramics, and commercial design. He was also a writer, musician and skier among other things. the gallery itself was also stunning, as were all of the grounds surrounding it. Here are a few highlights.
Last but not least was the Rose Garden my bus buddies told me about. It took about 20 minutes to walk there. I don’t know what I was expecting, but it was infinitely better in real life. I came around the bend over the crest of the hill and there were roses as far as I could see – every colour combination, every fragrance. It was impossible to capture the magnitude of this rose garden with a camera to do it justice.
On the way back, Google sent me a completely different way – three different trains – non of which I rode on the way there. When I arrived to my station, I was starving, so I popped into a Kai-ten Sushi place (conveyor belt style) where you sit at the bar and grab whatever plates you like. At the end of the meal, they add up the plates, each colour coded by price. It was quite cheap but delicious!!
I am again trying to stay up even though I am exhausted. I am excited to start classes tomorrow, so I don’t want to be up half the night with jet lag. If you are still reading this, thanks for sticking with me 🙂
Here are a couple of videos from the regular festival. It was really cool.
Here are the musicians from earlier in the day
Here are the shrine bearers as they stopped for a break.
Here are some random shots as I wandered around:
Fried pasta appetizer at the izakaya I went to for dinner:
Wall Art
When it got darker, they lit up the shrines, and after carrying it around for two an a half hours, you would think the shrine bearers would be more subdued, but they were louder and seemed to have even more resolve. Maybe all of the beer helped give them strength.
Then they moved out into the main roads:
When they reached the final destination, they wouldn’t stop, they kept backing up and then moving forward almost to the end and then backing up again. This went on for quite. awhile, even with this guy standing on the poles.
Overall, it was an interesting night. I really enjoyed soaking up the atmosphere, having small conversations in Japanese with a couple of strangers on the street. One couple offered me some Dun-go – soy glazed mocha on a stick – it was delicious! After the shrines came back to their original spots, groups of people were eating refreshments, setting up impromptu picnics all over, and having a great time. It seems like a tight knit community, even though it is in the middle of one of the biggest cities in the world.
Last bunch of random shots:
Everyone eating Dun-go – rice paste balls on as tick with sweet soy glaze.
I want to start this post with an observation. – When I lived here in 1995-86 and when we travelled here in 2001 we didn’t really have free access to the internet. No cellphones, no Google translate. Traveling now is EASY now compared to then. Having access to google maps has been a game changer. Google translate has a phone to help you with signs and labels, Google maps even tells you which train car to get on for fastest access, and the walking routes have been really helpful too. I have to say it also makes people a bit lazy because you don’t really need to know where you are going because you are relying on the phone.
So I went to bed around 10 last night and the woke up at 3am for around 40 min, but I did get back to sleep. At 6:30 I was woken by the sound of a Taiko drum being wheeled through town to remind people about the local Shrine festival Matsuri (Festival). I was very proud of myself because I was able to have a conversation in Japanese with a gentleman outside my door who was in one of the festival headquarters drinking beer at 9am this morning. The children’s participation in the festival was to start at 1pm, and it seems the regular festival events start around 5:30.
Here is a photo of one of the festival staging areas right outside my door. There have been people coming and going, eating and drinking since last night:
There were a lot of preparations going on in multiple staging areas in my neighbourhood. Many people asking around in Hapi coats, full festival outfits with Obi (sashes), Geta (traditional thong sandals), and headbands and bandanas tied around their heads. I really enjoyed just taking in the atmosphere and people watching. It has been very nice not having any schedule to adhere to.
I decided to wander through the area around the station again, and picked up some sunscreen. Erez called for a last minute consult as he was finishing packing before he left to catch his plane to Japan. I was in this multilevel department store and found this cool little are with wifi where I could talk to him. They also had a little free library where you could do a free book exchange.
I eventually made it to Ueno Park. It is a gorgeous area in the middle of the concrete jungle, with museums, temples, a pond where you can rent boats, and of course there are many spots to sit under a tree and relax.
I also almost stepped on this snake! This is a video of it slithering to safety.
This is the five story pagoda:
So many beautiful shrines. stone lanterns, and gardens.
Maybe a pomelo tree on the temple grounds?
One of the many entrances to the Ueno train and subway station:
There also seem to be random panda sculptures everywhere – this was was growing things 🙂
I then booted it back to my neighbourhood to see the children’s part of the festival. I followed two groups of families around through the streets. One group was pulling the wagon with the drum that was used this morning to wake everyone up. The second group had miniature ornate shrines that the kids were carrying on their shoulders through the streets in a parade. Every once in awhile, they would stop for a break and the organizers would distribute those little probiotic yogurt drinks. I just have to say that the kids were ADORABLE!!! It brought back memories of my time in Kazo city when I was partipating in our local festivals. I played drums on the wagons and got to carry the shrines on my shoulders. Here are a few photos and videos of the kid parades. Oh, I also caught this great shot of a lady walking her dog on full festival kimono.
Video of the first group:
Here is the the shrine-carrying group with the multi-instrumental drumming group. It reminded me of the group I was in when I lived in Kazo. Their musical group had a bamboo flute, two regular drums, one bass drum and a metal pan. Of course they have a different rhythm than we did. Every town had their own rhythm passed down through the generations. Here is the group carrying the shrines:
I decided to come home to the airbnb for a bit, take a rest and charge my phone – I am pretty tired. I am really looking forward to attending the festival tonight as well – it should be hopping. I also realized there is another festival happening this weekend about a 15 minute walk away and I apparently missed a big parade this morning. It is called the Asakusabashi Chestnut Festival. It will be happening tomorrow as well so I think I will head there in the morning. All the more reason that I needed to come home as rest for bit and write this blog entry! I have to pace myself 🙂
I found this 3 minute video online of the Chestnut festival opening ceremonies from a few years ago – it looks really cool if you have a few minutes to spare.
I am going to take a very short nap and then go back out to explore. I have already walked over 15,000 steps!
A store full of Prince Merchandising at the Minneapolis Airport – I was sprinting by, trying not to miss my connecting flight after the delay..
I am struggling to type as I have now been up for close to 30 hours but I am trying to beat this jet lag. I do not want to get up at 4 in the morning, so I am hanging on as long as I can .
The second leg of my flight from Minneapolis to Haneda airport in Tokyo was uneventful. I watched some tv and movies, did a lot of work on a wedding ceremony that is coming up in June, chatted with my seat neighbours. The food on Delta was surprisingly good.
Going through customs was hilarious. I wish I had been able to take photos or video, but there were signs everywhere saying not to use your phone. I didn’t want to be THAT woman. There were several planes that were coming at the same time, each with probably at least 600 passengers. It was a zoo. First we were all bottlenecked outside the gates, and then we went through what felt like a rat maze in a lab. I had no wifi so I couldn’t count steps, but I feel like we got 10,000 just going back and forth, back and forth in line like they do at Disney. Luckily I was in no rush.
It was quite comical, we kept passing the same people and we were all laughing at how absurd the experience was. I only took a carry on, so besides being a little confusing, I managed to get through customs. The agent was pretty shocked that I didn’t have a checked bag.
I spent a decent amount of time gathering myself in the lobby of the airport, installing my sim card, and planing out my transit route to get to my Airbnb. I did make one train mistake, but it was pretty minor – took the local instead of the express – still got there, albeit a little slower.
I am staying in an apartment with two bedrooms, a bathroom, hot plate with two burners, sink and a tiny washing machine. All for $80CDN per night – not too shabby.
My focus tonight was to stay awake till at least 9pm, so I walked around my neighbourhood for a few hours including reading in a park. First I checked out where the language school is and I was delighted to discover is it, literally a 2 min walk away – at the end of my street.
I had onigiri from a 7-eleven to tide me over till dinner, and then wandered the streets in this particular shopping district ( Okachimachi station area, right next to Akihabara, also know as electric town)., and found a great sushi place. I sat at the sushi bar, and had fantastic sushi. Turns out a little farther down the bar were a young couple from Ottawa.
Ok, I am literally falling asleep while typing, but here are a few good photos – worth a least a thousand words each. Sorry for the photo dump, but I am too tired to do much with them now.
Here is the sushi place:
In the middle of this busy commercial area, there are also small houses with intricate container gardening going on.
cool sculpture in the local park which reminded me of Henry Moore
