Let's Explore Tokyo!

Side Hall at the temple we were at

Surprisingly, it was our first day in Tokyo and our trip to Daiba that was the nerdiest trip we had and not the one to Akihabara. But before we got there we decided to head to Tokyo Tower, even though it was quite cold and rainy. We let one of our friends lead the way and she took us by an old Tokugawa Buddhist temple that had been converted from a Shinto shrine (like so many were during the Tokugawa reign). You might be wondering how I know, and there were actually a few hints to let you know. If you wash your hands before you enter the temple, it was most likely a shrine before hand. I knew the date of the temple and who built it by the crest on the very top entrance. I did not take a clear picture, but fairly often you can find a crest along one of the posts or above the entrance, which will let you know what family sponsored it.

Main Hall and Tokyo Tower

The main hall was huge, but when most knew we were exactly where we needed to be by the looming modern buildings behind it. And by modern buildings I mostly mean Tokyo Tower. We didn't stay too long at the temple mostly because there was a ceremony going on and we didn't want to be too much of a bother to those who were participating in it (I seriously walk into almost every ceremony in Japan, it's strange). So we headed off to Tokyo Tower fairly quickly. It isn't too far of a walk from where we were at, and because of the rain the streets weren't terribly crowded either. Unfortunately, because of the weather, we also could not see much from the observation deck either (on a clear day you can see Mt Fuji). It was really weird seeing almost everything under fog, especially in Tokyo. All of the larger skyscrapers, even from the second first observation deck, were pretty small. Riding the elevators up are an adventure as well, because they add in a light show and a Disney-esque announcer. As interesting as an experience as that was, our real aim that day was to make it to the life-size Gundam model, and though it took us awhile, we were able to find it. But first we had to have some childhood memories brought up.

Hey Digimon Hey Digimon!

Daiba: one of the key locations for Digimon throughout its seasons. Me and another friend are big fans of it, so we had a ball pointing out all the different locations. Actually it was kind of scary, being able to find so many of them. But that had largely to do with the skill of the animation team to reproduce the island so faithfully. Even with modernization and the new monorail, the locations were still really obvious. It was probably pretty amusing for the other fairly regular residents and even the tourists there for the Gundam and voice actress group, to see us running around so excited to see all the different sites.

Based on the original Gundam.

The island, as tiny as it was, made it surprisingly difficult to find the giant robot that we wanted. You would think that it would be pretty easy to find, all things considered, but it wasn't until we did some further on the fly google searching and navigating that we were able to get there. When you get there...its really obvious. Even more so considering its in the middle of a major shopping area. It was even more exciting than usual to be there as they were holding their Christmas extravaganza show. We waited until about six o'clock for it to start, and it was worth it getting to see the Gundam move, the Christmas edition of the video and feeling everyone get just as excited as I was about it.

Regardless if you follow the series or not, much like Evangelion, is really popular in Japan and almost everyone knows it to some extent. At the very least, they're able to recognize it and how awesome having a semi-working giant robot is. Because it was getting late and we were getting tired, we headed back not too long after seeing the show. Next time will be day three of our trip when we went to Akihabara and (briefly) Harajuku.

~Zenko~

To the Northern Capital!

At the beginning of December my group of friends and I decided to go to Tokyo before most of them left for home, only three of us being extension students. So of course, we had to go there in a way that was unique to Japan: the shinkansen (aka bullet train). We took the slowest of the three that there are, heading out on the Kodomo line, which was also the cheapest option, Shinkansen tickets being quite expensive. It's a pretty nice train ride even on the slowest (meaning, mostly, that it stops at every station between Kyoto and Tokyo).

Basically, I ate this.

I noticed in most of my independent travel on trains, that each Shinkansen station, especially on the Todaiji Line, has a bento stand nearby, so that you can grab a lunch or dinner before your long trip. Because I was not feeling, I bought one of the cheaper ones. It had a little octopus in, that was a little fun to eat because it looked like a lot of pretty stereotypical octopii you see in anime. When I reread the label I learned that it was actually composed of dishes that "Go Great with Beer!" which basically means it was full of starch and spice, and was alright with my stomach.
Also a little disheartening was the fact that because we traveled at night, we did not get to see Mt. Fuji at all. I was hoping on a second trip out during the day to see it, but unfortunately because it was the holidays and no express trains were running I only made it about twelve or sixteen stations after Nagoya on my way to Yokohama and had to turn back, otherwise I would never have made it home it time. I might talk about these variety of trips another time, but the point is I still have not made it to see Mt. Fuji.
When we did make it to Tokyo, we braced ourselves for the massive amounts of people, as just pulling into the station we were baffled by how many buildings there were and how tall they were. Compared to the smaller department stores and offices we were used to in Hirakata, Kyoto, and Osaka, these were massive. When we got off the train we were not surprised, and when we made it out of the gates to the Shinkansen, we were left a little baffled as to how to get to the train we needed for Ikebukuro. In fact, just getting out of the gates proved a problem, and met us with our first surprise in Tokyo: someone giving us directions in English. Usually we ask in Japanese, or are told something in Japanese and go right along with the directions we were given. This was a bit new though, and somewhat surprising even though we were used to speaking English with each other. Once we did make it out of the gates, our friend, in the middle of her panic attack from the crowds, managed to get us on the right platform and off we went to Ikebukuro!
Rather than stay at a hotel, which can get to be pretty expensive, we stayed at a ryokan, or traditional Japanese hotel. It was significantly cheaper, but also probably significantly colder, the heater not doing too much at times. This is largely because Japanese buildings are built to let in the cool breezes in summer, but in winter that makes things a little difficult. Trains have the same weird problem, but that mostly has to do with whether the train's heat is on or not, and if it is, it is pretty minimal. The trains in Tokyo though, were also pretty odd for us to take, even though we stayed on the loop line. When we got on, despite it being rush hour and the train being packed to the brim (and I mean the brim), I noticed that they had two televisions mounted above the doors. One flashed travel info and stations, as well as estimated times, in English and Japanese. The other was there...just to advertise and offer trivia questions. It turns out this is a pretty common thing on more frequented JR lines, but I was still surprised.
When we finally made it to Ikebukuro, we followed the instructions that had been emailed to me, and made out way past karaoke bars we had never heard of, and of course some familiar faces as well, the first one greeting us right off the bat was Colonel Sanders! We were glad to see they had no shortage of 7-11's or Family Mart's either, and in a sketchy back ally we had even found a Lawson Mart (it was sketchy because it was such an old part of Ikebukuro, we couldn't find our ryokan, and it was rainy and dark). After we came around a different corner and passed a couple more hotels, we found our ryokan relaxing in a pretty subtle middle of the alley location. Despite this it's still a pretty nice ryokan for what your paying, so should you ever be in Tokyo I definitely recommend staying at Kimi Ryokan. They don't do meals like super traditional ryokan, but they do have Japanese style rooms, which is nice (though I'm pretty used to it, as that's how the Seminar House rooms are set up).
Because we did so many things in Tokyo, I'll have to spread it out through several posts, but even the first night was quite an adventure!
~Zenko~

Akemashite Omedetou Gozaimasu!

Akemashite omedetou gozaimasu! This is the New Year's greeting you give when January 1st has officially arrived. Before that there's a standard Happy New Year's greeting for December. On December 31st, the only Japanese student in our dorm prepared us the traditional soba for the new year.You eat these buckwheat noodles with tempura shrimp, chopped scallion, thinly sliced fish sausage and hard boiled egg (I skipped out on the egg). The length of the noodle is supposed to, just like on Chinese New Year, represent a desire for longevity.  On New Year's day he also made us two styles of zoni, which is a soup that has mochi (rice cakes similar in consistency to marshmallow) in it. There's a bit of caution that you need when eating it, actually, as many elderly and children choke on it every year (as of 12-1, the casualty rate was at 7 injuries, 1 death). The way you prepare it is different among the prefectures, and I ate a style meant for adults from the Mie prefecture and one meant for kids. The one for adults is essentially miso soup, but with the mochi instead of tofu and with spinach added. The kids one was surprisingly chicken soup with mochi.
Another big tradition to do on New Year's day is to go to your local shrine (or any shrine really, I guess) and pray for good fortune throughout the year. At the bigger shrines they served food off to the side to warm you up after the long wait to pray, and offer up fortune telling for the year. We went to the local shinto shrine in our neighborhood, even though we weren't really sure what kami (god) is enshrined there. I once asked a teacher, the head of the study abroad office here, actually, and he said he had no idea.
The New Year's decorations went up a little after Christmas, and traditionally when the New Year's holidays are over on January 6th, you take them to a shrine to get burned and purified as they take in all your bad luck. One decoration is two stacked mochi with a mikan (mandarin orange/clementine) on top. The second is a wreath made out of straw with sacred paper chains tied on and topped by, you guessed it, another mikan. Depending on the zodiac year that's being entered, there is also a slight variation in them, as this year was year of the snake, some had a snake on them as well.
It's also customary to send out New Year's greetings cards, which I'll be doing late to people in America. When I went to a stationary store it was actually really intimidating trying to pick one. It was also somewhat surprising to see that, yes, Hallmark is even in on the greeting card business in Japan. I think the one card I wanted and decided against was too big for the envelope and I couldn't understand how to fold it into the envelope. There are all different types, as well. The more expensive cards you had to take to the counter and were about 8 dollars for one. There are envelope cards meant to be mailed as letters, and postcard ones that you write your greeting on the front of. There were stickers featuring snakes to decorate your cards with as well as seal your envelope, and stamps of all sorts (even Pokemon) to help bring in the new year. The only thing I got stuck on was how you were meant to get that ink color that they displayed as a sample. New Year's money is also customary, where relatives give you a little bit of money for hopes in the New Year and as a gift for making it through the last year into another one.
When I read the newspaper for the first day of the new year, I was also surprised to see an article on the specific types of sake for every occasion, and stating that while drinking on New Years is not customary, there is a specific type that should be consumed.
I hope everyone had a happy New Year, and wish you luck in 2013!
~Zenko~