Kawagoe, Gokoku-ji Temple and Ikeukuro District

We took a 1-hour train trip to Kawagoe, a small city with a 19th century Edo-period neighborhood. The architecture is quiet interesting: imposing, black heavy buildings, low ceilings, with shutters and pagoda roofs. Amongst the throngs of Japanese tourists, the buildings house all kinds of specialties: candies (but not much chocolate!), rice crackers, ceramics, soy bean products, restaurants, gift shops, etc. Lots and lots to see and we wandered forever.

Edo-period building

Gift shop

We found an outdoor exhibit of Edo-period guns and armor. We were then invited to participate in an Edo-period tea ceremony! Lucky us! The Japanese tea ceremony is very precise and slow, with many rituals and movements. We were first presented with sweets, given by a kneeling assistant. Then, the tea master brewed some green tea which we were given after the assistant kneeled and turned the bowl 3 times to the right. We bowed our thanks and turned the bowl to the left three times before drinking. This shows appreciation for the beauty of the bowl.

Antique gun

Edo-period armor


Tea master


Tea ceremony

Today was Yom Kippur and we decided to spend it "communing with nature" in lieu of going to a synagogue. We went to Gokoku-ji Temple which is very special because it wasn't destroyed by the big earthquake of 1923 or the fire bombs of WWII like so many other temples in Tokyo. It is really magnificent with a copper roof, huge wooden columns, a beautiful main hall and ceiling displaying paintings of celestial maidens. There were very few people around and we sat outside gazing at the temple...very serene and restful.

Main hall of Gokuku-ji Temple

Shrine at Gokoku-ji Temple with oragami paper offerings

We loved this rock at the Temple

In the Ikebukuro district, we found a modern art pavillion and saw a beautiful Japanese quilt exhibit and a small doll gallery.

Unbelievable quilt--I was mesmerized

Quilted eggs and apples! So pretty...

The Japan Traditional Craft Center was also nearby and we saw the most exquisite new ceramics, wooden bowls, Japanese sandals, hats, etc. and even saw a craftsman making ceramic tiles. So much delicate beauty. I just can't describe it.

Various woods used in traditional Japanese crafts

Day in Nikko

We traveled 2 hours by bullet train to Nikko, a beautiful town in the mountains north of Tokyo. The Shinkansen bullet train was so smooth and fast (160 mph)--it's hard to believe it's NOT the fastest train in Japan.

Shinkansen bullet train--reminds me of a dolphin

Nikko is well-known for it's shrines, waterfalls, a pretty lake and fall foliage (we were about 3 weeks too early). The weather was great and we walked for hours.

The best part was spending the day with our son Adam and his girlfriend Dana, who are in Japan until Oct. 2. They spent their time so far in Tokyo while we were away in Shikoku and are now traveling to other cities. We'll meet up with them again in Kyoto in a couple of days.

Dana, Adam and us at Lake Chuzenji

I just loved the way these trees were shaped

Kegon Falls

Shinkyo sacred bridge

P.S. You can click on the pictures to see a larger version.

What an adventure!

Better get a snack--this blog might be a little long. We just returned from a 5-day "vacation" on the island of Shikoku (4th largest--pop. 5 million) and so much happened, there's a lot to report.

Our amazing host, Mie, comes from Shikoku and she arranged the entire trip. The island is surrounded by steep mountains covered in forests--people live in the valleys. We flew to the capital city of Matsuyama (1 hour), picked up a rental car and drove 2 hours to meet her parents in an udon noodle restaurant which is a specialty of the area. The wheat noodles are freshly made and are served in a bamboo bowl. The meal included tiny fried crabs caught in the local river.

Tiny crabs

We then drove to Mie's parents' home in Yoshinogawa. This is a beautiful small town of about 20,000, filled with charming homes, rice paddies and shrines around every corner. Nuboru (which means "sunrise"), Mie's father, is an affable, friendly guy and Yuriko ("lily"), Mie's mother, is a sweet and charming woman. They speak Engish well and their Japanese home is quite large with many rooms. They love having visitors and are generous and gracious hosts.

Rice paddies near Mie's house

Next I did something really Japanese: I got dressed up in a kimono that was made by Mie's grandmother, who also lives with them (Yukiko--"happiness"). Miles wore a yukata. It took Yuriko about 30 minutes to dress me and there were about 12 different parts to put together. I have no idea how a woman can dress herself since so much of it happens from behind, like the complicated obi sash. How one goes to the bathroom, I'll just have to imagine. (Needless to say, I didn't try.)

Miles-san and Laurie-san

We made sushi for dinner. Yum. We slept in the guest room on tatami mats. Our western bodies were a little sore in the morning, but one can get used to anything.

Making sushi

Tatami-mat bedroom in Mie's house

The island is most famous for its 88 Buddist temples and many come here to trek from temple to temple. If you did the journey in one go, it would take about 3 months. Our challenge: to hike from Temple #11 to #12, a distance of 13 kilometers.. #11 is about a 40-minute walk from Mie's home. We left around 9 am, with lunch boxes wrapped in beautiful cloths, filled with rice balls, fried tofu and pickled vegetables. Yum again. It was a beautiful day and a hard hike. We went up-down, up-down, up, covering 3 peaks totaling a 1000 meter climb. But was it ever worth it! Fantastic views, the trees amazing, the temples beautiful. At each temple, there are pilgrims making their trek, dressed in special white shirts and pants, some carrying walking sticks and wearing straw hats and bells. Once at the temple, they chant their prayers and then go to a scribe who stamps a "trek" book with the local stamp and writes a notation in black ink/Japanese brush in beautiful calligraphy. Every ritual is done with such respect and honor. We finished at around 4:30 and an ice cream at the end perked me right up.

Sign post marking the trek from temple to temple

View from the top of the trail

Temple trekker--he had walked to 52 temples in 12 years...36 to go!


Temple 11

The next day, we drove to a preserved 18th century Edo period street. The Edo period lasted about 200 years, 1650-1868. Another special feature of this area is indigo dyed cloth. The buildings we saw, mostly from the outside, were from around 1707. Wow.

Edo period buildings

Indigo display

We then left town and drove about 1 1/2 hours to the more mountainous region along the Oboke Gorge. Lots of river rafting and hiking along here. The highlight for us was to go to a thermal bath atop a mountain. The women and men bathe separately and after washing first, sit in the rock trimmed outdoor hot pools gazing out over the mountains. Does it get any better than this??? Ahhhhh...Sorry, no pictures allowed. Modesty issues.

Next day, we walked over the river on the Iya Vine Bridge. They have to re-construct this bridge every 3 years and I had to refrain from jumping and swinging on it. Darn.

Iya Vine Bridge

Next we took a tourist boat ride on the river to see the green/blue slate rocks. We then drove to the top of a mountain to see a miniature version of the 88 temples. This took less than an hour compared to 90 days! Our next stop by car was to #66 Temple which is only accessible by gondola. We ended the day driving back to the capital, Matsuyama.

Oboke Gorge

Shrine for the elderly (male and female) at Temple 66

Next day, while Miles and Mie were at the University (Miles had a lecture--yes, he likes to work sometimes), Mie arranged for me to have a guide take me around the older part of the city. There were shrines, a thermal bath house in a 150-year old building, old fashioned trolleys/trains and charming shops. After a tour of the lab at the university, we headed for the airport and came back to Tokyo.

19th century street car station in Matsuyama

We were so grateful for Mie, who made our stay there so memorable.

Till next time. Go to sleep, if you're still with me. This blog was a cure for insomnia. I warned you.

Another Day...

Observations:

--baseball is huge here and you see lots of practice on playing fields
--when taking an escalator, you stand on the left and allow those who want to climb to go on the right (driving is on the left, like England)
--we are always on the look out for bread, which isn't popular here. Rice is the main source of carbohydrates. However, there are a number of French bakeries that sell very small loaves for $4-5. I think we'll stick to rice.
--it's impolite to blow your nose in public. Rather, you're supposed to just sniff. Yeah, right. I rarely hear people cough or sneeze. How can they hold in all those natural functions???

We had a wonderful sushi lunch with our host, Mie Ichihara, and retired Japanese professor, Tsutomu Kambe, who we had previously met while at a conference in China 2 years ago. As my friend Margot said, "If it tastes good, it's probably not kosher". How true! As you can see in the picture, this was a shell fish feast. We loved it!

Our guests at the sushi lunch

Yum-yum!

On our host's recommendation, we went to a new-ish development on an island in Tokyo Bay called Odaiba. Here they built gigantic, futuristic buildings that are conference centers, shopping malls, restaurants, shops, arcades, amusement parks, etc. There's also a great deal of port activity with trucks and container ships. The sizes of these buildings are just enormous and filled with businesses of all kinds, including a Toyota Design Center which highlights new models and Toyota race cars.

Tokyo Big Site Conference Center at Odaiba

Miles at the Toyota Design Center with race cars

Miles in a Toyota simulator--He only crashed 5 times!

Taste of Japan

I went to a traditional Japanese restaurant with a Japanese friend who was a foreign exchange student in San Mateo in the early 70s. We sat on chairs like stadium seats: backs by no legs. The floor was sunken and you can dangle your legs down while you sit at a low table. I asked whether this style was just for me and she said, no, she also finds sitting flat on a tatami mat VERY uncomfortable. Whew! It's just not me! Most restaurants are Western style with regular tables.

The lunch was a multi-course affair, served by a kimono-clad waitress. We were in a private room with a sliding rice-paper door. We started with sashimi which was followed by wonderful small dishes of:

cooked spinach with mushrooms
tempura of asparagus/mushrooms/radish
fried balls of sweet potato
small slices of roast beef with potato salad and crab
slices of fish
crunchy berries like small crab apples
salty-sour clams
miso soup
taro squares
green tea soup served with a special prayer by the waitress
dessert: sweet squares of gelatin with a sweet sauce

All the dishes were just a few bites, each served with special sauces/salts. Everything is so perfect, each dish with a little leaf, a berry, a sauce served with the tiniest of spoons...such grace and beauty everywhere. A treat for the senses. I forgot my camera, but my friend took pictures and said she'd send them...soon. I'll post them next time.

Another beautiful day...

The weather's been great: warm, not humid, slightly cool in the evening. There is NO eating on the streets and no garbage cans, therefore the streets are very clean. If you get some take-away food, you go to a park and eat. They stand in straight lines waiting to enter the subway car and are very patient. Lots of cute, small, fluffy dogs. The women are so slender, very feminine and walk around in high heels--I don't understand this. Ow.

We went on a English tour of the Earthquake Research Institute (ERI) which is the area of the campus where Miles is doing research on magma/volcanoes. Earthquakes--volcanoes--pick your natural disaster, they study it here. This is the nerve center for the earthquake early warning system for all of Japan. Japan gets 10% of the world's earthquakes with only 1% of the population (100 million). They showed us demos of earthquake and tsunami waves and how the build buildings with huge rubber blocks (base isolation). Very interesting and, like SF, they get numerous earthquakes every day, most too small to feel.

Tsunami Demo at ERI

We visited the Asakusa neighborhood which is home to the Senso-ji Temple, a lovely complex of temples, shrines, statues. Branching out like bike spokes are walking streets filled with trinket shops, special Japanese candy stores, rice cracker makers, tea cup shops, all pretty and busy.

Modern memorial at the Senso-ji Temple

Rice crackers galore

We then found a Drum Museum nearby which has a collection of 300+ drums from around the world, most of which have sticks available, encouraging us to play. We banged away for a while, all by ourselves, having a ball. Downstairs they sold drums and sticks of all sizes.

Banging away at the Drum Museum

Another day we went to the Akihabara electronics district which was unbelievable. We visited one store that was like Best Buy on steroids. Nine stories of every electronic device, home appliance, computer and dozens of varieties of each. AND, bicycles, watches, massage chairs, exercise equipment, clothing, restaurants...it just went on forever. Amazing.

Crowd waiting to use XBox 360 at electronics store


A happy shopper trying out a massage chair

While Miles is working, I spend my time wandering around to new neighborhoods, exploring. Recently I found a wonderful park 15 minutes away with a lake and lots of trails. Adjacent to the park is city library, a beautiful modern 5-story tall structure with lots of comfortable chairs and coffee table books about Japan. I'm in heaven! I love libraries!

Ohio (Good Morning) from Tokyo!

Here we are at the Nijubashi Bridge at the Imperial Palace

We've been here nearly a week and we've been so busy, this is really the first time I have had time to sit and write.

Tokyo is an amazing, modern, busy city and we've explored just the tip of the iceberg. We are living in a modest, small but comfy well-equipped apartment associated with the University of Tokyo where Miles is working basically full time M-F. He'll probably skip out occasionally to do fun stuff with me. Our apartment is conveniently located near the Metro, supermarket and even 100 Yen store (yep, they actually have things that are CHEAP for only 100 Yen ($1).

Impressions: in a city so large, the streets are quiet, people talk softly, cars don't honk their horns. Women and most men are slight and slender and you see all types: modern punk, girls in high heels and short frilly skirts, young men in suits and pointy shoes, conservative older people, some tennis shoes. Lots and lots of cell phones that aren't allowed to be used on the Metro, except for playing games/checking text messages, etc. No talking! How refreshing! People don't speak much English but are SO friendly and helpful. It's amazing how much you can communicate without words. The Metro has English signs for the stops, thank goodness, and is very well-organized.

We've explored Ueno Park and the Imperial Palace Gardens. Lovely family-oriented places with beautiful gardens. The Ginza shopping area is magnificent and we especially loved the department store food stalls with every conceivable Asian delicacy so beautifully wrapped and displayed, manned by adorable hat-clad venders in cute outfits. Some free samples! Yum! We also found the kimono dept. Words can't describe the beauty of the silks, the colors, the embroidery...So far the most expensive one we saw was $15,ooo. They even have a cobbler on site to make the shoes that look like blocks of wood in every conceivable color. It is truely an art-form and we've seen a handful of women walking around in kimonos.

Shrine in Ueno Park

We had a special treat and attended the final dress rehearsal of La Scala's "Don Carlos" by Verdi. Here's the back story: Miles' colleague Edo Mazza from Zurich, originally from Italy, knew we were here and told us to contact his brother, Camillo, who is married to opera singer Irena Bespalovaite with La Scala which is here on a world tour. Camillo had free tickets and accompanied us to the 4 1/2 hour production. What an amazing experience. This was Grand Opera at its best! The Japanese are crazy about opera and we saw adult men rushing towards the stars gettting autographs. The only "star" I saw was Daniel Barenboim who is directing another performance here of "Aida". Wow! A celebrity! During the intermissions, there were some technical adjustments, but the performance was superb. Too bad it was in Italian with Japanese super titles, we didn't have time to read up on the story and didn't have a clue as to what was going on. Didn't matter.

Having our eel meal. Yum!

Last night we were invited out to dinner with Miles' host/colleague Mie, her father, Noboru, visiting from the island of Shikoku and 2 Vietnames students here studying Japanese. What was the specialty of the restaurant? Eel! It was delicious and served grilled over rice, along with a bowl of small pieces of interesting vegetables, sweet bamboo shoot, salmon, prawn, fish cake and things I didn't recognize. Wonderful dinner! We also had a fun sushi lunch at a local place where you sit at an oval counter, the cooks are standing in the middle preparing sushi and then placing it on plates along a conveyor belt, so you just pick what you want and as much as you want. They charge you by the plate, like dim sum. Delicious!

Enjoying sushi at the local sushi bar