sayonara japan

early to rise as needed to check out of hostel. sniff. but fortunately they were able to store our luggage for us so that we could at least have a few hours to explore before we needed to leave. being monday, the famed tsukiji fish market would normally be open. but it being a holiday, the usual 'wake up a 4am' wasn't happening. though we knew it was closed, we still wanted to see it, hoping that we'd at least get an idea of what must go on during those early hours. unfortunately everything was closed. like, there was barely any life to be found. boo. on the bright side (trying here!) it gives me a very valid reason to go back.

decided to skip the hama-rikyu-teien, apparently the "loveliest" garden, b/c frankly its just a garden and we didn't feel like spending Y300 for a stroll. so headed back towards the hostel to attempt a walking tour of the kagurazaka-dori canal area. the first attempt didn't go so well, as the map was oriented in the wrong direction (my bad) so had to back track and start over. wandered in and out of shops. saw another shrine - zenkoku-ji and some ceremonial event. got lost again so missed out on the other shrines along the tour. oh well. i'm sure we've seen enough this trip! we did, however, manage to come across a hole-in-the-wall dumpling restaurant that had just opened for lunch. score! filled our bellies for the last time in japan. one final stop in family mart (i'm gonna miss that place) and picked up some sake for me, jeff and my dad. it was super cheap, but how can you resist dollar sake from a convenience store?

back at the hostel, got our bags. reorganized a bit and then it was off to narita airport. once again, despite seemingly easy directions, we managed to get lost. most of japan is very well labeled with english translations, especially for things like transportation. however, from our particular station this was not the case. so confusing! couldn't tell which direction we were supposed to go in, so had to ask a random stranger. then we had to switch lines but couldn't find the correct track, so had to ask the ticket guy. he told us 4 and then said 124. we found track 4 and boarded the next train, but fortunately realized just in time it said nothing about narita and jumped off. finally figured out 124 was the time for the next narita train (and, no, this was not apparent in the beginning), so waited an hour. got my milk tea one last time. so yummy. got some more flip video. finally our train arrived. it was super crowded initially, but enough people eventually got off that we were able to get seats. or, jos got a seat and napped. i choose to keep standing as knew would be sitting for a while soon.

arrived at narita and found our way to the check in counter. for Y105 i was able to upgrade to not only an aisle seat, but one in economy plus. major score. i had been so irritated to have been originally placed in the middle seat of a 5 seat middle row in the middle of the plane (38E). so while some might think Y105 was a bit much, it was worth every penny for me. i just love my aisles. got through customs and security. was standing in line for immigration when this airport guard came walking very briskly towards me. and i noticed immediately he was carrying my bag of souvenirs. OMG. i have no idea how i did that - must have managed to leave it at security somehow. i would have been devastated if i lost all of my souvenirs. so so so grateful! he must have followed me for quite a while. positive thoughts!!! after immigration, wandered narita a bit more and spent the rest of my yen change. finally boarded the plane to my nice large aisle seat.

sayonara japan. and, i should add, arigato. for everything.

until next time..

if you want to blend in in japan...

last full day in tokyo! craziness. i will miss japan a lot. but i know i will most definitely be back one day. plus i know what's ahead when i return to seattle.. including finding a new job (ugh) and planning rock boat (yay). and spending some time with G before he leaves for tahiti (jealous!) as i will miss him dearly. trying not to think about it.. anyway! got a decently early start and headed first to yasukuni-jinja, aka 'the shrine for establishing peace in the empire'. which, as you can probably tell by the title, is the most controversial shrine b/c it's dedicated to those who lost their lives in all of japan's wars since 1853. not too bad - except that it also includes war criminals. oops. we got there just as vendors were opening up and quickly noticed this massive group of people - all in business suits, except for the ladies in kimonos and really elaborate obis. not sure who they were or what they were there for, but it reiterated a point: if you want to blend in in japan, wear a black suit and carry a black briefcase. check.

next up was the yasukuni-jinja yushukan, the museum on the grounds. for a steep price of Y800 we got to go through how the japanese explain history. and at times it varied greatly from how i remember learning it. still it was interesting. the parts that stuck with me were the explanation of iwo jima (not that japan lost, but how much damage japan managed to inflict upon the us marine corps), the letter to FDR (from a japanese admiral warning FDR to never forget that woodrow wilson failed in the league of nations), and the explanations of how japan was only trying to keep peace in asia and retain its traditions (not that they were trying to enslave the koreans and chinese, but only trying to make them nations independent from western imperialism).

a bit brain fried after all that reading so headed to kitanomaru-koen, a nearby park. didn't see any martial arts at nihon budokan, but oh well. passed the museum of science (closed) and the imperial palace east garden (closed, of course). positive thoughts.. decided to head to shibuya to try to find a restaurant with cheap sushi recommended by LP. and then the positive thoughts went out the window. first of all - the masses of people. it finally wore me out and i couldn't take it. next was whitney's houtson's version of "i will always love you" being blasted on loud speakers in a loop format over and over throughout the entire shibuya area. gag me. finally, despite seemingly easy directions to the restaurant, we could not find the stupid building called seibo-A. asked several people and kept getting pointed in different directions.

i had a mini break down.

so i sat on a curb, gave jos the map, and pouted. fortunately jos stepped up and found us another sushi restaurant. it was delicious - had a tuna roll, salmon twice, shrimp, and white fin from flat fish (whatever that was). with food in my belly, i was happy again.

headed back towards the harajuku area to try to see some harajuku girls (for photo op) but were unsuccessful. found our way to kiddyland area to try to find a dumpling place but really weren't hungry so decided to wander a bit more and go to tokyo tower. again, another tourist trap, but sometimes i like tourist traps.

it was nice to see it at night, as it was quite pretty all lit up. paid Y800 to go to the main observation deck and opted not to pay an additional Y600 to go to the 'special' deck, which was 100m more up.

back out on the street, nabbed a photo with one of the nippon brothers (not sure if it was the younger or older one). finally back to the hostel for our final night stay in japan. sad!

ippan sanga

despite a lot of things being closed in tokyo while we were there (the museums, the famed tsukiji fish market), i cannot regret going over the new year holiday. reason? in addition to the rituals of the first shrine visits, we also got to experience another very rare event. and the liklihood of me returning over the new year again is not super high. so i'm really thrilled that jos and i got to partake in ippan sanga.. i will explain.

ippan sanga is perhaps best described like this:

"Tokyo has danced all night long, the New Year is greeted with great passion. The Japanese have celebrated the last night of the year and are enjoying the charm of the fresh new day of the brand new year. The 1st date of the year bringing all the happiness to the people of Tokyo is followed by the first major festival of the year, the Ippan Sanga. Ippan Sanga is the day, when His highness, the Emperor of Japan and the Imperial Family meets the general public and exchange greetings and wishes. This even takes place in the grounds of the Imperial Palace in central Tokyo."

excerpt from here.

2 january is one of the only two days out of the year that the public is allowed to enter the grounds of the imperial palace and greet the royal family (the other being 23 december, the emperor's birthday). all we knew before going was that the gates opened at 9:00 and closed at 15:00. our kabuki expert told us we should arrive between 9:30 and 14:10, so, wanting to get an early start to "beat the crowds", we planned to arrive around 9:00. well, it seems like off of japan had the same idea. are you noticing the ever-present theme of crowds that seem to be so highly correlated with anything involving the new year? the lines were already down city streets. every time we've seen a long line, i thought it couldn't get any worse. well, it can. there were a few different entrances to the palace, so after a quick ATM raid, we found one and joined the masses, which i might add were highly organized. while entering, volunteers were handing out japanese paper flags. i initially wasn't going to take one, so as to not waste it, but after the experience it has become a great souvenir.

after a thorough security pat down and inspection (at least for me - jos whizzed right through. clearly i look like a terrorist.), we were corralled into giant sections that were allowed to enter the palace grounds in turn. surprisingly, we actually didn't wait as long as i thought we would, all things considered. eventually we shuffled along like cattle into the grounds which were quite lovely, though i had a hard time taking my eyes off the shear volume of people. i got a few flip videos of the walk - hoping to do some justice to what we were seeing. as we got closer to the actual palace, people began to hasten their pace and push and shove their way towards the front to get a better view. some of those japanese people are tiny, but they are mighty! we waited for a little while, then all of a sudden 1000s os flags rose into the air and started waving feverishly. the emperor was here! we joined in the flag waving, and despite being pushed in every which direction and nearly getting conked on the head on several occasions, it was an incredible once-in-a-lifetime experience.

back outside the imperial grounds, regrouped while sitting around a fountain and decided to head to ginza to see if we could get our kabuki tickets. on the way, strolled down chuo-dori, aka "5th avenue", with all the fancy shops i couldn't afford. or could, but choose not to =) went into the sony building for a bit and saw the most clear picture TVs i've ever seen. as well as a little robot speaker thing that danced to michael jackson. it even stayed on beat. found the famed kabuki-za. it was such an exquisite and historical building - i cannot believe that after april of this year it will no longer be in existence, succumbing to the ever present wrecking ball. plans are to rebuild it, but it will never be quite the same.

waited in line for about an hour before the box office opened to standing room only tickets. Y1100, not too shabby. headed up several flights of stairs to the top of the theatre. they said no pictures, and i listened, but it was beautiful inside. jos got the english translator, which she said helped. i opted out as just wanted to absorb the music, the costumes and the stage movements. didn't get a lot of the dialogue of course, but got the gist of the story. unfortunately i had to leave about halfway through. i could feel my blood pressure plummeting and thought i would faint. so went to the bathroom to splash water on my face and drink some fluids. then sat on a couch with my feet elevated. it helped. though it reminded me of when i was having similar blood pressure issues last summer, which reminded me of spending time with a certain person, which brought all the painful memories flooding back again. staying positive. staying positive..

managed to catch the end of the play, and by this time it was nearly 15:00 and we hadn't eaten yet. found our way into a mall that had restaurants in the basement level. meal wasn't great, as it consisted of raw egg atop undercooked chicken. ate what i could and moved on. we decided to head back to the asakusa area, where we were able to enter the senoji temple, the oldest in tokyo, and see the kaminarimon gate, its famous landmark. sensoji temple supposedly enshrines a golden image of kannon (known to the english speaking world as the goddess of mercy), and the incense smoke is said to bestow health on those who touch it. after being herded along with the crowds, managed to throw in my Y5 for luck, clapped and prayed and bowed, hoping that kannon would have some mercy on me this year.

from there headed to the edo-shitamachi tradition museum. got a bit lost along the way thanks to some contradicting maps and a shop girl who said "yes" to everything i asked. the museum itself was largely unimpressive, though did have some nice pieces of traditional arts and crafts and - most importantly - was free. it probably would have been better in the daytime, as per LP artisans demonstrate their various trades. headed back to the temple to browse the shops of nakamise. good thing i did as i found the short strand buddha beads i'd long been searching for. quick stop at the family mart again to pick up breakfast goods, and then it was back to the hostel for an early night. can't believe we only have one more day here.

tokyo is a big city to walk around

so i've decided that my new year's resolution for 2010 (boy it feels good to write 2010) is that i will strive to be more positive, in all aspects of my life. every year i make meaningful resolutions that will truly impact me and the direction my life is going. last year was the first time i failed at my resolution (which was to be more assertive and take more initiative in my own life). big fail. still not entirely over it, actually. moving on.. i'm usually a pretty happy-go-lucky kinda gal, but some big bad negativity has taken over and it's brought me down. way down. i know it will be a struggle, but i really need change in my life - and i'm a firm believer in the power of positive thinking anyway. so what better time than the new year to truly turn over a new leaf. so, here's to positivity! =)

anyway, back to japan. the only downside of our hostel is that you can only shower between certain hours, and i almost slept through that time frame thanks to being up so late for new year's eve. whoops. made it just in time. jos and i decided to head to a coffee shop to grab breakfast and discuss our plans for the day. we agreed to head over to ueno park area - which is chock full of museums and even a zoo. it actually has the highest concentration of museums anywhere in japan. unfortunately, due to the new year holiday, all the museums were closed. since we knew this ahead of time, we weren't entirely disappointed. headed to toshogu shrine, known for it's bronze lanterns and dedicated to the guy (tokugawa ieyasu) who's credited with unifying japan. walked around the entire perimeter of the park. saw the most adorable old man half-walking half-jogging, who said hi and waved to everyone he passed. what a face! he had such a twinkle in his eye. i would have loved to have photographed him. i love old people..

along the outside of the park we passed by benzaiten temple, gokojuin temple and kaneiji temple and its cemeteries. back in the park came across a central fountain where we saw what appeared to be a soup kitchen. there were quite a few homeless-y looking people around, which was pretty oddly countered by the loads of families we saw picnicking just a few meters away. walking a bit more came across the statue of saigo takamori, the samurai who disemboweled himself as a sign of protest. intriguing.

headed south to ameyoko, a back street that was once a famed black-market district. we were looking for a shrine, but entirely missed the street we were supposed to turn on, so kept heading down towards akinhabara, or "electric town". we weren't entirely sure if the "town" was a specific building, or an area, or what. wandered in and out of several electronic shops. prices weren't great, so mainly just browsed. saw some funny anime things, including the famed 'maids'. headed back towards the shrine, but never made it there. not because we couldn't find it or missed a turn again. but yushima temmangu shrine was so mobbed, we couldn't even get close. and i thought the line last night was bad. this one stretched - literally - around SEVERAL city blocks. i've never seen anything remotely close to that before. i guess no praying to the god of learning for us!

headed over to the asakusa area, center of kabuki theatre, but the walk ended up being longer than we expected. it was evening by the time we got there, and i think we'd agree we were both tired and cranky. after a bit of bad luck navigating our way to the information center, finally found it, and finally our luck changed. it turns out that we were going to get to see a show after all! met the cutest japanese man, who spoke incredibly good english, and was a self proclaimed kabuki expert. we had come to the right place! we should consider ourselves very lucky to find such an expert of kabuki! adorable. if you have a chance to go to this info center, i highly recommend it. they were most helpful. our kabuki expert gave us the times and the insider info as to when to get in line and which show to see. he suggested kanjincho, as it was the most dramatic and would be easier for us to understand. thanks kabuki expert!

as it was already evening, didn't really seem like we'd have time to really enjoy all that asakusa had to offer, so agreed to come back another day. decided on the water cruise, which during the day would probably not be the most scenic thing in the world, but at night all the bridges and buildings were lit up and quite pretty. we got tickets for the 17:20 departure, but since the 17:10 was running late - we made that one. it was supposed to take a leisurely 40mins, but i guess they tried to make up time, and we made it to hinode pier in a quick 25. oh well. made the trek over to hamamatsucho JR station, and with a couple of transfers were back at our hostel. most restaurants were closed by this point, so we headed to the ubiquitous family mart to pick up some breakfast goods. on our way there, stumbled upon an italian restaurant that was almost too cheap to be real. went all out - ordered a salad, a personal pizza and wine - all for Y800. craziness. my red wine was cold. but i'll drink any wine for a dollar.

back at the hostel had planned for an early night (trying to catch up on some sleep) but got into a really interesting conversation with a girl named ginessa from nyc. she originally was asking us about nara - as she and her travel partner were headed that way soon. but it evolved into how she worked for the museum of natural history (one of the best museums i've ever been in) and how she goes on archeological digs! like for real! i for one thought it was fascinating, as i've always wanted to go on a dig. maybe one day..

new year, new me

i've never been more excited for a new year in my life. 2009 was just plain awful, and while i'm not naive enough to think that once the clock strikes midnight, all will magically be better. i know it won't be that easy, but i can't help but be hopeful. before we get to that, must finish our time in kyoto.

we got an early start, since we wanted to hit up one more "must see" in kyoto before the train to tokyo. checked out of our guesthouse, dropped off our bags in a locker in the train station, and caught a bus to kiyomizu-dera temple, one off the city's most famous landmarks. to enter, you have to walk up a sloping and pretty steep road named chawan-zaka, or tea pot lane. cute. it was lined with shops, most of which were just opening their doors for the day. headed into the temple grounds and saw the famed building from several angles. made our way to the otowa-no-taki waterfall, where i stood in line with my buddha cup and drank from the sacred waters which supposedly have healing powers. how i could use some of that!

we were on our way out but decided to turn around to pay a visit to jishu-jinja shrine, which is on the temple grounds. this definitely left us with some funny memories. posed with japan's version of cupid, rubbed some deities for luck, and tried to walk between the "love stones", which are 2 stones spaced 18m apart. the trick is you have to do it with your eyes closed - if you're successful, you wish for love will be granted; if you fail, well, then.. sucks for you. ha. what made it even more challenging was the fact that there were lots of people walking around the shrine, and nearly walking into you. also, the japanese language coming at you from all angles is also really distracting. i tried first and nearly took out an entire family in the process. i was about 2 feet off. no love for me! haha. that's okay, not my wish for 2010. all i want is peace of mind =) jos tried next, and was successful: she waited until there was a decent clearing of the crowds as well as walked fast with big steps. clearly a better strategy.

back to the train station, got a mr. donut (green tea flavored for me) and our bags, then boarded our train to tokyo. it was not nearly as nice as the previous trains we've taken even though it was the same class. maybe it was because of the holiday and they needed to add more (old) cars. it was really crowded, and the train itself was pretty bumpy. this was unfortunate since it was the longest ride we were taking, but we still got some amazing views of mt. fuji, which was 100% worth the trip. so glad it was a relatively clear day (except for the one cloud right over fuji ha).

the second we stepped off the train in tokyo, you could feel an immediate difference. so much more crowed. so much more diversity. so much more cosmopolitan. ah, city life. caught another local train to our hostel (tokyo international youth hostel) which was literally over the subway and train station. super convenient. and secure - it literally was a government owned building with private security. which also meant that it had a curfew of 11pm - even on new years eve. so our options were to stay out all night, or to go out with the hostel group on a shrine walk. since there wasn't a central gathering place or "times square" of tokyo, we decided it would be just as interesting to do the countdown with our hostel followed by the shrine walk, something we wouldn't get to experience ever again.

wanted to get the most out of the last day of our JR pass, so headed over to the harajuku area to do some wandering and people watching. found a trendy restaurant and grabbed a bite (literally - the portions were so small) to eat, then wandered and got a crepe to fill up our empty tummies. apparently it's the thing to get here - there are crepe stands everywhere! wandered over to the meiji jingu shrine, which was just massive. the shrine was completely decked out for the festivities with vendor booths, barricades, a enormous tv screen and lots of police and monks scurrying around making last minute preparations. and it's needed: 3 million people visit this shrine for the hatsumonde (first shrine visit) during the first three days of the new year. glad we went now! wandered next up and down omote-sando with all the designer stores, though didn't do any shopping there.

back to the hostel to relax a bit before our evening activities. already exhausted, so glad we didn't opt to stay out all night. the countdown was kinda lame but that was fine with me. we all gathered with our enthusiastic hostel workers, drank some sweet sake (or actually whatever sake is before it's refined), and prepared to toast the new year. i said my little prayer for 2010 and hoped for the best..

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

cheered and toasted and hugged and kissed and genuinely welcomed 2010. thought of G and hoped he was having a good celebration back in seattle. next the hostel handed out blue name tags so security could identify us when we came back after the shrine visit. and they weren't joking about the security: we were literally escorted through the bowels of the building by a guard. it felt a bit "mission impossible meets school class trip". headed to the shrine and chatted with several of our newly made friends, of which freddy was by far our favorite. he also served as our entertainment as we waited for 2 hours (yes, 2 hours!) to enter the shrine. i can't really describe him in words and really wish i had had a video. some of my favorite freddy quotes:

--do you love japan? i love ny! do you love ny? i LOVE ny!

--have you ever met barack? why not?! he seem very approachable. you should meet him.

--do i look like a japanese?

--where the firework?! where the firecracker?! where the firework?! where the firecracker?!

oh, freddy. thank you for providing us with some fond memories.

anyway, waited in line for 2hrs in the freezing cold. but at least jos and i were prepared; some of the girls just wore kimonos, and since they weren't "real" they were pretty thin and flimsy. i'm not sure how they didn't get frostbite, but i guess the sake helped. i've never seen such sheer numbers of people and the line seemed never ending. by the time we left around 2:30 it actually seemed longer than when we were in it, formed by all ages and walks of life. my favorite was this little old bent over lady walking with her cane to join the line at nearly 3am.

while waiting in line we managed to memorize the sequence of movements to perform while at the shrine. first up: hand cleansing at the temizuya fountain. the water was freezing! but fortunately a dedicated shrine worker was standing ready to hand us a towel to quickly dry our hands. next, throw in your money! the offering is usually Y5, which to me sounds like an obscenely small amount when we're talking about wishes, but i guess any more and your wish will come true - but much later than if you give less. works for me. next it was bow. then bow again. then clap. then clap again. then pray - and i did. i gave thanks for 2009 and the lessons it taught me, so as to not leave it on a bad note. then i prayed for peace of mind in the new year. and i truly meant it from the heart. finally, one last bow.

milled around the shrine grounds for a bit to soak up the scene while waiting for our group to all get through. then it was pretty much a run back to the hostel, and after a brief hang up of being locked out, our leader found a way in and the guard, and to bed we went. happy new year, and may it be a good one.

i never expected a photo shoot

yes indeed, this evening needs its own entry b/c what an evening it was! other "put on a kimono" options we looked at were pretty pricey, so we did decided to go with what our guesthouse offered. and it was worth every penny.

met at the reception at 7pm as planned and were escorted down the lane to another building owned by our guesthouse. 3 people (the guesthouse owner and 2 assistants - all while wearing kimonos themselves) were needed to dress us. they pulled out a binder for us to browse and pick out what color and pattern kimono we would like. there were hundreds of options. i didn't particularly care which i choose, but settled on one with some red in it b/c that's usually flattering on me. i'll do my best to describe the process of putting on a kimono, should you never have the chance to experience it yourself. it took over 30 mins to get me into one, so it was really quite the process. and thanks to jos, there's some wonderful photographic documentation.

i picked the color and pattern i liked and the ladies promptly started digging through the closet to find it, as well as all the coordinating pieces. and there were a lot of pieces:

after ditching my sweater and jeans, we could begin. first up, a white under robe (nagajuban) with a stiff collar in blue, made to compliment the kimono itself:

the owner started wrapping several rope things around my waist to ensure that the collar and robe stayed perfectly in place:

next was the kimono itself:

followed by more ropes, more pulling and more tugging to hold everything in place:

the obi, probably the prettiest piece with a beautiful brocade, was next:

but before they started wrapping it all around me, this cummberbund like thing (obi-ta) was placed around my waist. it had a pillow thing (obimakura) on the back which helps to keep the obi strait and unwrinkled. and holy cow they pull tight:

the owner continued to wrap the obi around me, and added more and more sashes (obiage) for both placement and decoration:

and more tight rope, thank goodness i don't have to wear this daily:

final look to make sure everything is in place:

and that the obi is perfect:

oh, and can't forget the toe socks (tabi) and funky wooden platform sandals (geta):

done!

soooo, after that (see what i mean, a process!) it was jos's turn. and while she was being poked and prodded, one of the assistants was playing with my hair to try to put it up in a bun. unfortunately for her my hair is super fine and slippery, so it didn't to cooperate that nicely. oh well.

we next went behind a pocket door into another room for our tea ceremony. we kneeled on woven floor mats and watched as the owner performed the various rituals while preparing the powdered green tea (matcha). while she was doingthat, one of the assistants was explaining what she was doing and the meaning behind it all. we ate our sweets and then were presented with the tea. struggled through an exchange of japanese pleasantries, and then it was our turn to try preparing the tea. i went first, and tried my best to do what the owner had done - but it's pretty complicated so of course didn't get it totally right. jos went next and was actually able to stir the tea into its frothy goodness (i was not - it was hard!), and that brought the ceremony to a close. pretty neat experience.

but the night was not yet over! just when we thought we were done, the owner and assistants swept us outside and so began the modeling session and full on photo shoot. they had us pose with various objects like umbrellas and a tsukubai fountain in various buildings and even in the street. it was hilarious. my cheeks were hurting from smiling and laughing so much. and it struck me - i hadn't laughed and smiled that much in a while. and i had forgotten how good it felt. enjoy the results:

what a day, huh?