Oh no, there goes Tokyo…
Some people say to skip Tokyo, that if you’ve seen one big city, you’ve seen them all. Maybe it is because we both love cities, but Tokyo was one of our favorite spots in Japan. It is a big city, sure, but it is also uniquely Japanese. If you break Tokyo down by neighborhoods, it becomes more manageable. Each neighborhood has something fun to offer. In addition to exploring Ueno, here are some of the other neighborhoods we visited:
Harajuku
We hear that Harajuku is where all of Tokyo’s young people like to hang out.
Perhaps it was because we were there during a Halloween parade, but Tokyo families (and their cats) seem to like the area as well, especially trendy tree-lined Omotesando Dori street.
The largest stroller collection I have ever seen outside of a Babies'r'Us; stroller parking for the Halloween parade
On Sundays, Japanese teenagers dressed up in cosplay can be found hanging out on the Jingku bridge, checking out each other’s costumes and posing for group pictures on each other’s cell phones. At first I had no qualms photographing the cosplayers, especially since they were in public and I had heard that they enjoyed putting on a show for the public.
But when a gaggle of tourists began swarming them, sticking zoom camera lens in their faces, I retreated, lest I become part of the spectacle and intrusion.
Stalk much?
Plus there was no shortage of people to photograph. The day we visited Harajuku, everyone was in costume, not just the cosplay kids.
Ginza
Ginza, one of the more famous Tokyo neighborhoods, is one of the really upscale shopping neighborhoods where the Japanese fulfill their desires for high end Western and Japanese brands. On Sunday afternoons, Ginza Street turns into a pedestrian only strolling lane. Ginza is where I attempted to indulge in some Pierre Marcolini, but failed. I had to settle for the Japanese chocolate brand Mejii’s 100% Chocolate Café, which, sadly, despite its devotion to chocolate, just wasn’t the same. For his part, Sean got his kicks at a 5 story Apple store.
Sunday on Ginza Street
Even though the chocolate desserts weren't up to snuff, they get extra credit for having a chocolate bar ceiling.
Not the reason Sean enjoyed his visit to the Apple store...or was it?
Two of the five stories of Apple craziness
Akihabara
Much to Sean’s delight, we were staying within walking distance to Tokyo’s famous electronics district, where building after building houses bright, beeping electronics stores with all of the latest gadgets. While Sean browsed the electronics during our multiple visits, I amused myself by taking pictures of a computer dork in his natural habitat. I am such a nice wife.
Rainy night in Akihabara
Electronics (and the geeks who love them) as far as the eye can see.
There's one, right in his natural habitat.
Shinjuku
Lots of big buildings. That’s all I have to say about that.
Shibuya
Shibuya is home to guess what, more shopping, and the famous 4 way intersection, supposedly the busiest in the world. Again, Tokyo came through for Sean: there is a Starbucks above the intersections, with big windows to watch the action.
Tsujuki
We went to Tsujuki for the same reason as everyone else: to visit the world-famous fish market. In addition to eating super fresh sushi, we toured the market. There are rumors they might close the market off the tourists; already, they’ve imposed some timing restrictions. I could see why. Despite our best efforts, we felt like we were in the way the whole time, but I’m glad we got to see it before it is off limits completely.
Sorry, Karen, and other vegetarian friends.
The obligatory octopus picture.
That's a big tuna.
Saturday in the Park
Saturday in the park/I think it was the Fourth of July/Saturday in the park/I think it was the Fourth of July/People dancing, people laughing/A man selling ice cream/Singing Italian songs/Eicay vare, eise narde/Can you dig it (yes, I can)/And I’ve been waiting such a long time/For Saturday
– Saturday in the Park, Chicago
On a sunny autumn Saturday in Tokyo, we wandered our way through Ueno Park. We weren’t expecting to be entertained any more than our usual casual people watching, but it turns out there is a sideshow to just strolling through urban green space.
Every time we turned the corner, we came across a crowd watching someone perform. Like this flamboyant yo-yo performer, dazzling the crowd with his high-energy yo-yoing:
Or this hunchbacked geisha, grinning and smiling for photos:
Or an acrobat, climbing higher and higher on a stack of chairs:
This three were just a sampling of the many street performers we saw that day. The one that really took the cake, though, was this guy. I really don’t know if I have the words to convey how utterly strange this performance was. Perhaps I need my art spoon fed to me, but I just didn’t get it. And judging by the faces of the others in the crowd, either did anyone else. In an attempt to convey the bizarreness, I will show you a series of pictures of his performance. It is one of the few times I wish I had a video camera. If you’d really like to experience the bizarreness, you will need to pretend that dramatic songs such as Ave Maria and How a Man Loves a Woman are playing in the background. And no I am not kidding.
Injecting confetti into a giant balloon:
Injecting himself into the giant balloon:
Walking over to bystanders while inside the giant balloon. Note the man shielding his daughter’s eyes from this hot mess.
Trying to give his heart away:
Breaking his heart and bouncing around in a mad state, still inside giant balloon:
Busting out of giant balloon:
Completely losing it now:
Bursting giant balloon in a cloud of confetti:
Blowing up a dog balloon:
And, my personal favorite, laying on ground with dog balloon, scooping up confetti with a dust pan, and throwing it on himself.
Say it all together now: How Bizarre!
The Precipice of Koyo
Like watching cherry blossoms in the spring, viewing koyo – autumn foliage – is a national pastime in Japan in the fall. The weather person reports on the best koyo, and websites track the progress all over the country. Without going way north, we were there just a tad too early (the last week of September through the third week in October). The weather grew from warm to cool while we were there, and everything felt like it was on the verge of turning to full blown fall, but the elusive koyo failed to materialize. Meanwhile, all around us were advertisements for the best koyo spots, showing the landscapes ablaze in firey reds and oranges. I kept my eye out wherever we went. We managed to spot a few places where the leaves had turned, but nothing like the posters.
In the mountains near Takayama
In the Japanese gardens, everything felt like it was on the precipice of fall, but not quite there yet.
It was comforting to be somewhere where the season aligned with the season at home. Not that I’d want to trade places on the basis of weather now!
Raise your paw high
Some places are dog places, other are cat places. Japan seemed to be a cat place. Cats popped up in the most unexpected places in Japan:
On the side of the river in Tokyo
High up in the hills at the Fushimi Inari Shrine in Kyoto
In the middle of volcanic steam on a mountain in Hakone
And, as you’ve already seen, but worthy of a repeat…
Dressed up for Halloween on a busy street in Tokyo
The Japanese believe that a cat with its paw raised high in the air brings them good fortune and money. All over Japan, we saw cats in front of stores with their paws moving up and down over and over.
Not buying one of these cats with mechanical paws is one of my few regrets of this trip.
As further evidence, I present to you this poster depicting a painting by a Japanese artist in Ueno Park:
And of course, there’s the whole Hello Kitty obsession.
Then again, maybe the Japanese are dog people after all.
Dog with a girly bow leash in Nikko
Dog walking on its hind legs down a street in Arashimya
Dogs in a stroller in Ueno Park who probably never have to walk themselves anywhere
Monkeys…in hot tubs!
Japanese people are not the only ones who love to take onsen. High in the mountains outside of Nagano, macque snow monkeys also love the hot healing waters. We took a day trip from Kamesei Ryokan in Chikuma City to visit Jigokudani Monkey Park to see this unusual behavior for ourselves.
We were warned over and over not too look the monkeys in the eyes, because they see eye contact as a form of aggression. Of course, the first thing Sean and I did when we unexpectedly encountered a monkey near the entrance was look it in the eye. It started coming towards us. I shrieked. Sean ran, leaving me in a standoff with the monkey. Glad to see I have a protector. I inched my way around the monkey, and we notified the guy at the entrance desk that the monkey seemed agitated. He came out in a hurry, but upon seeing a monkey just hanging out in the corner, he shooed it away and told us not to worry. Meanwhile, all of the Japanese visitors inside the building watched all of this play out through the glass and were getting a hearty chuckle over the silly scared Americans.
On the path down to the onsen, we muttered don’t look him in the eye, don’t look him in the eye every time we passed a monkey. Once we arrived to the onsen, we had to get over our fears of the monkeys quick, because they surrounded us on all sides, doing what monkeys do. Viewing these monkeys, I have no doubts about people’s scientific relationship to primates. Our friend Tony calls our cat a humanoid due to his tendency to act super fabulous and people-like. There is no other way to describe these monkeys except for little humanoids. They lounged, ate, swam, soaked, and cuddled just like humans.
We were a little disappointed, because the monkeys seemed to enjoy being in the onsen most when the park ranger enticed them in by throwing food. Perhaps it was because the weather wasn’t cold; I’ve heard the best time to view the monkeys is in the snowy winter months. Nevertheless, the monkeys were still fun to watch. And if I want to see what they are up to this winter, all I need to do is to check out the monkey’s webcam; live monkey action 24/7.
