Still, I think I’m going to stick to noodles and cooking for myself!
Anyhow, last time, I mentioned that I went to Kyoto! That is a bit of an understatement, though. I travelled with a couple of friends from college in a whirlwind tour of Nikko, Osaka, Nara, and Kyoto.
There is a yearly holiday here called Golden Week, which celebrates the emperor’s inauguration. This year, however, was something special because the previous emperor was seceding from the throne and passing it to the next in line. This hasn’t happened very often and, between his farewells and the new inauguration, Golden Week this year was actually more like Golden Ten Days. What better time to travel?!
The answer is nearly any other time.
Golden Week is apparently the most popular time for Japanese people to travel around their country, considering that they often do not get long holidays like this. Because of that, hotels, trains, restaurants, and pretty much everyone else jacks up their prices to make the most of the great demand.
Expenses aside, though, it was an interesting trip, to be sure!
First, for various work-related reasons, my friends and I missed our train and had to take a bullet train in order to try to get to our hotel on time. Just a note: It’s really not that exciting. It’s fast, sure, but you don’t feel it. The whole trip was actually a rather smooth ride and would have been lovely if this train had not been delayed for AN HOUR AND A HALF!!! Because of that, guess what?, we lost the deposit on our hotel and had to crash at a random hotel in the town we ended up in when the trains shut down for the night. To make it worse, the train company would not reimburse us because the delay was less than two hours. For a country so intent on being timely and polite, that was rather jarring. I would like to say it was smooth sailing after that, but then I’d be lying.
One of my two buddies, David, was unfortunately rather ill for most of the trip. Frankly, considering everything that was going on with him, I am amazed that he even made the trek from the states in the first place. Despite vomiting, headaches, miscellaneous pains, vertigo, and god knows what else, he was still determined to make the best of what time he had here! I am still marveling at his fortitude.
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| Iza is really big into these grilled sweet potatoes. And goofy pictures. |
Nikko was our first stop and may have been my favorite. Perhaps I am saying that only because I have been in the city for so long (all of two months) and have been starved for any amount of nature. Regardless, being amidst the mountains and forests again was delightful. It was like I had finally released a breath that I hadn’t realized I had been holding. The experience was akin to what I felt when I went to Rome and saw the ocean for the first time in three months. Funny, how you miss things without even realizing it.
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| An elegant scene, though a humble shot. |
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| Leave it to these goobers to soil the scenery [at my behest]. |
Anyhow, Nikko’s main attraction was an impressive complex and collection of temples and shrines nestled amongst the soaring cedar trees. It was near enough to town that we easily walked there, but within a minute of climbing the first steps into the forest, we lost sight of the road and it became easy to forget that we were near civilization. If not for all of the other tourists, I would have believed us to be in a monastery in the middle of nowhere. Even with so many people about, though, the place had a serenity about it. Perhaps it was the light or the grandeur of the trees and temples. Maybe it was the isolation from bustling streets. Whatever it was, this peace seemed to effect almost everyone around us. People spoke softly, treaded carefully, and appeared at ease; relaxed. It was not like so many other shrines and churches around the world that I have been to where the visitors are stiff and uncomfortable.
Many sites have a tension about them, a sense of expectation even. The moment you step in, you feel that you are expected to be quiet and reverent. You know too that others are watching you, gauging your actions and body language. There is a sense that you cannot belong because you are a tourist and, even though you are surrounded by other tourists, you cannot relax and simply enjoy the moment. Places like that have the expectation that you actively view them and that you remain aware of your alienness in that space.
That’s not to say that Nikko was a Nirvana-esque experience or anything. The quiet was still punctuated by kids shouting and there were enough visitors that, no matter how softly each individual spoke, there was often a soft hum of chatter. Oh, and there was one old guy selling whistles that made a bizarre sound somewhere between a duck call and a small child’s scream and he was intent on demonstrating his wares. That was weird.
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| I swear we're enjoying ourselves. |
After a couple of days in Nikko, we headed back to our apartments in the Tokyo area to recuperate and pack for the next leg of the journey. Not exactly efficient, going north, back south to Tokyo, and then further south after that, but it worked for us. Also, David was in rough shape and I didn’t have a bag big enough to accommodate a whole ten-day trip.
During that respite, we decided to do pretty much the trashiest, most stereotypical westerner/anime geek thing to do: Go to a maid cafe in Akibahara.
Akibahara is a district in Tokyo that is simply inundated with anime junk. And when I say “junk,” I mean it. I like anime, but there is just so much merchandise and, to be honest, so much of it looks tacky! Then again, there’s an abundance of arcades as well, and those looked pretty fun…
Anyhow, a maid cafe, for those who were unaware, is, guess what?, a cafe where the female staff dress up as maids and serve the customers. It’s meant to be saccharine-sweet levels of cute and the staff call you “Master” or “Mistress.” It's a big draw for westerners/anime geeks. On the other hand, I saw a whole range of Japanese people in there too, from women to middle-aged men.
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| A picture of my shame. Apparently I wasn't supposed to grin... |
Also, I like cute, but I have a cuteness threshold and this place smashed that threshold, trampled on it, and then covered the remains with glittery hearts and pink lace. Apparently my face was beet red for much of the experience, which was accented by the rosy lighting. When I saw that these places are designed to be over-the-top cute and sweet, I mean that I felt my teeth rotting from all of the sweetness when I walked in. I wouldn’t have even gone in if my friends weren’t so set on doing this.
To be fair, though, I could have waited outside or done something else, but I also figured it was an experience to have that I might regret not experiencing later. Still trying to determine whether it was a good or bad experience, is all… Either way, Iza was grinning ear to ear and rocking back and forth in her stool with how jazzed she was about the whole thing.
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| I ordered some tea and something called the "Unrequited Love Parfait." Surprisingly aptly named. It begins as sweet and savory at the top, but becomes colder and more bitter toward the bottom. The heart says "suki" (すき) on it, which often means "I like." |
Later that same day, we went to an area that just so happened to have the Tokyo Pokemon Center. As soon as I learned that we were in the neighborhood, I was willing to drop everything, including my friends, to visit this place. Luckily, David was game to join. Remember how I said that Iza was acting like an excited little kid in the maid cafe? Well, that was me in the Pokemon store. Talk about a nostalgia kick mixed with a healthy dose of adorable! You should’ve seen all of the Pokemon plushies and other nicknacks! If I had the money to spare, I would have been seriously at risk of spending hundreds of dollars. For better or worse, though, I did not have the money and managed to restrict myself to about $25. Not too bad, if I say so myself, considering how much of a fanboy I turned into the moment I walked through their doors. It also helps that goods and whatnot in Japan are relatively cheap, compared to New York or London. So now I’ve got a few new buddies to keep me company while I work and sleep in this tiny apartment!
What I do regret is how I cannot, in good conscience, chronicle my entire journey in just one blog post. This one one is getting lengthy as it is. Guess you’ll just have to check out next week’s!
Before I sign off, though, I’ve been thinking about writing a story online. Something that can come out in short, biweekly chapters or more frequently even. No attempts to get it published, nothing like that. Just for my own entertainment and the entertainment of whoever comes along and sees it.
You guys think this is something that I should try out? I was toying with some fantasy and urban fantasy story ideas. Even some D&D-based stuff has been floating through my head. My only concern is that someone will try to steal and publish my stuff for themselves. Thoughts? Comments? Concerns?
Eh. This is all predicated on the assumption that I will have time for more writing in the first place!
Anyhow, have a good one guys!
Song of the Week: Here’s a song that I came across some time this last summer or fall. I absolutely adore the music, but I still can’t figure out what the title means. Best I can figure, though, between Google Translate and my thoroughly inadequate grasp of the Japanese language, is that the title translates to “Ribbon of the Evening.” It is apparently a cover by an independent girl online who calls herself Kano (鹿乃). I'm going to check out more of her stuff!
Hope you enjoy it as much as I do!
P.S. A special “Thank you” again to Ryan Muther, who caught a mistake I made in last week’s post. In his words, “The government is not in control of the shrine, and hasn't been since 1946. There are some far-right nationalist groups, like Nippon Kaigi, who want to restore the shine to government control, but they haven't succeeded in doing so. Other things they want to do include removing the war-renouncing Article 9 from the constitution and bringing back State Shinto.”
I fact checked this, but it was kind of a pointless exercise. This guy’s right about 90% of the time!
The mistake has been corrected, but I thought he still deserved some more gratitude.
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