My Trip To Tokyo

Friday august 16th

Asakusa - Where religion and commerce combine in ways not seen since Jesus chased away the money-lenders from the Jerusalem temple. Or was it money changers? Speaking of currency exchange, finding an ATM with English instructions AND the ability to deal with American cards ain't as easy as I thought. Visa ain't everywhere you wanna be.

Today was check out day at the hotel. Hiro had to work, so the woman up front agreed to hold my luggage till it could be picked up later on. Like 7 or 8pm. Last night, one of the zippers broke on my main bag. It was pretty old, I shouldn't have been surprised. Anyway, I was free to roam as I liked, so away I went. Before going to the train station, I decided to head for the bank. I wasn't short on funds, yet, but I like to keep a healthy surplus, just in case. The ATM within was in Japanese, so I decided to wait till Asakusa to look for one.

Next stop was a bento shop across the street from the train station. Bentos are traditional boxed lunches. I got something with shrimp, rice, and slices of what looked like beef. Like I said earlier, some of my prohibitions were being relaxed. At least for the duration of the trip. I expected to be walking around for a while, so it seemed like a good idea to have my lunch handy for when the time came to eat.

Bought my ticket at the machine with no problems. I believed I went to Gotanda. No transfer since the second train was a separate line. Upon reaching Gotanda I had to find that train line. I mistakenly started at the chart and machine where I bought the JR tickets previously. After asking successfully for directions. I've forgotten how I did this. I probably just pointed on a map. Anyway I found the subway station not far from my current station, bought a ticket (no problem) and continued on my journey.

The center attraction is a temple/shrine area whose name I forget (but will add before sending this out). Each street leading up to and near the temple is either an actual mall complete with ceiling, or a virtual ones (no ceiling, but wall to wall stores and stalls). It's like a mega flea market. It was great.

The temple's a pretty awesome sight. Huge paper lamps. Statues of various gods and goddesses. Many people taking part in good luck rituals of one sort or another. In one instance, trying to get the smoke of burnt paper on their persons. These papers would have manji inscribed upon them. Most people would recognize this symbol as a swastika, not realizing its history and purpose before the time of Adolph Hitler, whose Nazi party corrupted the perception of this image in the eyes of westerners. The integrity of the manji remains intact, it seems, in the east.

There were people throwing coins into this thing. I dunno. It was rectangular, and had sort of a grill. The coins would fall through the grill. I threw a few one yen pieces in, to avoid looking too much like a dick. Y'know, snappin' pictures while folks is tryin' to get their religion on.

I bought a few things. A kimono, a couple of traditional looking shirt like things that came with matching shorts (on one the pants were not so short actually), and a imitation samurai sword. The blade was unsharpened, but I still worried about getting it on the plane, with heightened security and all that. Very nice looking. I didn't want a sharp sword. I could easily cut off an appendage. No thanks. Also bought fans. One for myself, 'cuz it was so damn hot, and a couple of souvenirs. I never used my fan, oddly enough.

With many pictures taken, it was time to get lost again, so I started wandering. I stumbled upon a bunch of ATMs bundled up in a small area on the main street just away from the temple. One of them had a button that said international on it which turned out to be just what I needed. Cool beans.

Looking at a map, yesterday, it seemed that the public park across from the Imperial Palace Garden exit was not far from Asakusa. I even saw a sign pointing to a science museum, which according to the map wasn't far from Asakusa. Hell, I was still in Tokyo, right? How far could it have been? So I walk. Soon I find myself distracted by an odd construct. It's across a bridge. It's a black building with a plastic looking shooting star on it's rooftop. Looks almost like a toy cigarette lighter. I have to get closer, so I cross the bridge. As I get closer I see the Asahi logo on the building next to it, and I vaguely recall reading about it in the Fodor's book.

Since I'm in this part of town, I continue to explore, looking for anything interesting. Actually it's quite normal here. Apartment buildings, multi-lane streets, a few people going about their business. Right now it's like one of Manhattan's residential areas.

To interject for a little, up to now, visiting Tokyo almost seemed like traveling 10-15 years in the future. Super modern without letting the past or nature get too far away. Sort of a stereotypical view. A slightly cleaned up version of Bladerunner. Back on the other side of the bridge, in Asakusa, people somehow seemed a bit more down to earth. Which is not to suggest that the people I've encountered before were cold or unfriendly, not at all. It's just a general feeling I have about this area. A lot of it may have to do with the timing of my visit. This is a week that many Japanese visit their hometowns and pay reverence to their ancestors. The Oben festival, I think it's called (something else to double check). So it's possible that even many of the Japanese here are tourists like myself. Actually I met a few later on, but I'm getting ahead of myself...

So I continued my aimless wanderings. Not so aimless. It was my goal to return to Asakusa whether or not I found central Tokyo, which may have been made even less likely by my crossing that bridge. I walked several if not more blocks, making the twists and turns that would hopefully return me to the general direction of where I started. Yes, I was fully aware that this strategy had not been entirely successful in the past couple of days, but it mattered not. I was on vacation, and now that I had something of a clue of how to use the train systems, I felt I was prepared for anything.

I found a bridge. Not the same one, but it was leading me back to Asakusa. If I could trust my sense of direction, I'd say it was north of the one I had initially crossed. Anyway, I had started to walk over when I noticed across the street some four foot structures that hinted at the presence of another shrine. So I made my way over and descended some stairs that led to a park under the bridge. I found a squatter camp of homeless folks living down there. Here's something you don't hear about very often. I wonder if communities like this existed before the current economic crisis? I suppose it's likely. I chose not to take any close up pictures, as I'm not sure how they'd feel about something like that, and asking would be difficult for me, even if I could speak more of the language. Eventually I did come across another shrine. I took some pics, but was afraid to get too close to the main temple. There were no people, aside from an attendant, a little girl playing way off to the side and a cat relaxing on some rocks. Three shiny black cars with tinted windows were parked on the grounds, so more people must've been nearby. I didn't stick around to find out. Back on the bridge I took a long distance shot of the squatter camp. All you'd see in that shot is tents made of blue tarp, surrounded by trees.

Back to Asakusa and the temple grounds. I found myself startled by a large group of Tibetan priestesses. Okay, maybe they weren't Tibetan, or priestesses. They had long robes and were bald. Some had glasses. I dig bald chicks, sometimes. bald chicks with glasses are cool, too. I had my camera in my hand. I think one of them may have been trying to tell me not to take their picture, so I snapped one as they walked away. There was a second group, and with them were probably new recruits. Girls in normal clothes and longish hair. I suppose they could've been visitors or tour guides. I dunno.

So I'm back at the temple. At first I think it's a different one, 'cuz I came in from a another side. And as I'm taking pictures and walking along, this kid sort of grabs my attention. He seems pretty eager to speak, so we do. He's with his mother and sister who've come from a town 16 miles north of Tokyo. Once again, I've forgotten the name. They're a nice bunch. We chat for a bit. They all speak some English, though I think the young man was particularly keen on practicing his skills. I may have attempted a little Japanese. Probably just thank you and goodbye towards the end. We took pictures, and I gave my address, and they gave me this nice little card with a paper doll in the corner.

I was pretty much done for the day. I did some more exploring, though. Took a few more pictures before my memory cards ran out completely. I did buy three disposable cameras before that point. It was starting to get dark. Just before heading back I checked out this one street I hadn't encountered before, so of course I went for a walk. Found a CD shop. I told myself, I wasn't going to be buying CDs on this trip, but while I was here, I couldn't help myself. I think I successfully asked "where is Bird?" in Japanese (Doko ni birdo desu ka?) Bird is a Japanese R&B singer, One of my favorite singers, actually. I have a couple of singles, a few tracks off Napster a while back (try searching for a name like "Bird", you get thousands of matches that have nothing to do with what you're looking for) and a live CD I bought at Lai Ying Music in NYC just before my trip. They showed me her new album. Her third. I wasn't aware she'd released that many studio records. And the cover indicated that she'd produced the record herself. I wasn't sure how I'd feel about that but I went ahead and bought the CD anyway. I think it was 2800 Yen. Not too bad, though I'd never pay that much for a CD in the U.S.

It was time to go back. My plan was to get to Gotanda, call Hiro from there and have him meet me at Chidori-cho to get my stuff. Having finally mastered the subway/rail system, that shouldn't be a problem. Got to the Asakusa station. The same one I arrived at earlier. Bought the ticket. No problem there. Waited on the right platform. Train arrived. I got on it.

Trains are in general much nicer than the ones we have in NYC and Long Island, though they vary greatly. Most trains won't be quite as comfortable as a LIRR train, but they'll be cleaner, some will have video screens with commercials, weather information, the next stop in Japanese and romanji, and what side of the train the door will open (also announced in English and Japanese). Like I said these features vary from train to train.

I got to Asakusa on a subway line. The train wasn't as hi-tech as some, but it was okay. The windows came with shades, which wasn't much of an issue as most of the stops I encountered on the train were underground.

So I get on the train with the intention of reaching Gotanda. I notice that this train is quite nice, with a seating layout similar to the LIRR, but nicer looking and more comfortable. I get on. Put my stuff in the overhead racks and relax. I recognize many of the stops on the way back, so it seems everything is cool. I'm a little tired from all the walking, naturally, so occasionally I nod off, seconds at a time (I do this all the time, even on NYC subways). I wake myself up every now and then to mark the train's progress. I notice the scenery outside looks a lot nicer coming back at night, than it did going in. After a couple of stops I realize that I didn't see many (or maybe any) outside stops on the way in. I WAS ON THE SUBWAY!!!! It is, of course at this point that the train is no longer making local stops and continues express till I get to Yokohama, which is probably many miles away from where I'm supposed to be. I manage to go across the platform, and catch the train going the other way. I get out first and ask in a very limited way if the train is going to Asakusa, and the guard indicates the affirmative, so I get back on. This train of course is making all the local stops. Great. Also, it's not going all the way to Asakusa I had to get out at one point and wait for the neat train, which I do. I get on, and we make more local stops. I'm a little tired and not quite in my right mind at this moment. At one station, there's a train across the platform, and in between the two trains is a stand which may have some advertising on it and then a medium sized mirror right above it. Actually I'm not sure about the advertising, but there are a number of these things throughout the many train stations I've been to here. Anyway the placement of the mirror makes it look like I'm in the train across the platform. I'm looking for a second. I know that guy. Hey! It's me! What I'm I doing over there??? Ahh!!! Then I regained my senses. Luckily I didn't say any of that out loud. Could've been quite embarrassing. Even in front of people who don't know what you're going on about.

So I make it back to Asakusa, ask someone at the booth about getting to Gotanda, and he tells me the time of the next train, which is just a few minutes. There are more than one Asakusa lines that share that same track, and I had simply caught the wrong one. So much for mastering the train system, huh?

I call Hiro from Gotanda. Get to Chidori-cho at almost 11:30 to get my stuff, and Hiro meets me with the car a few moments later. On to Kawasaki. I'll be staying at Hiro's place for the next couple of days. We stop at Tama-Gawa (sometimes called the TamaGawa river, but that's redundant as Gawa means river) to catch a sighting of Tama-chan, the lost bearded seal. Even at this time, there are quite a few people hanging out, hoping to view the latest media darling. Our vigil was is vain. No sign of Tama-chan. Well, maybe tomorrow then.

We head home, stopping at the convenience store for some large Cup Noodles (called Cup O' Noodles in the U.S.) Hiro insists I eat while it's still hot. I take it the slurping is to help survive the high temperatures of the noodles, and isn't just for show. My theory, anyway.