The great syllabic switch: going from Tokyo to Kyoto

After three action-packed days in Tokyo, it’s time to relocate to Kyoto for a couple days before taking the train back to Tokyo for the flight up to Sapporo for PMF. We kept ourselves busy in Tokyo from morning until night every day, but every moment was so fulfilling. I’m now sitting inside this incredibly fast and quiet Shinkansen (a.k.a bullet) train, so I thought this might be a good opportunity to spill out a few memories of Tokyo. Here are some of the highlights-

1) Leaving Yokohama- we’d stayed up late enough the last night of MMCJ in Yokohama to see the sky getting light in the morning- perfect time to go for a walk. In other cities (Baltimore, perhaps?), going for a walk at 4:15am would be a pretty stupid idea, but in urban Japan, this doesn’t pose the same threat. We walked from our Navios Hotel on a pedestrianized former rail bridge toward the Landmark Tower (currently the tallest “building” in Japan, depending on how you use that word). Rain forced us to turn back, but we saw the water completely full of enormous jellyfish!

2) Akihabara – in a humble understatement, the signs in the Metro identify this part of Tokyo as the “electric town.” We spent several hours at just one store, Yodibashi, which was easily several times bigger than J&R in New York. Think excessive x100. The prices were quite good, except for this HUGE Panasonic TV, a bargain at around $56,000. One could buy a respectable violin for that kind of money!

It’s kind of exhausting to see so much electronic equipment in one place, as much as I love the stuff.

3) Kamakura – known for its ancient Buddhist structures, Kamakura took forever to get to, but still seemed very much like part of the Tokyo metropolitan area. I’m not clear on the exact dates of construction, but it’s a stunning place- huge temple on a hill, with enormous ponds down below filled with lotuses and turtles. Hunger hit soon afterwards, so we ate a Zen-style soba meal in town.

Kamakura is also known for its gigantic Buddha statue. Made of bronze (help me out, fact-checkers), this thing has been around for about 800 years, outliving the temple (destroyed by a tsunami) that used to cover it. It’s pretty impressive, and so big that I almost didn’t even notice it at first as we approached its pedestal.

4) Dinner with MMCJ friends-

After a very long subway ride, we met up with some friends at a champon restaurant. Great food, and fun to share with the others! It was followed by many other courses, including this beautifully-presented sashimi course:

5) Trendy Harajuku Party- during dinner, a member of our group (Aya) got a call from a friend inviting us to a party at a bar in Harajuku, a neighborhood that rivals Ginza and 5th Avenue for its impossible wealth. We felt a little underdressed entering the building (which had a Chanel boutique on the ground floor), but the party itself turned out to be casual enough that they still let us in. Cool people, good DJ, and a great view from the balcony:

6) Asakusa – this area of Tokyo is famous for its important temple and incalculably large number of souvenir vendors. The temple was beautiful inside, but had scaffolding covering the whole exterior. In its many centuries, this temple has burned down many times, most recently during the war. Thousands of people contributed money for its reconstruction, so it’s in pretty good shape these days.

7) The Golden Turd – At first, I felt a little sorry for the fecal shape of this moment atop a section of the Asahi beverage company’s offices, but apparently Japanese people laugh about it, too.

8) Sumida Boat Ride – This isn’t the fastest way to travel around Tokyo, but the boat ride was quite scenic. We went under something like 19 bridges and passed several cool sights, like the major Sumo arena and the Tsukiji fish market (more on that later).

Also, we floated by my future home:

9) Monorail – I don’t really remember the Disney World monorail from when I was a little kid, but this one definitely beats the train connecting terminals at Bush Intercontinental Airport. We crossed the famous Rainbow Bridge for an evening across the river in Odaiba. Unfortunately, the bright red sun had just finished setting when we stepped onto solid ground again!

10) Okonomiyaki Dinner – Some people call this the Osaka equivalent of pizza, but I don’t really see the parallels, besides the two obvious ones (hot and filling). In any case, VERY tasty. They mix up a bunch of vegetables, noodles, and an egg, then cook the whole thing at the table. Each blob is personalized (not shared by everyone at the table).

11) Ginza at Night – We just missed the closing time for going to the top of the Tokyo Tower, so we made up for it by taking a stroll in the ever-lively Ginza neighborhood, which was on the way back to our hotel in Meguro.

12) Tsukiji Fish Market – guidebooks talk about how great it is to watch the wholesale tuna auction every morning, but I didn’t make it past the retail seafood section, which is filled by hungry people like myself looking for the freshest seafood breakfast in town. I arrived before 7am, but that’s apparently on the late side. Great fun, but I smelled strongly of fish for the whole metro ride back to the hotel. Check out this giant tasty oyster I had as appetizer before switching to nigiri:

12) House Concert- it was great to spend some time with Lachezar and Chieko, and they generously invited me to a house concert outside of Tokyo this afternoon. I hadn’t heard Lachezar play in two years, and he delivered a solid recital. I think that the hosts of the party are fairly influential people, often hosting guest musicians from abroad who come to town to play at Suntory Hall. Very generous folks, too. When one lady there found out I was going to Kyoto tonight, she offered to give me a heavily discounted rate at the hotel she owns in Kyoto! Sadly, my reservation at another hotel (with a small room and no view) was prepaid.

.. now, we’re almost to Kyoto already, so I’d better pack up the computer!