TOKYO DAZE

Lee wandered around the Ginza area today in search of (a) evening entertainment and (b) a scarf to complement his new coat.  He hoped for tickets to Takarazuka, the all-female musical drama troupe (familiar to older Americans from the Marlon Brando film "Sayonara"), but they don't have Monday performances.

His second choice was a Kabuki performance.  They do selections from the "Chushingura" (The Forty-Seven Ronin) saga every April; unfortunately, the old Kabuki theater he spent so many happy hours in has been torn down to make way for a new, bigger building and more modern performance space, and he wasn't sure if he'd like the borrowed theater they are currently performing in while awaiting the completion of their new structure.  Tickets were available for the evening performance (which actually ran from 4:00 pm - 8:40 pm), however, so he opted to take his chances and bought a balcony seat on the side closest to the hanamichi walkway from the rear of the theater that major actors use to enter and exit the stage proper.

To wile away the time before the performance began, he shopped diligently for a loose weave scarf (like many commonly worn in India and currently quite fashionable through-out Japan for both men and women).  He looked and looked, growing more and more discouraged at every stop.  The price tag on anything he found was seldom below the yen equivalent of two hundred dollars!  All for a piece of woven material likely imported from India at a fraction of that.  Even just "window shopping" at prices like this can be frustrating.  One doesn't dare find something one might like because one just couldn't afford to purchase it anyway.

Much of the rest of the day was spent, not shopping, but sitting quietly in various outdoor locations, sipping orange soda or a cup of coffee and people-watching instead.

The Kabuki experience turned out to be somewhat frustrating as well.  The view of the stage and the hanamichi was obscured by railings and, although a HD monitor was provided for the entrances and exits, the picture quality was bad, whiting out the faces.  Much of the action, unfortunately, also took place at the far left of the stage, meaning I had to sit far forward and crane to see what was (not) happening.  The available audio guide, however, proved essential; I doubt I would have understood what was going on, except in broad outline, without it.,

At any rate, there were two very fine performances, one a cameo by the villain of the piece; the second, by the brother of the heroine, a master of broad comedy put to wonderful effect.  The final act depicting the assassination attack of the forty-seven ronin (masterless samurai) to avenge the earlier death of their lord was also beautifully staged.  So the theater disappointed; the performance, less so.

And, tomorrow's another day (before I cach an early evening flight homeward bound). 



The day's collage features a Seiko clock with gnomes pounding out a song every hour on tuned pipes, the under-construction "new" Kabuki theater; the current theater being used for performances; and some cherry trees blooming in midtown Tokyo.

EASTER, SUNDAY, SAKURA AND MORE

The confluence of events marking the day -- Easter, the usual weekly Sunday holiday here in Japan, the peak of Tokyo's cherry blossom display and another perfect day, weather-wise -- is really remarkable.  And, if Lee's experience is any indication, it brought out record crowds everywhere (and a gorgeous, nearly full moon into the crystal clear night sky this evening)!

Most, of course, crowded the sites noted for their blossoming trees.  The range of activities observed among the teeming masses so gathered: joggers, bikers, young and old, families and co-workers gathered beneath the flowering trees, vendors, dog walkers, weekend oarsmen out in small rowboats, garbage sorters -- and thousands upon thousands of strollers just out for a Sunday walk.

Most, of course, being Japanese or visiting tourists / travelers, brought cameras to capture the day.


Other signs of Spring's arrival were encountered as well.

The real stars of the show, however, were the cherry blossoms, several varieties, always stunning.  The overall effect both beautifies and softens the surrounding city, transforming urban reality into a fantasy of bellowing pink and white clouds of blossoms everywhere one turns.  (Most of the following images were captured near the Imperial Palace grounds in the middle of the city.)

Lee realized, halfway through his stroll yesterday afternoon through the avenues of blossoms in Ueno Park, that "Being in Tokyo for Cherry Blossom Time" should have been one of the items on his "bucket list".  He added it retroactively -- and crossed it off simultaneously as having been completed.  What an extra special treat to be here on an Easter Sunday as well ...

Of course, not everyone in Tokyo today was enraptured by blossoming trees.  Just as many crowded the shopping streets of Omotesando and Harajuku where Lee's urban adventure took him later in the day. 

His primary objective was to visit the Ota Ukiyo-e Museum and its newly installed exhibit highlighting some of Japan's most well-known woodblock print artists.  He also visited an upscale shopping mall (new to him although currently celebrating its sixth anniversary) and then got totally caught up in trying to document some of the fashionably young Japanese encountered on neighborhood streets, alleys and boulevards together with images of some of the shops they appeared to frequent (or not - neither rhyme nor reason appears to dominate the local fashion scene.  As you'll see, "anything goes"!). 

The cliche states "All Japanese see themselves as Middle Class."  If that be the case, then, while the American Middle Class seems endangered as good-paying factory jobs disappear and tax breaks go primarily to the wealthy, in Japan many seem to be moving up into the Upper Middle Class.  At least this view could be demonstrated in the stores, shops and malls that crowd the streets of major Japanese cities.

Omotesando and Harajuku in Tokyo together constitute one of the major retail centers in the entire country.  Especially on Sunday, both areas (made up of major avenues and small branching alleyways) come alive with shoppers out consuming and confidently demonstrating their selected fashion style as they stride down the street from store to store in search of the "latest thing".

It's like an Easter Sunday parade every weekend!



During the Meiji era (1868 - 1912) a set of three story townhouses were constructed along Omotesando.  Retail establishments set up in spaces on the slightly-below-ground street level floor; residential apartments took up the upper stories.  With their balconies crowded with plants and their uniform facades, the buildings lent a grace and substance to the entire street.

When plans were made to raze them in the 'nineties and replace them with a modern mall, voices were raised in protest at the potential loss of this architectural treasure.  As a consequence, the developers incorporated a pair of the original townhouses into a revamped plan.  The others were torn down, and a sleek new low rise shopping space created in its place.

Although the Omotesando Hills Mall is celebrating its sixth anniversary in 2012, Lee had never been inside before -- and was COMPLETELY blown away when he ventured in as part of his Easter Sunday adventure!

From the outside, the mall maintains a three story presence (with a set of luxury apartments at the western edge of the structure).  Inside, however, the space extends two stories or more down into the ground with storefronts arrayed along long, sloping ramps from one level to the next. 

And how "high end" can you get?  Each shop exudes a jewel-box-like presence.  And even the Lawsons in the sub-basement provides comfy chairs in an adjacent courtyard for its customer's benefit!

Also at the lowest level there is a space set aside for sporadic activities of one sort or another.  Sunday these included a display of celebrity-decorated tote bags and a lively crafts fair.

Believe me when Lee says this was an Easter Sunday to remember, one celebrated in Tokyo at the height of the cherry blossom festival in the midst of a wonderfully creative, high energy urban environment that has lots to teach the rest of the world about "consumerism", retail architecture, fashion and style!

PACKING THE LONERGANS OFF TO CHICAGO

Not much to report today aside from noting that Saturday proved yet another bright, early Spring day.  Sean, Ted and Lee took advantage of the weather this morning to head off to Shinjuku to visit Times Square (actually made up of Takashimaya [Lee's favorite department store], Tokyu Hands [a do-it-yourself haven of everything imaginable for the crafts person] and Kinokuniya [a huge and comprehensive bookstore - yes, they still exist on this side of the Pacific!])


While the younger guys went off to explore the department store and Tokyu Hands, Lee managed to track down the last of the three books he had hoped to find while "in-country", a collection of artwork by the manga and anime artist Otomo Katsuhiro.  Otomo was the artist behind AKIRA, one of the first Japanese anime and manga to capture Lee's attention back at the time he took Evan to Japan (where together they saw the anime on the very day it opened in Japanese movie theaters).  Interestingly a "live action" version is currently in the works and the original versions (manga and anime) are both gaining a large measure of repeat media and fan attention as a result.  How cool it is to be back on the cutting edge of Japanese popular culture!

While searching through the various sections of Kinokunia, Lee also came across several other interesting volumes dealing with history, art and pop culture.  Remembering that he has formally retired and no longer needs to keep abreast of the latest scholarship gave him the backbone, however, to resist adding still more weight to his return luggage.  There were those two small volumes reproducing traditional hand-scrolls featuring yokai (spirits, ghosts and goblins), though, that may be too hard not to pick up if his yen account still has funds available at departure time...

In the early afternoon, Lee accompanied Sean and Ted to the train station in Ueno, saw to it that they caught the right airport express, then waved them off for Narita and their home-bound flights.  

Thereafter, he joined the enormous crowds nearby wandering through Ueno Park, viewing the sakura cherry blossoms in all their luminous glory, a sight he had never before had the pleasure of witnessing.

Later he checked himself into the Grand Arc Hanzomon (where he had stayed his first night in town two weeks ago) once again, "home" for the next three days.  This time around, even the view from his hotel room incorporates several rows of cherry trees in bloom -- the city is alive with clouds of color everywhere one looks!

Perhaps, after a good night's sleep, he'll get out and photograph a few of them ...

TOKYO BY BIKE

In prior discussions while putting together this visit to Japan, Lee made only one request of Sean and Ted.  That was to indulge his wish to spend a day seeing the sights of Tokyo by bicycle.  Searching on line in planning this "grand tour", he had discovered Tokyo Rent A Bike and, having cleared his plans with "the boys", made reservations for today to spend an entire day "on wheels".


Today's forecast predicted a 40% chance of rain, but the weather cooperated nicely with our plans and the day remained sunny and passably warm instead.  Our initial trip by public transportation proved easy enough; we even had time to catch breakfast at a Doutour coffee shop close to the Nakameguro train station prior to picking up our bikes nearby.


Interestingly the bike rental shop owner was off leading a tour for the day by the time we arrived.  He simply left the needed information, a detailed map and the keys outside his locked office door for us to find.  The locked bikes were waiting down below (his office was on the eighth floor) on the street, ready to go!
 
And off we went!  Our first series of stops took place along a nearby canal nearly totally obscured by blossoming cherry trees in full bloom.  Although Tokyo had a colder-than-usual winter, the sakura buds opened right on time, beginning April 1, 2012, and are now close to their peak. Even though we stopped by fairly early in the day, the walkways and bridges were already crowded with eager photographers and other viewers, and a carnival-like atmosphere was rapidly getting underway.  All day long, we continued to encounter beautiful flowering trees elsewhere as well.  What a treat!

After our initial hanami ("flower viewing") encounter, we back peddled (a bit too far) in order to make our map-decreed way eventually to Daikanyama, one of the city's most trendy neighborhoods.  As we would elsewhere, we parked our bikes, locked them and then walked around the area, poking our noses into various nooks and crannies and seeking out the local sights and sounds.


Another short bike ride took us along one of Tokyo's most exclusive shopping streets.  We stopped to look more closely at a stunning new Tsutaya book / music / DVD / coffee house and ended up on the porch at nearby Ivy Place for an absolutely delicious alfresco lunch.


Good thing, too, because we then promptly lost our way, ending up almost back where we began, before regaining our map reading skills and getting back on track, making our way to Shibuya, the busiest shopping and entertainment areas in the city.  Ted was especially wowed by the crowds here crossing the street helter-skelter whenever the walk lights turned green -- he even captured the scene on video, both standing on the sidelines and joining in the chaos, camera in hand!


Lee wanted to continue on to Omotesando, Tokyo's equivalent of Chicago's Miracle Mile and New York City's Fifth Avenue; but first we had to figured out how to read that bike route map correctly -- our first attempt was wildly unsuccessful.  Fortunately, we eventually got things straightened out and biked over hill and dale to reach our final destination for the day.  We even managed a detour to Takeshita-dori, the trendiest of trendy streets in the entire city before heading back to Nakameguro to surrender our bikes.

At the end of the day, Lee finally felt he had gained control of the situation.  Next time he should be able to manage the entire day with far less hassle.  But even this first attempt proved an interesting and fun way to see many of the Tokyo's most fascinating (and fashionable) neighborhoods.

OUT AND ABOUT IN THE BIG CITY

Today's itinerary started with a subway ride to Asakusa, then breakfast at Starbucks, a bit of shopping in Kappabashi, sightseeing and shopping around Sensoji (THE Buddhist temple EVERYONE visits in Tokyo), a cruise down the Sumida River, a monorail ride out to Odaiba, lunch and still more shopping before a posh dinner at En, an izakaya on the forty-second floor of the City Center building in Shiodome.  The weather was perfect;, the cherry trees in full bloom; and who could ask for anything more?

We saw a lot of Tokyo along the way, ...

... but the day served another purpose as well.

Since the start of the trip, Lee has been stressing the notion that contemporary Japanese life demands "endless choice".  That was certainly evidenced today as we collectively browsed through store after store selling everything from plastic display models of food to sports shoes to men's clothing to model automobiles to-- well, you get the idea.

We did our part to help the local economy, purchasing stylish new hats for Lee and Ted, a watch for Sean, socks and sunglasses as well as some examples of those endlessly fascinating plastic food models to go along with the two art books Lee found yesterday while wandering around Tatsuya's wonderful Roppongi Hills bookstore.  And then there were all those snacks along the way ...

Who says men don't shop?  Just give them enough choices, and they'll rise to the occasion in a minute!  Especially if, at the end of the day, they can relax over dinner high above it all, enjoying the lights of the city below ...

FUJI !

Whenever Lee has experienced a typhoon in Japan, he has always noted how exceptionally clear the weather the day after turned out to be.  

Well, even though Typhoon Season 2012 isn't scheduled to begin for several months yet, today's weather, following on yesterday's wind and rain, gave rise to the perfect day for being able to observe Japan's famous Mt. Fuji while gadding about from bus to train to cable car to rope way to pirate ship to footpath along the shores of Lake Ashi.

The Japanese woodblock print artist Hokusai once produced a series entitled Thirty Six Views of Mt. Fuji.  Here is a contemporary set of twelve from Sean, Ted and Lee resulting from today's travels!

And, of course, another Japanese photo tradition is to have oneself pictured in front of whatever spot one is visiting to document your having actually been there.  Here are the requisite equivalents from the three of us:

And, finally, here's the daily photo image collage of the days events ...

Places pictured include inside a rope way gondola, at lunch at La Terrasse, on the pirate ship pier, aboard ship, along the Lake Ashi boardwalk and at a lakeside Shinto shrine.  It was a good day!

THREE TRAVELERS WE

Most of today was spent traveling between Kurashiki and Hakone - a taxi to the train station, a local train to Okayama, a "super express" shinkansen to Osaka, then a transfer to a "stop-in-every-station" shinkansen train for the three hour trip to Odawara, followed by a short local train to Hakone Yumoto, and finally a forty-minute bus ride over the mountains to Lake Ashi where we are staying tonight at the Hakone Hotel, a lake shore resort hotel right next to the pirate ship (!) boat dock.
 

The variety of transportation utilized kept the day from being a bore -- as did our eki-ben box lunches and all those electronic devices we brought along (iPad, Nook, iTouch, and two laptops - one, a mini) which kept us occupied while we swept along through the countryside at breakneck speed.

Only once we settled in to our hotel room and turned on the television news did we realize that we were in the midst of a major weather event!  It had rained all  day long -- which we regarded as a fortunate turn of events because we hadn't planned to be out sightseeing today anyway.  Turns out that the stormy weather with all its wind and rain struck many as "typhoon like", a turn-of-events taking place months ahead of schedule and causing havoc over much of the country -- trucks upended, trains delayed, air flights canceled.


We were lucky to get to our destination at all, but tomorrow's weather is supposed to turn sunny and pleasant once again.  We hope that will be the case because we have a "circle tour" to complete utilizing a host of different transportation modes to get us around the lake: bus, cable car, vehicular tramway, rope way and that pirate ship across the lake back to our hotel.

Due to the inclement weather, we stayed in this evening, having an onsen public bath, changing into yukata sleeping robes and ordering room service, just for a change of pace.  

After all isn't that what a Japanese resort experience is all about anyway?