Back to Tokyo

Pictures are here

Day 10, was back in Tokyo. After a short conference and discussion in the train, we decided to leave our luggage in Tokyo train station and pick up the next morning since we had to come back to Tokyo station to take the hour long Narita Express to airport anyway. We had another action packed day in Tokyo and going to capsule hotel to drop off luggage would take too much time. Our original plan was to go see Kamakura, but with so much left to do in Tokyo, we decided to drop it. We were going to check out imperial palace that was closed the first day, then goto Asakusa (old city, market and shrine), try our luck at Kabuki-za again, visit the Sony building in Ginza that was also closed by the time we got to it the first day , visit Akihabara (electronics district) and then cap it all off with a night in town by visiting clubs in Roppongi. Like I said, action packed.

At the Imperial palace, the palace itself was closed to the public and we were only allowed to walk the gardens. After having seen all the lovely shrines and Oakayama gardens, we were not impressed. The city skyline in the background did have a nice effect. We went onto Asakusa, which was another crazy crowded market place with a long path leading up to a shrine. Huge Asahi building is a landmark and meant to capture the essence of a glass of the beer, with frothing on top and all. A neighboring building has a giant gold flaming ornament (as quoted on Asahi website, although internet articles imply that locals think it looks like something I cannot repeat here!)

As we headed to the shrine, I was reminded of India with merchants selling wares on both sides of the street leading up to a big temple. The only difference was there were no beggars here! More street food, (fish shaped waffles with chocolate stuffing etc..) and more souvenirs and pictures later, we were at the shrine. The shrine itself had giant statues behind really dirty netting, the pictures of the red lamp was great but you can hardly see the, otherwise grandiose, statues flanking the lantern.

Then it was time to go stand in line at Kabuki-za in Ginza and try our luck a second time. On our way we stopped by the Sony building to check out the new products (many not yet released in market). The line at Kabuki-za was even longer than the previous week! We spoke to a couple of the men in uniform and they assured us we would get to see the next act, only we would have to do it standing. We had an hour and half before the box office opened, we decided to take turns eating lunch so we didn’t not loose our turn in the line. Eugene and I went first and had sushi in a nearby restaurant (on the same street as the theatre, I forget the name). It was simply delicious! Anu went next to a neighboring pasta place. And then the theatre gods smiled on us. We got in, Anu took the one seat left, Eugene and I stood.

The act we were about to see was drama, the story something like this: a retainer loyal to one shogun had hidden his child in a school as he ran to save his life while the lord loyal to the enemy shogun came to the school looking for the child. I am sure I got some details wrong, but I have to say though I did not understand a word of what was said and the actors were too far away for me to see closely, I thought that hour and half was quite gripping. I felt the tension and drama all the way in the back. Moreover, there was a gentleman standing close by who kept yelling “Matsumiya”, “Komaiya” and so on. My Japanese classmate from HBS later told me those are names of families that the actors belong to and the audience often yells out cheering words of praise and encouragement. The kimonos were simply breathtaking, the colors and patterns were high impact even way back where I was! If I could, I would have stayed on till 9pm and cancelled everything else for the night, but alas I didn’t have the tickets! Eugene and Anu were less impressed. All actors are men (they dress as women) and the various acts are a combination of songs, dance, drama.

Then we went to check in the capsule hotel that Minako had booked for us. Capsule is a Japanese invention and the idea has not picked up in popularity outside Japan. The primary purpose is for Japanese men and women who miss their last train home (subways stop around midnight) to find a cheap place to sleep the night. Also for drunk men who cant go home and face their wives. For us it was a novelty that had to be experienced. Well I have experienced it and while I am glad I did, I am not likely to repeat it! Capsules are like sarcophagus, one stacked on top of the other. Somehow they manage to squeeze in an old fashioned radio and tiny tv inside it (both fully functional!). Men and women capsules are on different floors, (thank goodness!) and there is a hot bath (also separated by gender as all baths in Japan are).

I was too tired with all the walking so I took a nap as Anu and Eugene went to Akihabara. The plan was for us to goto Roppongi that night, and stay out as late as we wanted. Anu was not happy about the capsule and wanted to stay out all night (which is commonplace in Roppongi). Anyway, we headed out later and Eugene begged out at the train station. He had suffered all the time being made to wake up at 6am. Anu was the only one who didn’t mind waking up at 6am. Anu and I went out and walked around a bit. Hip hop could be heard in couple of bars and it was fairly crowded (though it was early at 10pm). We immediately realized how out of place we were in our cargos etc… I always tell myself after this sort of experience to pack one nice dress for going out and it always gets forgotten. Anyway we went into what looked like an expat filled bar called A970; it was all expats indeed. Struck up a conversation with a girl who, along with several others she introduced me to, were in Tokyo for 6 mths studying law. They recommended a couple of clubs we could goto. But then neither Anu nor I are really the party types, we were not dressed appropriately and were tired after all. We called it a night and decided to catch the last train home. The last train ride was in itself fun. People were packed like sardines at 12:30 am, the conductors were walking the stairways hurrying people up to the platform so they wouldn’t miss the last train. We did make it back to the capsule by 1am and I slept like a baby!

The next day, Anu and Eugene were on the same flight at 11am whereas I was having a little reunion with my HBS classmates in Tokyo before a 4:35pm flight back home. Tetsuya had arranged a lunch for about 4-5 of us in the Shin-Marunouchi building near Tokyo station, he picked me up in his car along with his wife Megumi. We went to Akihabara where I wanted to buy a digital Kanji dictionary for my niece. We went to a couple of stores, Tetsuya said that Akihabara was more popular with tourists than locals (who buy online a lot these days) especially the Chinese visiting by the bus loads. Apparently a particular brand of rice cooker is super popular with visiting Chinese and so are milk formulae. Who would have thunk? We drove where the sumo hangout but didn’t see any. We had intended to go see the sumos during their morning practices at the stables, but had arrived in Japan just after the March tournament ended and the sumo were not practicing yet.

We met up with everybody else to have soba. Inspite of my classmates assuring me it was ok to make slurping noises when sucking up the noodles, I coudnt really do it. I am not crazy about noodles and I was not terribly hungry so I left most of my lunch uneaten (but ate all the tofu and everything else). I am not sure whether that was impolite or not, oh well! We went onto a cute neighborhood near a museum that could have been downtown NY with cafes in a little park with tall buildings around. We had some coffee there. After that it was good bye to some of the gang. Tetsuya, Megumi and Norihiro came to the station and all the way to the platform to see me off on Narita Express, I cant remember the last time I enjoyed this hospitality (India maybe), it was very flattering!

At the airport, I spent my last 1050 yen buying more food gifts and came home with 1 yen. All too soon my time in Japan was over. I left feeling good and able to recommend several experiences in Japan to others.


Last thoughts

The best experiences? Mt Koya, Onsen, Ryokan experience, Kabuki, Tofu, all deserts and sweets, Tokyo fish market, Hida dinner at Takayama , Gion district, Miyako-odori, sakura, Kyoto shrines.

Getting around was quite easy, trains and buses super efficient, the people very polite although a bit inscrutable I think. Food is plentiful and tasty (though you really should not be a veggie if you want to travel the country).

Some of the amusing and interesting sights I have not mentioned were the army of black suited men and women near metro and busy places (sometimes on weekends too!). The purser and conductor always bowed when they entered or left the compartment, whether anybody was looking at them or not. I remember this cute petite uniformed woman at the entrance to a train car where I was standing waiting for passengers to alight before we got on. She would say something, bow at a perfect angle, raise up and say something again (arigato gozaimas I think) and then repeat. She did this with perfect repetition around 10 times that I was standing waiting for everyone to get off. Very few people returned her greeting, but she repeated it with the same perfect pleasant smile and expression on her face the whole time! Another thing to note is that people with jobs routinely work 12+ hours and most importantly don’t complain.

At first the bowing was odd, even excessive. But by the end of the trip I was doing the same and thought it added such a polite and humble air to all conversations. Why cant we all be like that? Maybe I will start bowing to the merchants and planners I work with. Or maybe not, you say?!!? Ok maybe I will take your advice.