April 3, 2014
April 3, 2014
Despite our best efforts at getting some rest on the plane, we wake in the middle of the night. Oh well, it gives us a chance to check up on our email.
We head for the restaurant buffet as soon as it opens. We fill ourselves up with American food and then give the Japanese breakfast a try. The Japanese usually have Miso soup and a piece of dried fish. It is very good, especially the soup, but I am not sure I would want to eat it every morning.
Since it is still early we walk to a small park hidden between some nearby high-rise buildings. The park is loaded with cherry trees and is simply gorgeous. The trees look like they are full of fresh pinkish snow. Japanese gardens are pretty but with the cherry trees abloom they are spectacular. If only the skies would clear and drive away this spitting rain.
Since this is our first day in a foreign land, we have a local guide to help us get acclimated to Japanese travel. Tokyo transportation is superb with lots of English but the rush hour throngs would have made our lone efforts much harder.
Our first stop is the Tsukiji Wholesale market. The Japanese are voracious fish eaters consuming four times what the rest of the world does. And Tsukiji is where much of it is sold. To see the famous auctioning of huge tuna, we would have had to get here before dawn. Instead we come later, when the sold fish are being sawn into smaller sizes. We dodge dozens of forklifts while working our way past hundreds of stalls selling every imaginable type of seafood. Much of it still alive…. and trying to crawl away!
Our next stop is Roppongi hills, an upscale area, where we ride to the 52nd floor observation deck of Mori tower for an eagle's view of Tokyo. Unfortunately it is very overcast and we can't see far. Most of the buildings are not skyscrapers, surprising for one of the largest cities on the planet. I guess with all the earthquakes Japan gets, I would be leery of tall buildings too.
Our next stop is the Ginza district where we stop at Tokyo's main Kabuki theater. It is Oriental ornate with a stack of colorful Sake barrels in front. For lunch we have a traditional meal of Kushiage; deep-fried skewers of meat and vegetables. It is served with cabbage, pickled vegetables, and Miso soup. At the fish market I learned Miso soup is made with fish powder. Somehow it doesn't taste as good now. After lunch we walk thru the food section of a Ginza department store. It is all expensive, and elaborately displayed.
Unfortunately as the day progress, the rain gets heavier. It must rain here a lot as everyone has a large umbrella and many stores have plastic covers for the rain gear.
Our feet are getting tired so we taxi to the Sumida River for a cruise. It is unexciting and hard to see with the rain-spotted windows. At least we are out of the rain for a while. Aimee and I grimace as we watch Japanese families snacking on dried fish.
We disembark in Asakusa. This old entertainment district has Tokyo’s oldest Buddhist temple (Senso-ji). To see it we first have to make our way down a gauntlet of food vendors and umbrella-wielding tourists. Others tempt us with a ride in a modern rickshaw.
At the temple our guide gives us a little intro to the Buddhist and Shinto religions. The Buddhists have monks and temples with tower gates, bells, and pagodas. Shinto has priests and shrines with Torii gates. He shows us how the faithful first purify themselves with a ritual washing of hands and mouth. They then light an incense stick for healing part of the body, get their fortune told and buy a good-luck charm. When it is time to say a prayer, they bow, clap twice to get the gods attention, and then bow again. It all seems very commercial and pagan, but I bet Christianity must seem that way to outsiders.
We finally take leave of our guide and head back to our hotel, comfortable that we can make our way around Tokyo by ourselves. We have a dinner of Chinese pot stickers at a dive around the corner. Tasty!
Despite our best efforts at getting some rest on the plane, we wake in the middle of the night. Oh well, it gives us a chance to check up on our email.
We head for the restaurant buffet as soon as it opens. We fill ourselves up with American food and then give the Japanese breakfast a try. The Japanese usually have Miso soup and a piece of dried fish. It is very good, especially the soup, but I am not sure I would want to eat it every morning.
Since it is still early we walk to a small park hidden between some nearby high-rise buildings. The park is loaded with cherry trees and is simply gorgeous. The trees look like they are full of fresh pinkish snow. Japanese gardens are pretty but with the cherry trees abloom they are spectacular. If only the skies would clear and drive away this spitting rain.
Since this is our first day in a foreign land, we have a local guide to help us get acclimated to Japanese travel. Tokyo transportation is superb with lots of English but the rush hour throngs would have made our lone efforts much harder.
Our first stop is the Tsukiji Wholesale market. The Japanese are voracious fish eaters consuming four times what the rest of the world does. And Tsukiji is where much of it is sold. To see the famous auctioning of huge tuna, we would have had to get here before dawn. Instead we come later, when the sold fish are being sawn into smaller sizes. We dodge dozens of forklifts while working our way past hundreds of stalls selling every imaginable type of seafood. Much of it still alive…. and trying to crawl away!
Our next stop is Roppongi hills, an upscale area, where we ride to the 52nd floor observation deck of Mori tower for an eagle's view of Tokyo. Unfortunately it is very overcast and we can't see far. Most of the buildings are not skyscrapers, surprising for one of the largest cities on the planet. I guess with all the earthquakes Japan gets, I would be leery of tall buildings too.
Unfortunately as the day progress, the rain gets heavier. It must rain here a lot as everyone has a large umbrella and many stores have plastic covers for the rain gear.
Our feet are getting tired so we taxi to the Sumida River for a cruise. It is unexciting and hard to see with the rain-spotted windows. At least we are out of the rain for a while. Aimee and I grimace as we watch Japanese families snacking on dried fish.
At the temple our guide gives us a little intro to the Buddhist and Shinto religions. The Buddhists have monks and temples with tower gates, bells, and pagodas. Shinto has priests and shrines with Torii gates. He shows us how the faithful first purify themselves with a ritual washing of hands and mouth. They then light an incense stick for healing part of the body, get their fortune told and buy a good-luck charm. When it is time to say a prayer, they bow, clap twice to get the gods attention, and then bow again. It all seems very commercial and pagan, but I bet Christianity must seem that way to outsiders.
We finally take leave of our guide and head back to our hotel, comfortable that we can make our way around Tokyo by ourselves. We have a dinner of Chinese pot stickers at a dive around the corner. Tasty!
posted by Mike and Aimee at 11:11 AM
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