The Occidental Tourist, Part 2

Guest Bloggers:  Sarah Jayne (aka Rosie) and Bruce Jayne (aka Papa)

Rosie, Papa, Ethan, and Ryan visiting Hachiko

 A note to all our friendly readers--We had a non-eventful flight across the Pacific (thanks to 120 mph tail winds, 3.5 hours shorter than the trip over), spent the night in LA and then flew to Charleston.  We had a great time in Tokyo and with Stephanie, Kevin, Ethan and Ryan.  Now we are settling down to paying bills, mowing the lawn and washing clothes.  HO-HUM

Here's our last entry on what was an everlastingly memorable trip.

Exploring the Tokyo Observation Tower...

Imperial Palace 

Our excellent tour guides, Stephanie, Ethan and Ryan, took us on a half-day venture to the Imperial Palace.  A touch of serendipity as we crossed a river near the palace:  an elderly man was tossing bread to ducks, swans, pigeons and sea gulls.  He gladly shared the bread with Ethan and Ryan, who took great delight in tossing pieces into the air to be grabbed by the gulls mid-flight.  The palace buildings are not open to the public, but we enjoyed a guided tour (aided by an English audio guide) of the grounds, the moat and the exterior of the buildings.  Unlike Tsukiji, the Imperial Palace Tour was almost all Japanese tourists.

Ethan and Ryan sketching the guardhouse, while waiting for the tour to start

More cherry blossoms

On the tour through the Imperial Palace grounds.

The "eyeglasses" bridge

The cute little American boys strike again; this tour guide was smitten by them.

Mt. Fuji 

The fabled mountain drew us to his base, a lovely area of several large lakes, for a long weekend getaway.  We traveled by bus, and enjoyed the scenery along the way.  Steph had almost despaired of finding lodging, due to the school holiday and cherry blossom season, but, as mentioned in our earlier post, a friend of hers arranged with her parents to offer us the use of their club membership in the Mt. Fuji Hotel, where we had two adjoining rooms.  The hotel was truly luxurious, with a gorgeous view of the mountain, sometimes called the "Shy Mountain", and we were fortunate enough to have a few hours when the clouds were not obscuring the view.  It is a majestic sight--when you can see it.  

 Our stay at the hotel also afforded us the opportunity to experience the Japanese custom of onsen (pronounced with a long o), the public baths consisting of large pools of hot mineral water, with separate facilities for men and women, of course.  The bathing is done au naturel, and preceded by a very careful washing of the body, sitting on a stool side by side with other bathers.  It was a relaxing experience, and we indulged in it twice.











We engaged in some other activities while there: a tour of a bat cave (ceilings so low we were almost crawling in some places, and the bats were on vacation elsewhere, but an interesting experience nevertheless); a brief trip in a swan-shaped pedal boat for the young family, and a longer trip around the lake in a very large, swan-shaped tour boat; and many games of Skip Bo around the table in our hotel room.

We also indulged in the hotel breakfast buffet one morning and one of the most intriguing things on offer was something labeled "Post Larvae."  Next trip, we 'll have to try that.

Tsukiji Tuna Auction

Before our trip I, Sarah, had done some online research on things to do in Tokyo.  One article struck my fancy, The Top Ten Non-Touristy Things To Do In Tokyo, in general--and specifically one activity: the Tsukiji tuna auction.  You may have heard about the 489 pound tuna that was sold at auction for a mere $1.76 million in early January (http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-01-06/japan-sushi-chain-pays-record-1-76-million-for-tuna-at-auction.html). 

Auction begins very early at 5 AM and space is limited.  Steph, Kevin, the boys and Uncle Scott had tried to go some months ago but were too late to claim one of the 120 spots!  Stephanie and I were up for the challenge (Papa, not so much, Kevin was out of town, Ethan had school and Ryan decided to wait to go with Ethan).  Up at 3 AM, in a taxi a little later, at the Tsukiji Market by 3:45 and into the "waiting area" a little after 4 AM.  We were numbers 60 and 61.  Whew we made it!!  I was by far one of the oldest tuna watchers.  At around 5:20 AM we were escorted into the very cold auction area where hundreds of frozen tunas were spread out on the concrete floor.  Tunas are auctioned off by groups of twenty or so--lots of bell ringing, loud talking, nods of bidders and much we didn't understand.  The whole thing lasted 30 minutes or so and I'd do it again in a heartbeat.  The only thing is that it wasn't very non-touristy. . . all the people there were clearly tourists! 

Afterwards we enjoyed a wonderful sushi and sashimi breakfast at one of the many sushi counters in the market area.  I never knew I could enjoy raw fish so much.

Kamakura

Sarah and I gave our hosts a little relief from entertaining us by taking a day trip on our own to Kamakura, an ancient town that is the site of 5 of the most significant Buddhist shrines in Japan.  One of the shrines is the home of the Great Buddha, a hollow bronze stature some 30 feet tall. 

After walking from the train station to pay our respects to him, we followed a hiking trail along a ridge overlooking the town. Portions of the trail were steep and/or muddy, but we persevered and had an enjoyable, though challenging, hike.  Following an interesting lunch in a small cafe, we treated ourselves to a green tea/sweet potato swirl ice cream cone, before boarding the train to return to Tokyo.

Sarah's Impressions 

Taxi drivers dress professionally in business suits and ties and drive spotlessly clean cars.  It was like having a personal driver except for the meter that was clicking away! 

Police don't carry guns.  They have billy clubs instead.  Seems like the Japanese don't have guns either. 

No matter how hard I tried I couldn't figure out what side of the sidewalk to walk on.  Since cars drive on the left, one would think that you would walk on the left. .. that's about a 50/50 guess.  No matter where I walked I was always in the way of a bicycle, of which there are many, chatting students, or businessmen on the way to the train.

One of my greatest pleasures was the heated toilet seats in Steph and Kevin's home.  I wanted to unplug them and put them in my suitcase.

And last, but not least, vending machines that were readily found in residential areas and all along the commercial areas.  My favorite drink for only 120 yen or about a $1.25 was a canned latte--just the right temperature for drinking.  Hard to imagine drinking a hot drink from a can, but don't knock it until you've tried it! 

Bruce's Impressions

Litter-free streets, and not a trash can to be found.  Apparently there's a strong societal expectation that everyone carries his trash home to dispose of it.

No "beater" cars.  Every car we saw was a late model, very well-maintained.  We're told that the government requires a very expensive maintenance process after a car has reached a certain age, so people sell them (probably to a company that ships them to another country) and buy a new one.

The white collar "uniform," a black suit, white shirt and conservative tie, is the only attire you see office workers wearing.



Courtesy and politeness is the norm.  We witnessed no rude behavior from anyone.

We almost never saw anyone who appeared to be living in poverty.

Ethnic homogeneity--except at the major tourist sites, we saw very few people who were not Japanese.


That's it from us.  Better get your reservations in to visit Tokyo at the Hoteru Steph, Kevin, Ethan and Ryan!  I understand they have a 5 star rating at TripAdvisor.