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~

Tis' The Season

Wow. Finals. Those are over.
I thought I would write about what Christmas is like in Japan. Even though it's not really Christmas yet. Because Japan does not celebrate Thanksgiving, the countdown until the big day started right after Halloween. The decorations for winter started as well, as did the preorders for Christmas cakes. As of December 10th, they ended and preorders for Valentine's cake opened. Just from the pictures they looked pretty amazing, and from the prices you can tell they're super special cakes (you can spend about six dollars on a small piece of cake, and about fifty on fancier ones). Around Thanksgiving the stores started to play Christmas music. English Christmas music. And sometimes, Japanese versions of Christmas songs.
Christmas trees and Santa are the two biggest icons of Christmas here, and the Colonel Sanders that stand outside KFC's donned Santa suits sometime in October, reminding you to order your chicken for Christmas. KFC is the traditional Christmas dinner here (it's really expensive, and most Japanese think it's a Japanese company, someone getting the answer wrong on a quiz show once).
In the smaller towns like the one I'm staying in don't have too many lights up, but Kyoto and Osaka stations both have pretty big Christmas trees on display, and special light-up events are happening all across Japan in places like Kobe. Tokyo is where I saw Christmas the most though. Special events like "Sky Tree Christmas!" and Christmas parties were being advertised in English and Japanese everywhere. The strangest part was how much English there was in Tokyo, actually, but I'll talk about that in another post. Going out to Roppongi Hills (it's the Beverly Hills of Tokyo, and has a large concentration of foreigners), there were special Christmas shops set up with ornaments imported from Germany and Santa figures were in a lot of places.
The craziest Christmas display we got to see was in Odaiba next to the Gundam, where snow lights were shown and a special video with Gundam in Santa suits was displayed instead of the one traditionally on display (even a major space station in the series was shown as an upside down Christmas tree).
Essentially, in the bigger cities where there's a larger concentration of foreigners, Christmas seems to be pretty publicly celebrated. The consumerism is still there (oh boy, during a visit to Nipponbashi did we see that), but not so much the spirit. If Halloween was the biggest Halloween Japan has seen (it was publicly announced that way), then it'll be interesting to see how much Christmas expands. To be fair, though, it's in the middle of two weeks worth of holidays (birthdays, Christmas, New Years...), so it's not too surprising it gets a little mixed up in the commotion. To sum it all up, below is an advertisement for a convenience store chain's fried chicken (other chains are trying to compete with KFC these days it seems...).

This is very much Japanese Christmas in a nutshell.
Happy Holidays!
~Zenko~

Day by Day

Although I take if for granted usually, there are many things that are simply part of day to day life that are quite different than what I am used to in America. For instance...

Folding my bed everyday
Because I live in a traditional style room, the floor is tatami (bamboo) mat, and I sleep on a futon. In order to prevent mold and other icky things from growing, I have to fold up the main futon mat, the futon, the light futon, and (in the colder weather) a blanket. Although normally you would move these into your closet to make room for the day, my roommate and I mostly just move them off to the sides of room.

Speaking of preventing things from growing...
Although we have dryers for laundry, no one really uses them. Partially because they are the epitome of inefficient dryers, and partly (in the case of the Japanese) because of a strange superstition that they do not kill certain harmful bacteria. So instead you can tell when everyone does their laundry by whether or not it is hanging out to dry. Our balcony has a special double layered railing that extends so that we have more drying room. Somehow, though, I always manage to time doing my laundry to days it rains...

Cold Weather Blankets?
The reason why we need blankets is because Japanese homes are mostly designed to allow all the cool breezes of summer to get through. So there is no insulation and no central heating. Air conditioners for single rooms also act as heaters, so there's no problem there, but if you are out at a restaurant locally or smaller train stations, you can find heaters with teapots on top. Kotatsu are also popular, but those are for priavate homes so I have not seen any.

Convenient Convenience Stores
Convenience stores, even 7-11 are totally different compared to their American equivalents. With local food (like okonomiyaki) or sandwiches, and even grab and go warm drinks, they offer all sorts of crazy things if you need to grab lunch or dinner. Apart from this, stores like Lawson and Family Mart are partnered with Amazon so you can usually have your packages shipped there and even if you cannot you have the option to pay at them. Amazon receives the information through an order code you place into something similar to a credit card machine, and through an invoice the cashier processes when you pay. You can also pay your bills in general there.

Okonomiyaki?
Probably my favorite food and go to choice for dinner when I do not want to cook, okonomiyaki is egg, cabbage, and  some sort of meat that has been fried like a pancake. A sauce is put on top of it, as well as mayonaise and dried, aged fish flakes called bonito.

Trafffiiiiccc
Although there is as much traffic as any other road, there is another special kind of traffic: pedestrian and bicycle traffic. One of the most interesting sights to see is during bike rush hour, where you can see hoards of bikes cross the street or heading to the grocery store. The main bike model here, rather than the male-female designs in America are referred to as "old lady" bicycles because even old ladies can ride them with ease (and they do, since some have assist motors that work the more you pedal).

And really, cars?
Okay, so unless you are going someplace far out in the country that has no local train station, there is no where you can't get without a car. In fact, if I wanted to I could bike to Kyoto or Osaka along the river trail (I have not, because I have not had time and no one else owns a bike). Even if you cannot bike there, you can take the train and if that is not an option, you can take a bus. Trains are not really expensive, and are surprisingly nice and on time. The double decker trains are set a the same price, as tickets are based on location and only subways special express trains have a fare adjustment fee.

Election Day!

What is it like studying abroad during an election year? A little stressful and a little fun. Being fourteen hours ahead means that the polls were closing during lunchtime.  As the election is also one of the more important things to happen for Americans, the university I'm studying at streamed the live CNN coverage during the day. For those with few classes it became a hang out spot and stopping by between classes allowed me to get stressed and relieved in the span of an hour. Funnily enough the countdown I started the first time continued all the way to California closing.
So many professors checked in worrying about Romney that it almost got exhausting. In fact,  one of my professors left during class to go check the results and came back declaring Obama the winner.
The aftermath of the election was essentially everyone saying "thank you for electing someone that isn't Romney" including the Turkish guy serving us schwarma.

A Fox is a Fox, But Never Inari

Fushimi Inari is one of the most important and most famous shrines in Japan.  Incidentally,  it's also one of the few most foreigners know about. I think the usual way I've heard it referred to by foreigners is as "that shrine with all those torii". Even I did before I learned its proper name and if I were to describe it now ... I probably do so the same way!

A tunnel of torii.

But just why does it have so many? A big reason is that every year dozens of companies donate one, which means every year the number of torii increases.
So what? Doesn't every shrine receive donations?  Yes, but not to this degree. You have to understand who Inari is.

Inari's horse. You can also make monetary offerings.

About Inari
Inari is a war god, but primarily his (or her if you aren't Shinto) role is looking over rice. What does Japan thrive on? Take massive amounts of pride in? You guessed it, rice.  The shrine also has quite a reputation for the amount of foxes it has, but it's important to note that they are not Inari, but a fox couple that acts as his messengers,  especially during harvest season. Because Inari is a war deity as well, you can also pray to his (or her) horse. It's actually pretty interesting, and pretty fun to walk up to the main gates and see the horse waiting there with all these carrots in front of it. The one place you are forbidden from entering in the shrine area, however, is Mt. Inari where the deity is said to reside. Interestingly enough, Inari's full name is OInari-Okami, which suggestions a connection to wolves as well as a signifier of sacredness (Okami can be read as wolf and great god). As wolves were once thought to be alternate forms of foxes (foxes would often retreat into the mountains where wolves were plentiful), this is probably no coincidence.

About  Foxes
During the harvest, Japan most likely had a dense population of foxes. As such, they came to be associated with the harvest god. But hold on, Japan does not just view them as a positive benefactor. No, only foxes associated with Inari are. Others are portrayed as tricksters and largely malevolent, often tricking men to their deaths in the woods with their fox fire. In fact, foxes were so negative that it was thought that when a woman became upstart, she was possessed by a fox spirit. Because Inari's foxes were so wise, as youkai and foxes that live for a long time were often thought to have knowledge beyond humanity's, they were enshrined in Fushimi Inari as well. Even along the roads within the torii you can spot small fox statues hanging around as if waiting to come alive. They guard one of the main shrines (a mirror indicates the shrine of a kami), as well as the main entrance.

Food Food Food!
Did you know that there are two foods specifically associated with foxes and Inari that have nothing to do with rice? That may be a bit surprising, but Inari is a harvest god so I suppose it could really be related too. Fried tofu is a treat found largely in Inari, as foxes are said to be unable to live without it they love it that much. Thus there are foods like Kitsune Udon (fox noodles) and Inari Sushi (a cucumber roll wrapped in fried tofu) which are both delicious and plentiful in the region. As it's mass produced by Nishin in their instant noodles, you can most likely find a version of it at your local Asian grocer.

One of the guardian foxes.

~Zenko~