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I'm Going Japanese (I Really Think So!)
August 3rd, 2008
NOTE: I've placed links to background information on some of the places we visited so as to make the summary brief for those who want to make a long story short...
Click here for a direct link to the full Flickr Photostream
In early 2008 Marloes and I had resolved to moved back to to The Netherlands to catch-up with friends and family, as well as for me to pursue advanced study in the field of Finance. We had always talked of visiting Japan for vacation. The ensuing return to Holland played the catalyst, as a voyage from Europe would be more arduous than the direct hop from San Francisco.
| It has taken me some time to report on this trip, and for this I apologize as it was a fascinating sojourn and is worth of being shared. At the end of May in 2008, Marloes and I spent two weeks in Japan. Beyond us both being huge sushi and sake lovers, we were always drawn to the Japanese aesthetic. I myself have also been a lifelong anime aficionado, and, led initially via this obsession, an armchair Japanologist. After packing-up our apartment and handling all associated moving logistics, we took the leap and flew to Japan (knowing it would be have been more arduous from Europe). Indeed, although it is a direct flight, the journey was a solid 12 hours. Despite being a Peter Pan at heart, my aging body can no longer deny that these long flights are less-than enjoyable, and here I found myself somewhat discombobulated upon arrival. |
Something is fishy in Tokyo... Yes, I am tired... |
Recovering on the hour and a half bus trip into the city, we proceeded to check-in to a very nice grand hotel, the Hotel Pacific Tokyo in the Shinagwa district. I had a mini 'Lost in Translation' moment as a tribe of ten immaculately dressed porters surrounded us to check us in, take our bags and usher us to our room. The bellboy spent a good ten minutes showing us how the faucet, radio, television, mini-bar, etc. worked in the room. Errr... I assumed it would have been impolite to have told him that I was pretty familiar with hotel technology. If I hadn't read that offering tips is insulting, I would have thought he was fishing for a tip. Anyway, we were checked in and then proceeded to test the electronic toilet with warm pulsing bidet spray and air drier. Whee!
Our guidebook, and indeed all the advice we had gathered from those who had gone before, was to shake off the west coast jet lag by staying up until evening after your arrival, waking early (4:30 am!) to visit the Tokyo Fish Market (as you can see above and via this link, I was feigning alertness).
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Anytime is Old Suntory time |
The jet lag (combined with initial culture shock) made the Fish Market somewhat overwhelming: imagine several football fields crammed with narrow alleys of people yelling over bins of bizarre and some here-to-fore unknown to me aquatic species while men in speeding motorized carts attempt to run down tourists. It was fascinating to watch the immense tuna auction underway - some prime tuna can fetch upwards of $20k! Anyway, we ended the morning with a tasty sushi breakfast followed by a walk to the Imperial Palace (similar to Buckingham Palace, it is in use and thus one can only view it from afar). We also visited the Asakusa Temple and district. At the temple I cleansed myself and received a good fortune. Marloes also received good fortune from the gods and partook of the heavenly incense. The local craft museum was a bit of a disappointment as the english translations amounted to "this is a clay pot" and "braided rope". Museums that were short on didactic explication were a common experience thereafter. There were automatic drink machines on the streets everywhere, some offering hot drinks, of which I availed myself frequently, especially enjoying the Suntory Boss coffee and nectarine juice. |
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At Kamakura we visited the Great Buddha and then the impressive and beautiful sacred island of Enoshima, where various gods, demons and many cats were in residence. I was impressed by how traditional Shintoism and Buddhism (assimilated from Chinese monks) had fused in many respects and that the two belief systems worked in tandem. What a concept compared to how the Muslim and Judeo-Christian systems chafe so! The Japanese seemed to view religious ceremony from a very utilitarian perspective, using the temples to evoke animistic spirits to help with everything from an upcoming school test to business success and wealth (yes, that is a holy money bag - hey, let's get real!). Afterwards we ate in a little noodle house. |
| We ate at a amazing crab restaurant at our hotel. Here we had a bit of a translational impasse: I asked for some more time to review the 20 page elaborate menu and, after escallating three people in the restaurant management hierarchy, the staff had to get hotel management to translate my request, which was, errr..., more time please! They thought we wanted something and seemed quite mortified that they could not figure out what it was, but I was really just asking to be left alone for a minute... This actually was true to my understanding of the culture: there is a high degree of importance put upon ritualized hospitality. For an informal Westerner such as myself, this can get a bit trying: many people serve you with elaborate and formal gestures, constantly bowing and saying thank you, expecting in part a quid pro quo of graciousness, genuflecting, etc. While this was wonderful to experience, sometime I just want to have some food in peace and not worry about all the protocol and who was oldest in the bowing contest (one should incline their bow deeper for someone older than oneself). |
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Anyhow, at Kamakura we stayed in a traditional Japanese room where you sit and sleep on the floor. The staff seemed amused that we wanted to stay in the Japanese style room - it seems most Japanese are demure of their own traditions and simultaneously proud of being able to emulate western style rooms. For us it was fun to experience the Japanese style room though: sitting on the matted floor, gathering around the low table, contemplating the minamalistic peace of the shrine, wearing a kimono, drinking losts of saki, etc...
Following this, we headed to Hakone, which is a local tourist region with a national park. The stay in the historical Fujiya Hotel, a stately, palatial edifice built in the late 1800's, was worth it in itself. The surrounding gardens were a work of art. From this base, we visited the Open Air Museum and appreciated its collection of al fresco statuary. Later we climbed into the mountains via an elaborate system of cable cars to visit the volcano national park in Chubu. Hello Kitty,as always, was incarnate in many forms (the last image being Hello Kitty as a blackened egg - a specialty here is eggs cooked in sulfuric water, which turns them black and supposedly ensures you will live to a ripe old age). There were many cheesy touristy delights (I rode a pumpkin kiddie car, Hello Kitty acting as prow figurehead to speed my journey) as well as harrowing challenges in the form of sulfur fumes. We returned via a mock-pirate ship, a 'tourist-ized' interpretation of the Black Ships that arrived from America in the 1800's to force Japan to capitulate and open trade relations via force of cannon and gun (heretofore having been rigid cultural and trade isolationists).
As a cultural generalization, I can say that the Japanese did not appear too dwell on negativity. There was a relative absence of the grotesque, violent or scary (some of the meaner Shinto gods being an exception, errr, and I guess 'The Ring', err and I guess Godzilla, oh never mind!) - everything seemed to be made into a cute cartoon character or fun, friendly version of itself. One thing that I found amusing were the mis- or unclear translations on public signs. Other times the translations were just amusing or the cultural interpretations of the west were abstracted - witness the statue of a stylized gay european hairdresser outside a barber shop (no doubt 'Rochelle-San: Lucky Happy-Man Hair Cutter Person' will be adopted into the Shinto pantheon soon). The only thing I can mention is that although people were universally polite, I sometimes got the feeling that some Japanese were not too happy to see westerners visiting (which is an understandable sentiment considering the historical context).
From here we moved to the next step on our journey, Kyoto, the old imperial city of Japan. As opposed to Tokyo, which was largely leveled during WWII, Kyoto evidences centuries of tradition, architecture and art. Here we stayed in a ryokan - the traditional style guest house. We were not disappointed, enjoying the traditional room, a zen garden with koi pond, mini-waterfall and sumptuous, elaborate multi-course meals served in our room on a low table. The meals were very ritualized and elaborate, again pointing to the importance of tradition and ritual in Japanese culture (me = master of the obvious!).
| We visited the amazing Fushimi Inari Shrine, populated with miles of red prayer gates and an immense statuary complex. There was even an areas dedicated to the Chinese goddess Quan Yin, who my Mom greatly appreciates (background on this goddess here - Quan, not my Mom, although she is also great and should be worshipped!). Wandering around Kyoto was a pleasure, as the narrow streets are filled with an array of mysterious shops. We tried many traditional delicacies: rice crackers, candies and soy bean cakes, sushi, teas and saki. As well, there were artisans of all types. As someone who appreciates saki, I found a beautiful hand-crafted saki cup to bring back. We ended our trip with a karaokee night out on the town. |
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Heading back, we stopped in Tokyo again briefly and were again overwhelmed with the expansive urbanity, the masses of people, flashing lights, etc. At this point we took it easy, visiting a few districts, but otherwise relaxing. One impression was of the immense Shinjuku train station, which truly made us feel as ants scurrying around endless subteranean tunnels in a sea of rushing people. Luckily Marloes and I are rather tall next to the average Tokyoite, so were able to see each other even as we would get pushed alon in a veritable sea of humanity. Later I learned that Shinjuku station services upwards of 3,329,657 people DAILY! Great Ceasar's Ghost - that is larger than the vast majority of urban centers in the world! Anyway, I didn't feel so back feeling a bit dizzy from this place when learning it is the busiest train station in the world.
So, winding down our last evening, we had a marathon 3 hour karaokee session. the karaokee places were great: you rent a private room and can order drinks and food via telephone. We camped our and ran rampant, destroying most pop music made in the 80's. After a good night's sleep, we were on the way to the airport and back to San Francisco.
Well, that's our trip. there were happy times and sad times, but we felt that we had a unique chance to reach some small empathy with Japanese culture and to do our small part to promote bad karaoke.
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