Sensō-ji Temple

Amid heavy rain and thunder storms, I made it to the district of Asakusa to see the annual Shinto festival called Sanja Matsuri. This week long festival takes place over the third weekend of May; and I just happen to be here for it.

The easiest way to identify a Shinto shrine is a Torii gate, shown here in this picture.



The stone structure is in place to divide our world and the spiritual world. Though Buddhism and Shinto are closely related, a Torii is only placed at the entrance of a Shinto shrine, making it is easiest way to identify if you're at a temple or a shrine. This particular location, the Asakusa shrine, was built in 1649 to commemorate the three men who built the adjacent Buddhist Sensō-ji temple and their enshrinement as Shinto gods.



The placement of this photo may suggest that this guy is one of the three men the shrine is dedicated to, but that would be silly if they were still alive in the physical world. However, I'm sure this is the same style of clothing worn by the men.



Approaching the Sensō-ji, you pass through the Nakamise shopping street. This 800-foot long street is made up of 89 shops that provide small snacks and locally made Japanese souvenirs. One random toy shop had 7 of the original X-Men toys from 1992 still sealed in their original packaging. I would have cleaned this guy out had I brought a larger suitcase, and if he spoke English I would have told him how much money he could make posting these bad boys to eBay. After a 15 second contemplation, I decided to carry on leaving them to be discovered by some other traveler. These shops have been there for a couple hundred years and have needed to be rebuilt twice: Once after the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake, and the other after the air raids of WWII.







Sensō-ji is Tokyo's oldest temple. Built in 645 by two brothers who found a statue of Bodhisattva Kannon (Goddess of Mercy) while fishing in the nearby Sumida River. Legend says that even though they returned the statue to the river, she would always make her way back to them. The leader of the village recognized the sanctity of the statue and donated his own home to be remodeled into a temple to house Kannon. I read this background before arriving to the temple and I was absolutely blown away by the architecture and how well it had been preserved. Then, like a child learning the truth about Santa Claus, I learned the original temple was almost completely destroyed by the air raids of 1945 (Asakusa Shrine survived it). What stands today, is the rebuilt site commissioned by the Japanese government after WWII to symbolize the nation's rebirth.

















At first glance, these Swastikas would appear a bit puzzling given their most recent use was by the Nazis. Actually, Hitler adopted the Swastika from Eastern civilizations and is a symbol of balance and well-being. Unlike the right-facing Swasies Hitler used, this left-facing one is called a Manji in Japan and is used to mark a Buddhist temple.

Pagodas, five-story structures with multiple eaves, are also seen in many Eastern civilizations are mark a location of a place of worship. Unfortunately, this one was also destroyed in the war and later rebuilt.





Unfortunately, the festival I was there to see was either on at a different time during the three-day weekend or delayed due to the stormy weather. All I saw were the prepared Mikoshis, the heavily decorated portable shrines used to transport a Shinto deity, that devotees would walk through the street on their shoulders during the festivities. For a half hour the rain came down really hard, requiring the crowds to retreat underneath the Hozomon gate.

It's Pat!

With the blocks upon blocks of department stores, it's no surprise that high fashion is in full effect here in Tokyo. It feels like 1940s Chicago with men in suits and women in dresses and heels. The beautiful dresses and nearly impossible to wear shoes are a nice relief from the yoga pants and flip flogs from the sloppy ladies back home. During business hours, the streets are flooded with men in suits carrying briefcases. Students of all ages wear very formal uniforms to school; boys, oxford button-up shirts, slacks and a tie and the girls, plaid jumpers, blouse, and high socks (scholars are very disciplined and work on homework on the subway rather than wasting that down-time). However, there are some strange trends in fashion out here.

It's appears to be popular for the guys to look like ladies; probably because women's clothing fits there 5'4 110 pound frames. I'm not saying the men are wearing dresses, but their extremely tight jeans, questionable tops, makeup (no joke), and their hair leaves their gender in serious question - much like Pat from the Saturday Night Live skit. A majority of men in their 20s and 30s color and style their hair the same way. Not sure how to describe the color or style. Maybe a front to back mullet colored with some Karashi hot mustard sauce. The disturbing part is that these guys get the girls. Every one of them has a pretty girl under their arm. If you're into getting the hair, just take this photo into the barber; this is the standard 'do for the Japanese.

Nothing but good things to say about the women out here, minus their attraction to the lady-dudes. Their attire is very classy. Even in the middle of a storm, they are still in their dresses and constantly needing to hold them down during the major wind gusts. If they're in a hurry, no problem, they run in heels. No sacrificing fashion for a little comfort out here. Kudos ladies.

Ginza District

I had a difficult time deciding where my first trip would take me. My previous knowledge of Tokyo came from a few films: Yozujiro Osu's Tokyo Story and Sofia Coppola's Lost in Translation. So on the map I recognized a few names such as Shinjuku, Shabuya, and Ginza. Right away the name Ginza reminded me of the documentary I had seen a few months back entitled Jiro Dreams of Sushi. The documentary follows Jiro Ono, an 85 year-old sushi chef that, although deemed a national treasure in Japan and the owner of the only 3-star Michelin rated sushi bar in the world, is still on his quest to perfect the art of sushi. Even though the wait-list for a reservation is 3 full months, I wanted to see the shop in person. With that documentary fresh in mind, I set off in that direction with my trusty map.

The Tokyo Metro was surprisingly easy to navigate and very inexpensive (up to 230 yen to go nearly anywhere in Tokyo). The ride is fairly smooth and comfortable during the slow hours; hot, sweaty, and smells like cigarettes and armpits when it's busy. I had to change lines only once on this trip and once I got there and exited the tunnel, there was no mistaking that I had made it somewhere important.

My first exit from a metro tunnel was a little overwhelming. As I reach the last step I got hit with the beaming sunlight, sound of cars and motorbikes racing by, and the clip-clap of high heels walking somewhere in a hurry. I had to stop for a second, take it all in, and decide where to start. Then I looked behind me and found the thunder god, Lord Raiden, from Mortal Kombat.

I went towards the direction of the least crowded street just to warm up to the herds of people. It took me far away from the madness and towards the historic Tokyo Train Station. One of the busiest stations in Japan, around 3,000 trains stop here every day. It was also under construction, an intense facelift, which is why I didn't snap any pics. If I had, it would be of two stories of scaffolding with a 98 year-old building hidden behind it. I circled around the dismantled station and headed back towards the loud noises.

I walked around the Ginza district for 4 to 5 hours. Up one side of the street, the down the other, down a side street, and repeat. I released that this is the Japanese version of Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills. Building after building of high-end department and retail stores. Louie Vuitton to the Apple store; it's all there. None of which I entered.

Here's a peak of the district.

I never did find Jiro's sushi shop. I walked the area of the subway that I was told it was for nearly an hour, but no luck. I may try again another day.

My New Best Friend

I'm a huge fan of public transportation since I don't need or use it in California, so the Tokyo Metro is going to become the most important tools for me to be able to see as much as this city as I can. It doesn't hurt having the entrance to the Roponggi N5 line in the basement of the building I'm staying in, Oakwood Apartments. Understanding this map and where I am and where I'm going will be key. I've printed a copy of this to take with me since it may be difficult finding an English copy of this posted on any walls.

First stop today, the popular Ginza district. So the plan is take the elevator down 23 floors to the metro, board the N line and take it to N6, transfer onto the M line and take that to M16. Key word there is plan, no idea if this will be easy or difficult. Either way, it's an adventure.

Part Duex

After close to 4 years, I've made it back to Japan. This time, destination: Tokyo! Capital city of Japan and the largest metropolitan area in the world. With a population of over 30 million people, it dominates the list of the world's most densely populated cities. In comparison, Los Angeles is around 18 million and New York City, 22. So, if you have any crowd phobias or you just don't like people in general, this might not be your cup of Miso soup. For me, I couldn't be more excited for this experience. As far as I know, I don't have any crowd phobias or dislike of people (unless they're whistling at me for a beer), but this trip will be the true test to find out.

The flight was excellent, minus a few hours of turbulence accompanied by my full child-sized bladder that forced me to have to ignore the captain's orders to stay seated and buckled. I did decide to be kind to the stewardess' and sit down like a chick for that lavatory trip. Had I not during that bumpy trip, I may have got some urine on the mirror. We arrived to a stormy Narita Airport, just as it was when I last left it. No idea how the pilots do it, but while looking out the window during our landing, the runway wasn't visible until we were 20 feet above it. Scattered showers the whole drive to the pad, and continued through the night. Even as I'm writing this now, I'm watching lighting strike nearly every 30 seconds. Weather I'm not used to in California, but I really like.

A lot has changed since my last trip. Still working the same job, but have changed addresses 4 times until I found my new permanent one. I've become an uncle twice now and both of them are out here to entertain me when I'm not out adventuring. I'm a much better dart thrower, which will come in handy out here. Time has also been kind on my looks, definitely entering Japan much more handsome than when I left it. Most importantly, Japan had a rough time last year with the Sendai earthquake and tsunami. The 9.0 quake and subsequent tsunami claimed 15,000 lives and has affected many more with the radiation from the damaged Fukushima power plant. It will be interesting to see how life has changed around here since all that mess.

Time to get to it.